❌SOLD❌ Gibson Les Paul Custom Tobacco Sunburst, 1982

The Gibson Les Paul Custom appeared in 1954 as an upgrade to the 1952 Gold Top, and featured all-Mahogany construction – the top was Mahogany, not Maple. The electronics frets and finish differed as well. The bridge pickup was a P-90 and the neck pickup a ‘Staple Top’ Alnico-V single coil. The frets were very low, and introduced the ‘Fretless Wonder’ concept. Finally the finish was gloss black with Gold-plated hardware and multi-layer binding, emphasising high quality and distinction.

By 1960, faced with dismal sales of the Les Paul design, Gibson launched a completely redesigned version that became known as the SG once the Les Paul endorsement contract ended. The single-cutaway version didn’t re-appear until 1968. However, while the Gibson Les Paul Custom was part of the re-launch, it lost its Mahogany cap and was, like the Standard and 1969 Deluxe, built with a Maple cap.

Gibson Les Paul Custom Tobacco Sunburst Built at Gibson’s Nashville Plant

Here we’re looking at an all original Gibson Les Paul Custom in Tobacco Sunburst, dating to August 16 1982 and built at Gibson’s Nashville plant. This example is in very good clean condition with only light play wear and almost no wear to the gold plating. It plays very well, and the Tobacco Sunburst looks great.   The frets, intentionally low,  have  little wear.     At this point, Gibson had stopped using a Volute on the back of the headstock, and shifted back to Mahogany necks from Maple.   A feature of the Schaller-made tuners, characteristic of this period,  is the small crank that folds out of the tuner button to enable faster string changes.   Now,  faster string changes are accomplished by using locking tuners and fewer string winds on the post.

The stop tailpiece has been raised fairly high, providing a shallow break-over angle from the saddles to the tailpiece. This reduces tension when bending strings. Some players who want this effect move the tailpiece all the way down and ‘top wrap’ the strings over the tailpiece. However, this does increase wear on the Les Paul Custom’s gold plating.

The original Gibson branded case, with a brown exterior and pink interior, is included and is in just as great shape as the guitar.