“Everybody wanted to know, why black? And I said, ‘Because you can see your hands move when you’re on the stage and it looks good with any outfit you wear.’”

Les Paul

Not everyday that a guitar like this turns up at the doorstep. The finish seems to be untouched by time, almost as though it's only just left the factory, the clean lines free of the checking that should almost be a given with a guitar that is over 65 years old. It is immediately apparent that great care has been taken with this instrument. 

The neck too is in great condition. There is a patch of wear to the finish along the treble side otherwise it's immaculate. The original frets still have life left in them and the ebony fretboard is as you’d expect -flawless.

Needless to say, this guitar is 100% original in every way and is a true investment grade classic.

The hardware is maybe the most striking feature as its retained most of its gold plating which in places looks almost new. Inevitably there are some spots where its worn but you can’t have everything.

Plastics are in great shape with the roll marks evident at certain angles.

Electrically everything has been left well alone with no evidence of any soldering being disturbed.

The guitar comes with its original Gibson Black Tolex hardshell case.

Sonically this guitar is a revelation. So often Customs end up being modified as players misinterpret the unique way Gibson wired the Custom and misjudge the potential of the middle pickup in its correct configuration. The epiphany comes when you plug in this guitar and hear how, with all three pickups positioned how they should be and not a single piece of solder disturbed, this guitar gives you three distinct and complementary sounds. 

The neck pickup is a delight, smooth with enough crispness to not get too muddy, the bridge biting as you expect from an early PAF with that almost telecaster quality. With the selector in the middle, the combination of middle pickup and bridge out of phase with each other yields an almost Stratocaster position two tone with more body. All together they provide a smooth talk transition, begging the question why change it in the first place?  

It has been a long time since we have seen a 3 pickup Custom this clean and it will be a long time before another comes along, that we can guarantee.

These guitars don’t come around very often, and almost never in this condition. If there's a Custom shaped hole in your collection, grab this one before it gets away…