Gibson Les Paul Custom


The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952.

History

The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body with a one-inch-thick maple cap, a mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, two P-90 single coil pickups, and a one-piece, 'trapeze'-style bridge/tailpiece with strings fitted under a steel stop-bar., available only with a gold-finished top, giving rise to the moniker "Gold-Top". In late 1953, a more luxurious version was introduced, most probably on specific request by Les Paul himself, as he wanted a more luxurious and classy looking guitar. He requested a black guitar as he wanted it to "look like a tuxedo". Nicknamed the Black Beauty, the guitar had a mahogany body and neck, ebony fret board, and mother of pearl block markers inlays in the fret board. The "Split Diamond" inlay on the headstock was taken from the carved archtop Super 400, which was the top of the Gibson line. The pickups were a P-90 in the bridge position and an Alnico V pickup, newly designed by Seth Lover, in the neck position. The frets are low and flat, as opposed to the usual medium jumbo frets found on other Les Paul customs, and the guitar soon was given the nickname "The Fretless Wonder". The 1954 Les Paul Custom also saw the introduction of Gibson's new bridge, the ABR-1. The new Custom also shipped with a different case from the Standard, using a black and gold case instead of the brown and pink case that was the top-of-the-line case for the Les Paul Standard models. However, in a 2009 telephone interview, JP Moats stated that, "On occasion, supply issues with the black and gold cases, would necessitate the use of Gibson's top-of-the-line case, so as to be able to fill orders; though it was rare". This was to be the case until the Custom was replaced and discontinued.
In mid-1957, Gibson began to equip the Les Paul Custom with the new PAF pickup designed by Seth Lover. Most Customs have three PAFs, though there are a small number that have the traditional two-pickup configuration. By 1958, Gibson had replaced the Kluson tuners with Grover Rotomatics. It is this configuration that remained until the guitar was discontinued in 1960, replaced by the new double cutaway body Les Paul model. There are a small number of 1961 Les Paul Customs that were made with the single cutaway body before the transition to the new, SG-style body was complete.
The Les Paul Custom remained a double cutaway model until 1963, when Les Paul's endorsement with Gibson ended, and the guitar was subsequently renamed the SG Custom.
In 1968, Gibson re-introduced the Les Paul Custom as a two-pickup model. The headstock angle was changed from 17 to 14 degrees, a wider headstock and a maple top. In 1969, Norlin acquired Gibson, and the Les Paul Custom saw many changes between 1969 and 2004. The mahogany neck was replaced with a three-piece maple neck in 1975 with "20th Anniversary" engraved on the 15th-fret block inlay. By 1976, the new Nashville bridge began to replace the ABR-1. In 1977, the "pancake" maple layer was subtracted from the body, though the top was still maple, as was the neck. It was around this time that the current serial number system appears as well. In 1975, Gibson began making a number of Customs with maple fingerboards, instead of the typical ebony, which was discontinued by the early 1980s. From 1979 to 1982 or 1983, Gibson made a limited edition of 75 Les Paul Customs worldwide in the Silverburst colour with 2 "Tim Shaw Burstbuckers". In 1981, the volute was phased out.
In 1984, Gibson closed the Kalamazoo plant, and all production was moved to Nashville. In 1986, Norlin sold Gibson to a group of investors led by Henry Juszkiewicz.
The Les Paul Custom specs by the end of the 1980s:
Gibson has been installing its 490R/498T pickups as standard equipment on the Custom since the 1990s.
;Specific production years
Les Paul Custom guitars from 2000–2003 were specially made to the requirements of the client, as regards fretboard, neck and body woods, and type of hardware, with some models allowing for requests for specific numbers of turns in the pickups' coils, as well. Individual logo designs and hard cases were also manufactured at the request of the customer. Specific Custom Shop serial numbers were assigned, encoded with Les Paul Custom's smaller, more compact serial number in the format "CS XXXXX".
The first two numbers represent on which number this specific model was built, next two represent the year they were made in and the last numeric value represents the month of formation

Current models

In 2004, Gibson moved construction of the Les Paul Custom to its Nashville Custom Shop. The specs remained similar, with the only immediate changes being a TKL-made Custom Shop case and a Certificate of Authenticity, as well as a Gibson Custom decal on the back of the headstock. The serial number system for the Custom also changed from the 8 digit USA numbering system to the Custom Shop numbering system, which reads as CS YNNNN.
In 2011, Gibson replaced the ebony fingerboard on the production Custom with a solid paper-phenolic resin composite material. After the change in leadership following Gibson's near bankruptcy in 2018, Gibson returned to the use of ebony fret boards.
While the Custom is currently available only in Ebony and Alpine White, it is often offered in Wine Red, Cherry Sunburst and Silverburst, as well. The Custom model differs from the Les Paul Standard in many ways. The cosmetic differences include gold hardware ; inlaid rectangular-block pearloid position markers on the fretboard rather than the modified trapezoidal "crown" inlays of the Standard ; a "split-diamond" five-section pearl inlay on the headstock; and multi-ply binding around the body and headstock, with standard single-ply binding along the fretboard edges. The construction differences are: a physically larger headstock; an ebony, maple or Richlite fretboard, all of which tend to produce a "snappier" tone than the rosewood fingerboard found on the Les Paul Standard; lower frets with more squared off tops and larger round "speed"-style knobs. Gibson also does limited color runs, such as Pelham Blue, Frost Blue, Kerry Green, transparent colors, metallic colors and sunbursts that are not typically offered on a normal Custom. The hardware for those models can be either gold or chrome, depending on the color and/or specs. Starting in 2011, Gibson began to re-introduce maple fingerboards on the Custom, offering limited runs in the traditional colors, as well as transparent colors with figured tops.
In 2013, Gibson did a limited run of 1957 re-issue Customs with ebony fretboards. They were the first Customs since 2011 to feature ebony fretboards, and came with white handling gloves, a 20th anniversary toggle switch control cover, a special COA and a Gibson Custom case. In 2012, Gibson re-introduced the original brown vinyl, pink-plush lined "California girl" case for its Custom Shop models, largely replacing the black and red case that had been in use for almost a decade.
The current Les Paul Custom specs are:
Additionally, Gibson makes a number of signature Les Paul Custom models that are distinctly separate models from the standard production Custom, including:
Gibson has also made a number of other Custom models, including:
;1954 Les Paul Custom Reissue
;1957 Les Paul Custom Reissue
;1961 Les Paul/SG Custom
;1968 Les Paul Custom Reissue
;60th Anniversary Les Paul Custom
;Les Paul Custom Rosewood Maduro
;Les Paul Classic Custom
;Les Paul Custom

Custom Lite models

;Les Paul Custom Lite
;Les Paul Custom Lite

Past Signature Model customs

;Randy Rhoads Les Paul Custom
;Mick Jones Les Paul Custom
;Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom
Gibson discontinued many models with ebony fingerboards as factory spec after the August 2011 federal raid due to concerns regarding the legality of ebony that the company had purchased. The 2013 Les Paul Custom that commemorates the Custom Shop's 20th anniversary is the first and only Custom to feature an ebony fingerboard since late 2011.

Notable Les Paul Custom players