The slothead EB-3 had binding. Here they probably did it for a vintage look. It can prevent board shrinkage spikiness unless the shrinkage is so extreme that even the binding breaks, but that normally takes years and when it happens the frets don't stick out as badly anymore.
It will sound nothing like an EB-2, luckily. But it should be close to an EB-650, same scale, same pups (in essence), similar construction (this is chambered, the 650 was hollowbody, but crammed with the hugest sustain block imaginable taking almost all acousticness out of it), only the wood is partially different as the 650 was all maple. The Midtown sould be mellower. But I would imagine it to have a sound most people should really like here.
I believe this model has gained hugely through the long scale in versatility, vintage looks aside, Gibson did something different this time. Let's hope it is more succerssful than its hollow-body predecessors LP Signature, EB-650 and -750, none of them a bad bass, which were all commercial failures though the Signature at least gained some recognition on the vintage market.