The Guitar Magazine – July 2019

KEY FEATURES

PRICE £5,199 (inc. hard case)

DESCRIPTION Solidbody set-neck electric guitar. Made in USA

BUILD Two-piece figured maple top with single-ply Royalite

binding, solid mahogany back, solid mahogany neck with

‘Authentic ‘59 Medium C-Shape’ profile, bound Bolivian

rosewood/pau ferro fingerboard with 12-inch radius,

22 medium-jumbo frets, nylon nut, aged cellulose nitrate

trapezoid inlays, holly headstock veneer

HARDWARE & PLASTICS Nickel no-wire ABR-1 bridge with

lightweight aluminium stop-bar tailpiece. Kluson single-line,

single-ring tuners, laminated cellulose acetate butyrate

pickguard and jack plate, stepped two-ply truss-rod cover,

butyrate gold top-hat knobs, amber Catalin switch tip,

silkscreened cellulose acetate butyrate poker chip

ELECTRICS 2x alnico III unpotted Custombuckers, CTS 500K

Audio Taper potentiometers (2x volume, 2x tone) with

paper-in-oil capacitors, 3-way toggle pickup selector switch

SCALE LENGTH 24.75"/628.6mm

NECK WIDTH 42.8mm at nut, 52.5mm at 12th fret

NECK DEPTH 22.3mm at first fret, 25.1mm at 12th fret

STRING SPACING 35.8mm at nut, 51.7mm at bridge

WEIGHT 8.9lb/4.03kg

FINISH Royal Teaburst nitrocellulose (as reviewed),

Cherry Teaburst, Factory Burst, Green Lemon Fade,

Southern Fade, Slow Iced Tea Fade, Sunrise Teaburst,

Golden Poppy Burst, Kindred Burst, Orange Sunset Fade

OPTIONS Indian rosewood fingerboard

LEFT-HANDERS Yes

CONTACT Gibson gibson.com

A gorgeous Les Paul that’s closer to

9 /10 the golden-era experience than most

Think about the stinging attack of Bloomfield
and Beano and how those huge, biting lead tones
are reminiscent of a Telecaster on steroids – there’s
something horn-like in the adenoidal, almost vocal
quality of single notes. It’s easy to hear how the PAF
fits into the Gibson pickup family tree as a logical
step forward from the P-90, with which it has so
much shared sonic DNA.
Without being shackled by heavy potting, the
alnico III Custombuckers in our review guitar
have plenty of air in the high end and there’s an
abundance of light and shade on tap thanks to
volume and tone controls that have no shortage of
usable, musical range. Interestingly, the concave tops
on the butyrate knobs mean that it’s a little easier to
get some purchase on those top hats in sweaty stage
conditions than it is when using less accurate repros.
The shifting harmonics you can hear when you
hold a chord and listen closely to this guitar’s acoustic
sustain are present in abundance when plugged in.
The amplified tones range from cutting to dark and
complex, yet the neck pickup is never woolly or
cloying; there’s always plenty of snap available if
you dig in with fingers or a pick, while the bridge
is the place to go for more of a nasal quack. It’s
powerful, too, with plenty of punch for rock riffs
and powerchords.
When we rev up a Collector’s Choice Les Paul
loaded with original PAFs for comparison, it’s clear
that Gibson has indeed been listening hard. The
PAF-equipped reference LP has more separation
when playing complex chords and a slightly sweeter
treble extension, but the strong family resemblance
between the two sets of tones on offer is undeniable.
Not bad when you consider that the PAFs alone are
worth about as much as our review guitar.
Through a tweed Fender or Plexi-style Marshall,
the 60th Anniversary model does everything a good
Les Paul should, and even when pushing the amp
hard with a Tube Screamer and a klone, we don’t
experience unwanted microphonic feedback –
especially not at the kind of stage volumes at which
most of us are gigging these days.
There will always be those who want to make
further tweaks to a reissue guitar in the spirit of
recreating every detail of a vintage instrument –
even its flaws – but we’d strongly recommend
getting to know what the Custombuckers can
do in their latest unpotted incarnation before
you consider swapping them out.
And even if you do want to use this 60th
Anniversary model as a platform for modifications,
it’s more affordable and vintage-correct than many
recent True Historic and Collector’s Choice models.
Regardless, in its stock form, this is a dream guitar
for most players and Gibson Custom has done a
fine job of recreating a mid-century classic for the
modern world.

ABOVE Tinted clear coats

over the mother of pearl

Gibson logo lend it a

greenish-gold hue

REVIEWS

GUITAR MAGAZINE 33