1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom
Maker
Gibson
(American, founded 1902)
Date1960
ClassificationsMusic
Description1961 Gibson Les Paul Custom "Black Beauty", serial number 70610, in Ebony finish with three humbucker pickups and stop tail. The guitar straddles 1960/1961 with pots reading "134-6046" for 46th week of 1960 so very late in the year meaning the guitar likely came out in early 1961. The neck pickup has a patent applied for decal, however the other two pickups do not (and they do not appear to have ever had a decal). The guitar features a mahogany top, mahogany neck, and ebony fretboard.Gibson came out with the Les Paul Custom only one year after the initial Les Paul Standard model was produced. The Custom models featured all black finishes, gold-plated hardware, and a white binding around various components. The frets were set low, which led to the guitar's nickname, "The Fretless Wonder." The nickname "Black Beauty" refers to the mahogany body (versus the traditional maple) and the ebony fretboard.
