By the mid 1970s, a tiger-striped maple top had become a coveted feature on vintage Les Paul Standards from 1958-60, and in 1976 Gibson used spectacularly figured maple as a starting point from which to build the ultimate Les Paul. It was called simply The Les Paul.

The plastic parts on a standard model were replaced with rosewood on The Les Paul, including the knobs, the pickguard, the pickup mounting rings, the selector switch cap, the washer surrounding the selector switch, and the control cavity covers on the back. Rosewood was even used for the outer layer of binding (the inner layers were colored wood) and as the center portion of the ebony-rosewood-ebony fingerboard. The fingerboard inlays were of figured abalone pearl, and the metal parts were, of course, gold-plated.

Gibson produced the model in limited numbers (less than 100 total) for only three years, but The Les Paul remains the most luxuriously appointed model of any catalog solidbody ever offered by Gibson.