The Gibson Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar

In the 1940s, luthier and jazz musician Les Paul experimented with his skills in electronics to improve and change the sound of his guitar. He spent years building and re-building models, not realizing that the information he was collecting in his work would eventually shape the world of Rock and Roll.

By 1945 Les finally felt that he had come up with a presentable prototype, which he called The Log because of it’s solid body. Immediately he went to his favorite guitar manufacturer with the invention, hoping to sell it’s design. When he presented it to Gibson, however, the company rejected his model.

Hope was not lost. Because the axe was so interesting and the technology for this kind of instrument was so new, a relationship between Les and the Gibson company was formed. From that point on this rocky but interesting partnership produced many high quality pieces with extraordinary features. Today you can not only find vintage re-releases of the original Gibson Les Paul Electric but you can order fancy and fully loaded custom Les Pauls as well.

Vintage

Gibson Custom makes a lot of awesome axes with great additional features. For those of us, however, who are looking for something from the past, the Gibson Custom Historic Les Paul series is pure decadence. In fact, there are 10 decadent models to choose from, each highlighting a specific piece of hardware.

• 1957 Junior: This is a beautiful solid body axe whose focus is the low price and the lovely mahogany neck. It has an aluminum tail piece to keep it light and comes in Vintage Sunburst or TV Yellow.
• 1958 Junior: The 1958 version of the Junior was still focused on cost efficiency and a double cutaway body.
• 1960 Special Single Cut: The Special Single Cut was offered in 1960 as a mid-range guitar with the price of a Junior and the custom feel of the Les Paul. It has a great sound and feel.
• 1960 Special Double Cut: A step up from the single cut, the double cut offered more options in play and sound as well as a more heftier feel to the axe. An excellent guitar and very vintage.
• 1956 Goldtop: This fancy guitar offers a toggleswitch washer and jack plate, and an ABR-1 Bridge with aluminum stopbar tailpiece for lightweight action.
• 1957 Goldtop: The amazing 1957 Goldtop is back with Burstbuckers dual coil humbucking pickups combined with the ABR-1 Bridge. Magnificent.
• 1957 Custom: Because the dual coil pickups became standard in the Custom series, all Gibson had left to do with the 57 was change the color and offer yet another pickup. Thus, this usually black (comes in other colors) guitar features 2 or 3 pickups–your choice.
• 1958 Standard: As revealed by the company itself, the 58 Standard was released the same as its original but with a sunburst cherry color around the edges of the TV yellow. Yay for color.
• 1959 Standard: Quite an interesting revelation is the 1959 Standard. Jumbo frets were added to the Standard body, giving the 59 Standard more force in bend and a new feel.
• 1960 Standard: The 60 Standard was released with a dramatic change to the beautiful Mahogany neck–it was thinned out for a different feel and sound in bend. A great guitar.

The Custom Line

The Custom line of Gibson Les Pauls are supposed to be the highest quality a guitarist can ask for. They are made with only the highest quality woods, features and hardware. Take a look:

• Class 5 Quilt Top: This excellent piece of equipment offers a highly quilted Maple top, slim tapered neck and 2 or 3 Burstbucker pickups.
• Les Paul Custom: We all know he’s a flashy guy so it’s no surprise that the Les Paul Custom features gold hardware and 490 or 498 Alnico Pickups.

Limited Historic

Rare and exotic guitars like these are hard to find so it’s a relief that there is now a custom shop to turn to for vintage high quality. The Limited Historic line for Gibson is the ultimate in guitar buying power but only offers 4 models in limited quantities.

• 1954 Goldtop: The wraparound tail piece is what sets this baby apart from others. Still the classic Les Paul Goldtop, but improved in giving the player control over his tone and sustain.
• 1954 Oxblood: Still sporting the wraparound tail piece of the 54 Goldtop, the 54 Oxblood carved maple top comes in a beautiful almost-black finish and features two Burstbucker pickups.
• 1954 Custom: Because Les appreciated his work so much, he insisted that the Custom come with gold hardware to make a statement and a black finish to show the player’s hands off easily. The 54, however, is also known for being the first solid body to feature the ABR-1 Bridge. Either way, it’s a top notch axe.
• 1957 Custom Faded Cherry: Burstbucker pickups became standard on the Customs in 1957, so naturally this beautiful cherry stained guitar has them as well. This re-make also has gold hardware, of course.

Limited Custom

The Limited Custom series at Gibson only has one model but it’s a damn good one: The Les Paul Ultima. With tons of options for the player in mind, this gorgeous guitar is equipped with either a high quality or flamed maple top. It also has gold hardware and your choice of a Nashville TOM Bridge, Stopbar or Ultima Tail piece. It comes with a set of 57 Classic Humbucking pickups and Grover Imperial Tuners for rich, warm sound and long sustain. The finish, of course is that amazing Cherry Sunburst finish.

For Your Information

Custom guitars, despite how expensive they are, have been breaking boundaries and climbing steadily in demand over the years. Perhaps that’s because when a guitarist has played long and hard, they deserve to play gold. For more information about Gibson Custom Les Pauls or any other customizable Gibson guitar, visit their websites at www.gibson.com and especially www.gibsoncustom.com. Rock on!

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