Gibson Les Paul Recording Natural Walnut 1972 - 74 w/ hardcase

In addition to a three-way pickup selector switch, the Les Paul Recording/Personal/ Professional features master volume, bass and treble attenuation pots/knobs, while a two-way phase switch may be engaged (in/out) with both pickups selected. Further tone shaping is achieved via the 11-way ‘decade’ rotary switch/knob, which, in a similar vain to a Gibson’s Varitone capacitor array, filters the sound in discrete shifts across the frequency spectrum from high to low (through positions 0 to 10). These possibilities are supplemented by the three-way ‘tone selector’ switch, which can be used to instantly deactivate the treble and bass controls and provide alternative pickup selection options.

Whereas the earlier Personal and Professional models required an external low-impedance transformer cord to be used in conjunction with regular high impedance amplifier inputs (as opposed to the low-impedance inputs found on mixing desks and certain amps such as the Gibson LP-1 and LP-12), the Recording featured an onboard two-way low-/high-impedance switch that was later, in 1976, replaced with dual side-mounted high-/low-impedance outputs.

At the same time, the control plate layout changed, and the pickup selector switch moved to the upper bass bout (as per the original Personal and Professional guitars), while three-piece maple necks and maple bodies became commonplace.