Gibson Custom, Art & Historic 1957 Les Paul Custom 'Black Beauty' Reissue 2000

This is a stunning Gibson Custom, Art & Historic 1957 Les Paul Custom ‘Black Beauty’ Reissue in Ebony finish. Made in the USA in 2000, this guitar comes from one of the early iterations of what is today called the Gibson Custom Shop. Whilst Gibson have long been producing ‘custom’ special orders for customers & artists, it wasn’t until late 1993 that a dedicated division was set up. Originally, the Custom, Art & Historic division produced historic reissues alongside special versions of USA line guitars that included unique features not available elsewhere. By 1996 the first Artist models were produced, beginning with the Joe Perry Les Paul & Ace Frehley in ‘97 which both went on to enjoy Gibson USA production runs. In 2007, Gibson renamed the division to simply ‘Gibson Custom’, simplifying its name but continuing to develop the finest & most exclusive instruments that Gibson offers.

A faithful recreation of the 1957 Les Paul Custom ‘Black Beauty’ specification, this instrument of course features a set-neck construction comprising a Mahogany body with a Maple top, Mahogany neck and 22 fret Rosewood fingerboard. Gold hardware is fitted including a Bigsby B7 tailpiece, ABR-1 ToM bridge & Grover Rotomatic tuning machines. A trio of Gibson ‘57 Classic humbucking pickups are installed, and are wired to a 3-way toggle switch, neck volume, neck tone, middle/bridge volume & middle/bridge tone controls. Era-specific features are present such as the ‘50s headstock, ‘50s neck profile- even down to the historic spec wiring & electronic components.

The Mahogany neck plays very well, with the Rounded ‘50s profile feeling nicely substantial in the hand. Whilst certainly on the thicker side, there is still plenty of scope for fast articulate playing - the neck is no ‘baseball bat’ as some ‘50s reissue instruments can be. There is a reassuring weight to the body at 10.25lbs thanks to the non-weight relieved Mahogany body - just as the original ‘50s guitars were. It’s easy to see why this era of Les Paul has endured & been celebrated so long - the smooth lines of the body are comfortable in both seated & standing positions, the controls are well placed & the cutaway offers unrestricted access to the top frets.

The ‘57 Classic is Gibson’s modern recreation of the PAF humbucker, and as such make use of AlNiCo 2 magnets & balanced coils to get as close to the original PAF tone as possible without sacrificing any modern reliability. The neck position is round and powerful, and can handle plenty of gain for saturated lead tones. The bridge is of course brighter, and with a higher output can easily push your amp into a harmonically rich & searing distortion tone which is perfect for rock rhythm parts and riffs. The middle pickup is paired with the bridge, and adds a unique, powerful output which is exclusive to the Black Beauty.