1979 - Gibson The Les Paul, Wine Red, Excellent

The "The Les Paul" is a terrible name for a very limited production model. As pinnacle of vintage Norlin era exuberance, the brief was: more flamed maple, and then more. Flamed maple on the carved top, the back, the sides (laminated à-la-ES335), the neck; to top it off, add rosewood appointments in lieu of plastic. Apparently they eventually ran out of some rosewood parts (like poker chips and nuts) and switched to brass for later serials, but this model is part of the first-year production and flaunts all the intended craziness they were going for, including the rosewood/ebony fretboard, the abalone inlays, the plaque with the serial. Fittingly, they made 59 in Natural finish, and 18 in Wine red, check out my #7 from 1976.