The Les Paul Professional occupies a strange and fascinating corner of Gibson history — a guitar that arrived too clever for its own good. Introduced in 1969, it was part of Gibson’s bold first wave of low-impedance models, built as much for the recording studio as the stage.
“The Les Paul Professional has many of the same exciting features found on the LP Personal: low impedance pickups; fast, low action neck; and a 24 3/4” scale. But perhaps the feature you’ll enjoy most is the modest price tag that accompanies this ‘professional’ guitar.” — Gibson catalog, 1970
The electronics were genuinely innovative — two oblong low-impedance humbuckers, a volume, bass, treble, and an 11-position Decade control for tuning high frequencies, a phase switch, and two three-way selectors. The catch: it required a special transformer cable to work with normal amplifiers. Gibson’s instruction manual reinforced the impression that this was a guitar built with recording engineers rather than guitarists in mind. Presumably recording engineers who didn’t have to stand up for three hours.
The market agreed. The Professional was phased out in 1971 after a remarkably short run — replaced by the Les Paul Recording, which at least had the transformer built in. A few stragglers shipped as late as 1973, making surviving examples genuinely rare today. Chicago guitarist Terry Kath was one of the few players who truly embraced what Gibson was attempting, using his Professional both in the studio and on stage — presumably with a very sturdy strap.
What Gibson didn’t mention in that modest price tag pitch was the weight. Coming in close to 12 lbs, the Professional is the kind of guitar that reminds you it exists about two songs into the second set. The solid mahogany pancake body construction was built to last — and your lower back will confirm it has.
This example features the standard walnut finish, that unmistakable bank of knobs and switches on the lower bout, and the slightly unusual body dimensions that set the low-impedance Les Pauls apart from their siblings. Heavy, rare, and unapologetically weird.