Product Description

2000 Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Custom

A unique model from an era with far less options and production numbers from Custom Shop, at the time called the Custom, Art, & Historic Division. This Custom has a mahogany top with a unique cherry finish that is a color more often seen on the all mahogany SG, Junior, and Special models. The top has faded nicely, giving the authentic look of an aged finish while adding lots of variation and depth as well as showing off the grain of the mahogany. All the hardware is well tarnished, with the gold worn off in spots. It is a very pleasing patina, particularly on the tuners which are nearly matte, and matches the aged finish very well. The antiqued binding ties the whole look of the guitar together. This instrument features the iconic split diamond inlay on the headstock and blocks on the fretboard of the Les Paul Custom, with the multi-ply body binding to match. This is from a time before the Custom Shop was issuing a Certificate of Authenticity for every guitar and there is the old "Art & Historic" logo on the case.

This Les Paul is in great condition considering it is over two decades old at this point. The top has a handful of small dings and nicks, but nothing through to wood or causing spider cracks in the clear coat. The sides has a few small dings as well in the bass side waist, in the cutaway, and an oblong nick on the tip of the cutaway. The back has a good amount of buckle rash and worming, with a few dings mixed in, but nothing unsightly. There is some residue form a stick on label on the switch plate. There are some lines of lacquer checking in the clear at the fret ends in a couple of spots, as well as a half inch check along the neck binding at the bass side neck joint. There is a touch of the binding bleed from the aniline dye on the body and neck binding in a few spots. There is surprisingly little fret wear, just some light wear on the treble strings in the lowest positions. A set of strap locks was installed, most likely a long while ago as they are fairly well tarnished.

Serial number 70403

9 lbs 13 oz

.91" at the first fret to 1.00" at the twelfth fret

Setup with Ernie Ball Slinky's 10-46

Black case with maroon interior and Gibson Custom Art & Historic Badge

A really cool example of an early Historic reissue Les Paul Custom. It would surely make a nice addition to a collection of Historic reissue guitars or a good opportunity to check out the build quality on an early 2000's Custom Shop guitar. Happy to provide additional pictures or answer any questions.

Product Specifications

• Mahogany Body
• Mahogany Top
• Mahogany Neck
• Ebony Fingerboard
• 24 3/4" Scale Length
• 1 11/16" Nut Width
• 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
• Mother of Pearl Block Fingerboard Inlays
• Split Diamond Headstock Inlay
• Grover Tuners
• '57 Classic Pickups
• Two Volume & Two Tone Controls
• 3-Way Toggle Switch
• ABR-1 Bridge
• Stop Tailpiece
• Multiply Top & Back Body Binding
• Multiply Headstock Binding
• Bound Neck
• Gold Hardware
• Transparent Cherry Lacquer Finish

Product Details