Gibson Les Paul Custom Limited 50th 1960 Reissue 2010 Black Beauty 1 of 200

When Les Paul and Gibson president Ted McCarty conceived the Les Paul Custom model in the early 1950s, it was a high-end partner to the Goldtop and, later, the sunburst Les Paul Standard, with upgraded finishes and an Ebony finish to match the black-tie suit at the kinds of events where it would look great.

The “Black Beauty” debuted in late 1953 to instant success, but it would be a few years before the design would reach its peak. The 1960 Les Paul Custom, augmented with two gold-plated PAF humbucking pickups and a super-fast, thin neck, is often considered the epitome of the breed, and its return, and its dress for the ball, comes in the form of the new Gibson Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Custom. Just like the original, designed to emulate the tuxedo a jazz performer would wear to perform at a formal function, the 1960 Les Paul Custom 50th Anniversary features a gloss Ebony nitrocellulose finish, multi-ply binding on the body and headstock, an ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl block markers, a larger headstock with mother-of-pearl split-diamond inlays, and gold-plated hardware throughout