Gibson Les Paul Custom, Black (1972)

Black Beauty Alert!

This 1972 Gibson Les Paul Custom in the none-more-classic "Black Beauty" aesthetic just rolled into the shop on trade, and man, we are digging this old LP big time!

As if an LP Custom couldn't get any cooler, this '72 features the first-year embossed pickup covers! A short-lived feature of the early 70s humbucker loaded electrics, these Patent # "T-Top" pickups got a little more dressed up with the Gibson logo pressed into the covers. It's an era-defining feature, as they were mostly phased out in 1973.

Owned by a longtime working musician and guitar teacher, this guitar is back on the market for the first time in roughly 40 years. Its prior owner made a few parts changes over the years, like adding a gold-plated truss rod cover, swapping out the toggle switch tip and ring, and having the fingerboard planed and refretted some time ago. The refret itself was well done, although the planing altered the factory 12" radius to a tighter 9.5" radius. We maximized this now-unique guitar geometry by swapping out the original ABR-1 bridge (included with the guitar) for a Faber ABR-1 bridge that aligned more with the radius change.