This is a lovely guitar that I am sorely tempted to keep… This is one of the nicest guitars ever to pass through here and is also a bit of a bargain for what it is. It is a JAW DROPPING original 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty with an early 70’s hard shell case. You do not come across these like this every day, especially at this nice price…

So why is it around 10k cheaper than most you see..? Issues are - it once had a Bigsby that has now been removed and is back to it’s normal tunomatic / stop tail configuration. Different tuners have been on it at one stage, it may have had different pickups on it for a while too as there is a slight shadow of a surround around the original cavities but there is no extra routing anywhere and no extra screw holes and finally, it has had a refret as most of these have had.

The good news is, original finish - apart from where the Bigsby and tuner holes have been touched up, is in gorgeous condition. Original pickups including that lovely Alnico V neck pickup, some of the pots may be original, at least 2 of them might but the original knobs are well on there and I do not want to risk breaking them to look at the pot codes on the side of the pots. It looks like the output lead has had a new sleeve put on it as well.

Hardware, as far as I can tell is original apart from the plastic back plates and the tuners which are newer, aged, Kluson wafflebacks that look so good, it is difficult to tell they are replacements.

Guitar is a real joy to play and sounds wonderful… if you’ve not experienced one of these 50’s Customs before you are in for a treat! There are no neck issues, both pickups sound sweet and strong and neck is a superb, confoirtable medium profile, not too beefy and not slim either. Weight is 4.1Kg

This guitar is also a thing of sheer beauty… I know of few others that look so classy in this understated black with black pickups. I will be sad to see this go and it looks really cool in my flat here in Cheltenham.. 

Condition wise it is really quite excellent, there are a few dings and dongs here and there, there is some lacquer checking but nothing serious. The black finish has aged to an almost blueish hue under the right lighting and the binding has yellowed nicely. The whole things lights up like a genie under black UV light and reveals the Bigsby shadow on the top plus touch ups from the Bigsby and tuner holes - very little of this you can see under normal light. Even the paint in the cavities light up with UV. There are no breaks anywhere, neck is totally solid and stable.

Around 8 years ago a UK dealer who will remain anonymous, sold this as an all original 1955 Les Paul Custom for £16,500. It clearly is not and the previous owners widow was none too happy to find this out. I believe it is now realistically priced and is going to be a total bargain for someone who will really enjoy it as I have.