2005 Gibson Les Paul Special SL w Humbuckers – Ebony – Free Pro Setup

2005 Gibson Les Paul Special SL in Gloss Ebony
Weighs only 7.7 lbs. That’s light for a Les Paul.
Weighs 20% less than a typical Les Paul Standard and produces 100% of the Tone!

Description: We love these Les Paul Special SL’s and buy them whenever we can. Gibson made them from 1998 to 2005, so this is one of the last of the bunch. These guitars “punch way above their weight class” with 100% of the legendary Les Paul Tone at about half the price. They have a solid mahogany slab body with belly cut, mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, and two Gibson Alnico humbuckers. They have all the sound of a Les Paul Standard, but weigh a good two pounds less, which we think makes them even better. And at about half the price, it’s a no brainer.

If you think a Les Paul Standard is a too expensive, too fancy or too heavy, this may be a good guitar for you.

This particular guitar is a good one. It’s 21 years old, and has some honest play wear and lots of mojo. But the frets are still in excellent condition and will be even better after our Pro Setup. It’s a joy to play, and sounds wonderful with the Gibson 490R and 498T humbuckers.

Case: Includes a free gig bag, or upgrade to one of the hard shell cases shown below.

• Aftermarket wood Les Paul case, $99
• Aftermarket molded Les Paul case, $119
• Gator molded hard case with TSA approved latches, $149
• Vintage 1990’s Gibson hard shell case, brown with pink interior and shroud, $179
• SKB molded Les Paul case (SKB-56) with TSA approved latches, $189

Free Pro Setup – $90 Value
See below for details.

Luthier’s measurements and assessment:

• Weight: 7.7 lbs
• Nut width: 1.69″
• Neck width at 12th fret: 2.06″
• Neck thickness at 1st fret: 0.81″
• Neck thickness at 12th fret: 0.87″
• Action at high e: 0.050″
• Action at low E: 0.060″
• Neck pickup DCR: 7.5k Ohms
• Neck pickup DCR: 12.9k Ohms
• Truss rod: Turns smoothly
• Frets: Excellent. 9/10
• Cosmetic condition: Very good. Has some honest play wear and light indentations. No signs of damage or repairs.
• Functional condition: Excellent. Everything works well.
• Electronics: Excellent. No issues.
• Playability: Excellent. Plays very well. Neck is comfortable.
• Sound: Loud and resonant unplugged. Good sustain. Pickups sound wonderful.
• Overall condition: Very good

Features and Specs:

• Body shape: Les Paul
• Body type: Solid body (slab)
• Body wood: Mahogany
• Body finish: Gloss nitrocellulose lacquer
• Body color: Ebony
• Body contours: Belly cut
• Neck Wood: Mahogany
• Neck finish: Gloss nitrocellulose lacquer
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Fingerboard Radius: 12″
• Inlays: Small trapezoids
• Scale: 24.75″
• Frets: 22
• Neck pickup: Gibson 490R humbucker
• Bridge pickup: Gibson 498T high output humbucker
• Controls: Volume and Tone for each pickup
• Pickup switch: Three-way toggle
• Bridge: Tune-O-Matic
• Tailpiece: Stop-bar
• Tuners: Gibson deluxe

Dr. T’s Professional Inspection and Setup:  You may find a similar instrument listed at a lower price, but ours may still be the better value as we include our professional inspection and setup.  With over 20 years in the industry, we’re convinced that a good setup is the single most important investment to improve the playability and sound of your guitar.  We inspect the guitar and address issues. Next, we remove the strings, clean the guitar, and tighten and set the drag on the tuning keys.  We inspect the frets and dress and polish as required. We clean and oil the fingerboard, restring, tune to pitch and set the neck relief, action and intonation.  We then play each fret and check for fret buzz and fret-outs during string bends, and we fine tune as required.  Next, we test the electronics, tighten pots and jacks and balance the pickups. Lastly, we play the guitar to make sure everything is just right.  We do this using common settings, which work for most players. If you have specific requirements, please let us know. We are located in Southern California, where our climate is mild. Sometimes minor adjustments will need to be made after you receive your guitar, especially if the guitar traveled a long distance and was subjected to unfavorable conditions. We do not cover the cost of these adjustments.

Standard of Care:  We strive to meet our clients’ expectations and want you to be happy with your purchase.  Musical instruments develop wear with use and it’s widely accepted that honest wear adds character and shows that it has been played and loved.  Our used and vintage guitars will often have signs of wear.  Our Del Mar Lutherie guitars are hand built and can have artifacts that some people might view as “imperfections”.  If you want a guitar in “flawless” condition, we advise you to buy locally so you can inspect it closely in person.  We cannot guarantee our guitars will be cosmetically flawless.  We do not accept returns or give partial credit on guitars due to cosmetic imperfections that are only noticeable upon close inspection.

Cases:  We price most guitars without cases. This allows us to offer a more competitive price and pass along some savings to our clients who do not want a case. However, if you want a case, please let us know, and we will find a good one for you. If you buy a case, we will ship your guitar in it for the best possible protection.  There are many benefits when you buy a case from us; we have good prices, we make sure your guitar fits, we offer free shipping on the case (when combined with a guitar), and best of all we ship your guitar inside the case.  Each year, we see a small number of guitars arrive with damage caused by mishandling during shipping.  However, when shipped inside a hard case, the incidence of damage is almost zero.  Please consider buying a case from us. 

Shipping:  Price shown includes ground shipping via UPS within the continental USA with “Safe Shipping” insurance through Reverb. It also includes packaging materials and our time to pack and drop off at UPS. Note that guitar shipping costs are controlled by the box size, not weight, and insurance is based on the guitar’s value.

Specs: We list specifications as a courtesy. Some specs are measured by our luthier, others are taken from the manufacturer’s data. Manufacturers change specifications all the time, and their listed specs may not be 100% accurate.  Also, used guitars sometimes have modifications that may not be apparent upon visual inspection. The guitar you will get is the one shown in the photos. If there are any “deal breaker” specs that you must have, please let us know so we can double check these for you before your purchase.

Videos:  We often provide links to YouTube videos to provide our clients with more information. These videos will be of a similar make and model which is representative of the guitar in our listing. 

Returns:  We are a small business and can’t offer free returns like the big guys.  There is a lot of time, effort and cost involved with setting up a guitar, packing it and shipping it.  Please make sure you want the guitar before you commit to buy.  Please review photos, read the listing and ask questions if in doubt. If you change your mind after we setup and ship, we will not be able to offer you a free return. If we do accept a return, we expect the buyer to pay for all shipping costs, plus a 20% restocking fee to cover out time. Note that over 99% of our clients do not change their minds, and are very pleased with the our guitars and service.

Dr. T’s Tone Factory & Del Mar Lutherie, Message from the Owner:  We are a small shop in San Diego County, California.  We are part of the local guitar community and build custom electric guitars, custom tube amps, and do mods and setups. We also buy, sell and trade vintage and used instruments. Our owner is a guitar and music enthusiast, wood worker and professional designer and engineer. We’ve been doing this type of work since 1999 and have hundreds of happy customers. We are a Reverb Preferred Seller and our approval rating is almost 100%. 

Best wishes and happy strumming!

Dr T.