❌SOLD❌ Gibson Les Paul Special Tobacco Sunburst, 1977

Introduced in 1955 as an intermediate model, the two-pickup, single cutaway Gibson Les Paul Special’s main difference from the GoldTop Les Paul was the lack of a carved Maple top. This model followed the entry level, single P-90 pickup Les Paul Junior that appeared in 1954. Both models used ‘slab’ Mahogany bodies, Mahogany necks and Rosewood fingerboards – at the time, Brazilian Rosewood. The Les Paul Special added binding to the fingerboard.

For the 1958 model year, these models had a major re-design, gaining a second, upper cutaway; in late 1959 this re-design was re-visited and the neck pickup was moved half an inch towards the bridge, restoring much of the neck joint’s strength that had been lost with the upper cutaway. By 1961, the bodies of the complete Les Paul line were radically re-worked into what was soon re-named the SG, and there were SG Juniors, Specials, Standards, and Customs. By the 1980’s, the popularity of the original designs led to re-issues, which are still in production.

Here we’re looking at a Norlin-era, Tobacco Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Special built during 1977 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This guitar is in overall good condition but has had a recently repaired headstock crack and touchup, done at The Twelfth Fret Repair Shop; as well, it has a ‘2’ stamped on the back of the head, after the guitar was finished. This sort of stamp was most commonly applied by the distributor, rather than by Gibson, and indicated an instrument judged to have some sort of flaw, which can sometimes be hard to identify. This example features Gibson-branded tuners with metal ‘tulip’ buttons, a tune-o-matic and stop tailpiece pair, and a set of P-90 pickups with pickup selector, individual volume and tone controls, and an output jack.

These Gibson Les Paul Special models found acceptance in a range of genres, from rock and punk bands to Reggae. They play well, and sound great.

Sold with a period hard shell case, which may be the original as at the time, some guitars were sold with case extra.