What “flame”

[moreles]

There's no definitive grading standard. You would have to see if you can find how Gibson happened to grade it. IMO, the grading of tops is pretty much a +/- one letter deal --- what someone calls AA others might call A, orhters AAA. To me, yours is a AA or AAA top with no further precision possible. I'm an outlier on this because I do not like the precise, pinstriped, narrow figure tops that people rate most highly. I like the wavier, thicker curls that lose some of their symmetry when the topwood is carved away to make the great 3D conturs of a LP. You don't see that stuff anymore -- just the same old, same old exactly bookmatched find patters that every veneered cheapie also duplicates. I think your lucky that yours isn't even more tight and precise.

 

[JohnnyN]

Nice! Happy NGD

 

[Jesse Johnson]

Refinish? Why?

Also, someone swapped out at least two of the knobs and flipped your neck pickup. I would pull the pickups and make sure they were not swapped out.

Bahahaha! I did that as a tribute to Peter Green. Good looking out though!

 

[Jesse Johnson]

It's okay. He bought it from Joe Bonamassa.

Bahahaha! My little tribute to Peter Green. Joe who?

 

[Mr Hockey]

Congrats on your Les Paul. It's a real beauty. Enjoy.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

Fact is the tops were not always rated the same way.
I've seen some AA's looking better than some AAA's.
And the width within the "flames" pattern vary a lot.
Some like them close together, some like them wider apart.
Another inconsistent spec form Gibson.
You gotta love them!

 

[redcoats1976]

lookin good...

 

[01GT Eibach]

Bahahaha! My little tribute to Peter Green. Joe who?

Joe Bonamassa is known for using two different sets of knobs, too. Hence, my dumb joke that it was bought from him. This pic is a 2011 Gibson Joe Bonamassa-signature Les Paul.

 

[MP4-22]

AAA

 

[Great R8]

Flame doesn't matter as much as that neck pickup being rotated 180 degrees. Shows my priorities. PG inspired?

 

[Gibsonrocknroll]

Very nice congrats.

 

[Jesse Johnson]

Flame doesn't matter as much as that neck pickup being rotated 180 degrees. Shows my priorities. PG inspired?

Yes, the whole out of phase thing and the 2 different knob styles. The guitar itself is a far cry from Greeny.