A very important part of the Gibson Les Paul history this is one of the first 100 “black beauty” Les Paul Customs made by Gibson as they relaunched the Les Paul in the 2nd half of 1968.
After a successful showing of prototypes at the NAMM in the summer of 68, production started in late October with a run of 100 hand-made guitars over a three month period.Consequently a number of the guitars show as 1969’s, but are an integral part of the iconic 1968 production run.
These Les Pauls are fantastic instruments with thoroughbred heritage to boot. They are the most sought after of the late Sixties Les Pauls. Hand made using the ‘59 jigs and tooling they have a decidedly 50's construction throughout and offer a great alternative to an older (and more expensive) examples. This particular model has the serial number commencing 544*** which comes back as early 1969, and has pot codes for week 52 of 1968.This is undoubtedly one of the “1968 Les Pauls”.
The construction is a one-piece Honduran Mahogany back, a one-piece maple top and a one-piece mahogany neck (with two little separate wings to form the holly shaped headstock). One of the defining features of these guitars is the long neck tenon, which disappeared as Gibson moved into mass production of Les Paul in spring ’69. Other key features that confirm the guitar’s pedigree include: distinctive control cavity route with smooth walls; headstock has Split-diamond inlay; logo has no dot over the “I” with the “open” b and o, and the truss rod cover is inscribed “Les Paul Custom”.
With the exception of a refret this guitar is 100% original even the solders look untouched.It includes the pat number sticker humbuckers, week 52 1968 dated pots, "Black Beauty" Spragues, Waffle back tuners with gold buttons, and the ABR1 tune-o-magic bridge with the correct nylon inserts and wire retainers.
These guitars are hard enough to find, so to have one that is unmolested is very exciting. The body is in really good condition – there are a few obvious small marks to the top and some other minor marks to the sides as shown in the last 6 pictures – the back has some very light scratches (too small to pick up on the pictures). There is a loss of gold finish to some of the hardware and the pickup cover, but all-in-all it is in great shape for its 55+ years.
But there is no point in having such a collector’s item just to look at – this guitar deserves to be played. With the fretboard and frets in great shape it plays so nicely, and when you plug it in these humbuckers give out such great drive when pushed, and beautiful tone when you back it off a bit – we will miss having this in the shop………
The guitar comes complete with a Gibson Model 0535, Faultess Case (Plush) with purple lining – this was not original to the guitar and was bought by the previous owner to compliment the guitar.
If you want to know more about this era of Gibson Les Paul check out the excellent latesixtieslespauls.com
This guitar will be hand delivered within mainland UK for £75.00. Hand delivery will be on the first available Sunday or Monday following purchase.
Customers outside of UK should contact Vintage Rare & Retro Guitars for a shipping quotation. Free pick-up is always available at our Gullane shop.
