The first model simply called "Les Paul Bass", had a few interesting features, most notably low impedance circuitry, especially designed for recording in the studio.
The Les Paul Standard bass available from 1997 until 2006 featured a carved maple top over a chambered body for reduced weight.
It appeared in four ‘worn’ nitrocellulose solid body colours with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard and large black three-ply pickguard.
Its mahogany slab body closely resembles that of the 1959-1961 double cut EB-0 from which the new bass supposedly draws its inspiration but it is not a ‘reissue’ instrument.
Unlike its ancestor the new bass has its ceramic twin- coil pickup mid-way between the neck and bridge which can be used in humbucker or single-coil mode via a push/pull volume knob.