In honor of the 50 years that Gibson has been handcrafting guitars in Nashville, the Gibson Les Paul Custom 70s delivers classic 1970s specs and style
The famed Les Paul™ Custom 70s model has returned to the Gibson core lineup, available in four throwback finishes and offering classic 1970s specifications. This exciting relaunch lands just as Gibson is celebrating the 50th anniversary of handcrafting guitars in Nashville, Tennessee. Though the Gibson story began over 130 years ago, it was in 1975 when Gibson found its forever-home in Music City, and some of the first guitars to come out of the company’s new base were indeed Les Paul Customs—soon a hit with the hard-rock icons of the era.
The Les Paul Custom model was first introduced in 1953 as an upscale version of the Gibson Les Paul, and was requested by Les Paul himself, who wanted a black version of his signature guitar that “looked like a tuxedo.” In 1961, the single cutaway Les Paul Custom was discontinued in favor of a new double-cutaway model that would later become known as the SG™ Custom, but the original single-cutaway model was reintroduced in 1968.
During the 1970s, production of the Les Paul Custom moved from Kalamazoo to Nashville, where it received updates such as a multi-piece maple top that replaced the original all-mahogany-body construction. These Les Paul Customs are some of the fastest-appreciating guitars on the vintage market today.
The Gibson Les Paul Custom 70s is available in Tobacco Burst, Ebony, Buttercream Top, and Wine Red finishes
The classic specs of the newly revived Les Paul Custom 70s guitar include a mahogany body with a three-piece maple top, five-ply top binding and three-ply back binding, a maple neck with a 70s profile and a volute, and a bound ebony fretboard home to 22 medium jumbo frets and mother-of-pearl block inlays.
The bound headstock hosts the famous Custom Split Diamond headstock inlay, also in mother-of-pearl, and the guitar’s classic aesthetic is truly set off by gold hardware, including an aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic™ bridge, an aluminum Stop Bar tailpiece, and smooth-turning Grover® Rotomatics® with Keystone button tuners for stability.
Smaller details have been refined to a tee, including diamond-shaped Posi-Lok™ strap buttons, a five-ply pickguard, and 70s-era approved Witch Hat control knobs. The electronics are also era-appropriate, as the guitar is fitted with a pair of Calibrated T-Type humbuckers™ with individual volume and tone controls that are handwired to Orange Drop® capacitors. The Les Paul Custom 70s guitar is finished in nitrocellulose lacquer and comes in Ebony, Tobacco Burst, Wine Red, and even a version with a Buttercream Top. Each one arrives in a hardshell case.
The Gibson Les Paul Custom 70s is available worldwide now on Gibson.com, via authorized Gibson dealers, and at Gibson Garage locations.
