1961 Gibson Les Paul Custom
The first decade of Gibson Les Paul production has been written about perhaps more than any other topic in the annals of vintage guitar history. As many readers already know, Gibson had phased out the use of the classic single-cutaway Les Paul shape by 1961, introducing in its place a new doublepointed design we now know as the SG “solid guitar”. At the time of this transition, the switch was made on all of the Les Paul models – from the spartan single-pickup Les Paul Junior all the way up to the subject of today’s spotlight, the Les Paul Custom with its triple set of PAF humbuckers.
Apart from the radical change in body shape, the SG-style Les Paul Customs of this era varied from the previous model in a few ways, including the use of Alpine White as the standard finish to replace the Black Beauty aesthetic of the original design. Customs from this era can also be found with either Bigsby vibrato systems or a more idiosyncratic side-pull system as seen on today’s featured guitar.
This Reverb listing comes to us from Sixty Sixty Sounds of Denmark Street and is in fine original condition save for some refinish work on the neck. While a topof-the-market vintage piece to be sure, values on this particular era of Custom have been on the rise in the past few years owing in part to their increased visibility in the hands of various artists, including the recent renewed recognition of rock progenitor Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who can be seen playing one in several of her more iconic photos and videos.
To find the full listing, head to: https://bit.ly/Reverb61Custom