Gibson Custom 1959 Les Paul Standard VOS - WC

Once again, the wizard-like luthiers at the Custom shop have outdone themselves. With a combination of premium tonewoods, obsessive attention to detail, old-world manufacturing techniques, and a healthy dose of love and care, they have crafted some of the mightiest Les Pauls ever to grace the mortal realm. Let's take a closer look and examine some of the splendid ingredients that form their sonic cocktail.

All great electric guitars begin with killer raw materials, and these Les Pauls are no exception. After all, it's impossible when you pair a premium maple top with a select mahogany body. This classic tonewood combination produces a warm, rich, round unamplified sound with just the right amount of cut and articulation.

Hide glue is another source of Custom Shop magic. It's a protein-based adhesive, and when you use it to attach two pieces of wood together, it allows for maximum energy transfer. Though hide glue is extremely difficult to work with, the Custom Shop wizards use it to secure each and every point of connection on reissue Les Pauls. This pays incredible dividends to each instrument's tone. So, these Les Pauls showcase world-beating resonance and sustain!

Of course, it is nigh-impossible to make rock and roll music without electricity, so let's talk about the wires within the wood. Each Les Paul comes equipped with two Alnico III Custombuckers, and they are stunning recreations of vintage PAFs. They punch, bark, bite, rasp, and snarl with the best of them, and they have a good balance of richness and clarity. The mids are woody, the highs sing with inimitable sweetness, and the lows are pure sculpted muscle.

Also, these luscious Lesters come equipped with old-school paper-in-oil capacitors. These true-to-vintage components improve high-end transparency and impart a bit of extra treble cut. So, the warm, beefy humbucking pickups sound supremely balanced.