Gibson Les Paul standard 2005 binding bleeding?

[ARandall]

I can simply pick up another guitar at home at any time if I get squealing. There is no 'rest of the band' that is being inconvenienced, nor an audience being traumatised.
And jolting during transport is one of the things that would likely make for the cover being loosened.....which is the main cause of the squeal.

 

[Rick]

The guitar looks nice but I think the aging was accelerated. Looks like it has spent a lot of time in the sun and not much time in someone's hands to me. Nothing wrong with that, just pointing it out. Doesn't look like it has been played much at all.

 

[rockstar232007]

My '01 Classic is almost 20 years old, and doesn't have half the mojo (aging), that one does!

 

[musicmaniac]

Looks fine to me.

 

[moreles]

Because the binding becomes creme colored where the lacquer has been scraped (in the factory) at the top where it transitions to the flat fretboard, I think you can be confident that the darkening is the result of all the factors mentioned by other posters. Because the darkening is even, it is likely from something that affects the whole area evenly -- not so much playwear and touching as, more likely, chemical bleeding and maybe smoke or other fume absorption. This is what happens, and to most of us, certainly not a problem the way grime or corrosion or freaking dirt/sweat might be. The color change looks great, really, IMO. The nut has been fiddled with, as you can see that lacquer has been chipped off the ends. That can happen with a bump, and subsequent flaking and does not necessarily mean that the nut has been replaced. The age cracks and other effects do not look like damage, in the picture -- they look like appealing signs of age and use.