The entire premise of Gibson Custom's Collector's Choice™ series revolves around the recreation of the most prized Les Paul Standards. But our subject on this occasion represents a rarity among the rare—and even something of an enigma. In a little over 52 years on this planet, this fascinating "transitional" early 1960 Les Paul Standard has had only four owners, three of whom prefer to remain anonymous, while one is very much known to the guitar-playing public, Joe Bonamassa. Collector's Choice 1960 Les Paul #3 0-0137, otherwise known to all as "The Babe," is a marvelously well-preserved Les Paul Standard. It presents an unusual combination of late-'59 features on an early 1960 model-year guitar, as well as being one of very few verifiable Standards of the era produced with a factory-ordered Bigsby vibrato (called a "Floating Bridge" at the time). In short, the Collector's Choice 1960 Les Paul #3 0-0137 "The Babe" is a precise recreation of what is an unusual and extremely desirable Les Paul by any standards, and production is strictly limited so it is destined to remain an extremely collectible guitar.
Not every Gibson guitar traces its heritage back to the so-called "Golden Years" of American Guitars, which is widely accepted to be most of the 1950s and into the 1960s. The Gibson Custom ES-137 semi-hollowbody electric is a perfect example. Gibson never built any instrument quite like this until recently. It clearly combines two distinctive influences: the look of Gibson's single cutaway, semi-hollowbodies and the hot sound of a Les Paul Classic. Is it a blues guitar? A rock guitar? Or perhaps a jazz guitar? The answer is, it's all of these. With a curly maple semi-hollow body and a mahogany centerblock it can play clean jazz or fusion lines, but crank your amp to "11" and the ES-137 semi-hollowbody screams just like a Les Paul. Hardshell case included.
If we wanted to nominate a "king of rock guitar"for the 1970s, the Les Paul Custom would be a top contender. Check out the formative playing of Mick Ronson with David Bowie, Lindsey Buckingham with Fleetwood Mac, Steve Gaines with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Jones with the Sex Pistols, and plenty of others, and a Les Paul Custom is right there at the center of their massive tonal assault. Bringing a dose of '70s styling to a formidable rock instrument, Epiphone introduces the Limited Edition 1970s Inspired Les Paul Custom Blackback Outfit. Loaded with all the essential ingredients that have made the Les Paul a classic for more than five decades, and dressed in upgraded appointments that can only be labeled "Custom," this is an axe for players looking to strut their stuff a little differently under the big lights, and to ensure they get heard in the process. When Les Paul conceived the Les Paul Custom model with Gibson president Ted McCarty in 1954, he saw it as the top model of the line, the "black tie"guitar for formal dress, formal occasions, and professional players.
Paul Kossoff had a unique take on the blues-rock movement, exhibited particularly in the masterful vibrato that helped to give his Les Paul a huge, dynamic voice—and the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard on which he achieved such heights is known to be one of greatest sounding ’Bursts ever made. Since Paul’s death in 1976, this coveted guitar has remained in the possession of Arthur Ramm, Paul’s close personal friend. Now, in cooperation with the Kossoff estate, Gibson Custom has gained access to this incredible Les Paul in order to painstakingly recreate it in strictly limited numbers. Digitally scanned, measured and tested in England by Gibson Custom, this rare piece of musical history has been documented in intimate detail in order to recreate as closely as possible the tone, look and feel of the guitar in its current condition, as Paul left it when he passed away. The result, presented by Gibson Custom in the form of the Paul Kossoff 1959 Les Paul Standard, will be reproduced as just 100 hand-aged guitars, and a further 250 guitars treated with Gibson’s proprietary VOS process.
Paul Kossoff had a unique take on the blues-rock movement, exhibited particularly in the masterful vibrato that helped to give his Les Paul a huge, dynamic voice—and the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard on which he achieved such heights is known to be one of greatest sounding ’Bursts ever made. Since Paul’s death in 1976, this coveted guitar has remained in the possession of Arthur Ramm, Paul’s close personal friend. Now, in cooperation with the Kossoff estate, Gibson Custom has gained access to this incredible Les Paul in order to painstakingly recreate it in strictly limited numbers. Digitally scanned, measured and tested in England by Gibson Custom, this rare piece of musical history has been documented in intimate detail in order to recreate as closely as possible the tone, look and feel of the guitar in its current condition, as Paul left it when he passed away. The result, presented by Gibson Custom in the form of the Paul Kossoff 1959 Les Paul Standard, will be reproduced as just 100 hand-aged guitars, and a further 250 guitars treated with Gibson’s proprietary VOS process.