As Gibson celebrates its 50th anniversary of handcrafting guitars in Nashville, it is proud to reintroduce the legendary Les Paul™ Custom 70s, making its long-awaited return to the Gibson lineup after two decades as a model only available from Gibson Custom.
In 1975, when Gibson found a new forever home in Nashville, Tennessee, some of the first Gibson models to come out of the new craftory were Les Paul Customs, which quickly made their way to the heavy metal pioneers and hard-rock icons of the era. In celebration of 50 years of Gibson in Music City, the Gibson Les Paul Custom 70s features classic era-correct specs like a headstock volute, a mahogany body, a three-piece maple top bound in five-ply, and throwback 1970s finishes.
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gibson in Music City and explore the Gibson Les Paul Custom 70s, available worldwide at authorized Gibson dealers, at Gibson Garage locations, and on Gibson.com.
The Les Paul Custom was first introduced in 1953 as an upscale version of the Les Paul model. The model 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 transitioned from Kalamazoo to Nashville, and the Les Paul Custom received various changes that further refined the model, including a multi-piece maple top that replaced the original all-mahogany-body construction. Today, these 70s-era Les Paul Customs are some of the fastest-appreciating guitars on the vintage market.
The Les Paul Custom 70s features classic 1970s specs, including a mahogany body with a three-piece maple top. The body is bound with a five-ply top binding and three-ply back binding. The maple neck has a 70s profile, a volute, and is topped with a bound ebony fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and mother-of-pearl block inlays. The bound headstock is also adorned with mother-of-pearl in the form of the famous Custom Split Diamond headstock inlay, which originated with the Gibson Super 400 and has become synonymous with the Les Paul Custom.
The Les Paul Custom 70s features gold hardware, including an aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge, an aluminum Stop Bar tailpiece, and smooth-turning Grover® Rotomatic® with Keystone button tuners for reliable tuning stability. Even the smallest details have been recreated, including diamond-shaped Posi-Lok™ strap locks, a five-ply pickguard, and 70s-era approved Witch Hat control knobs. The electronics are also era-appropriate, with a pair of Calibrated T-Type humbuckers™ with individual volume and tone controls that are hand-wired to Orange Drop® capacitors.
The Les Paul Custom 70s is available in four gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, including Ebony, Tobacco Burst, Wine Red, and even a version with a beautiful Buttercream Top, and each comes packed in a hardshell case for protection on the way to your next gig. The wait is over--the Les Paul Custom has returned to the Gibson USA lineup and is ready to rock your world.
This exciting Les Paul Custom 70s 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—which soon became a hit with the rock icons of the era. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary year in Nashville, take a look ahead to what's next at Gibson, HERE.
