The Year of the Dog: Gibson unveils $6.7k Chinese New Year Les Paul
Will glitzy guitar bring Gibson good luck?
Gibson’s had a rough time of it in recent months, with mounting debts, Custom Shop job cuts and factory sales, so it could do with a bit of good luck - will its recently unveiled Chinese New Year Les Paul bring good fortune?
Presumably designed and built before the redundancies, the Year of the Dog LP features a Crimson Red finish surrounded by Chinese symbols and artwork, plus engraved gold appointments.
Whether you think it’s a bit of a dog, or it makes you yell “woof!”, it’s certainly got the specs: the ultra-lightweight solid mahogany body is paired with a nitro-finished two-piece maple top, plus a solid mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard.


Pickup-wise, it’s packing a pair of Custombucker Alnico III pups, while kidney Grover tuners round off the package.
Of course, there’s a price for this kind of pedigree: a whopping $6,699. We’d expect a whole lot of good fortune for that kind of figure… Head over to Gibson for more info.
For more on the Gibson story so far, take a look at our in-depth feature on the troubled guitar giant’s situation - Gibson: how did we get here?
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Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
