Gibson Custom builds in Nashville. The Custom, Art and Historic division was set up as its own operation in 1993, the year the first Historic Les Paul Reissue appeared, and the brief has not changed since: build a 1959 Les Paul the way it was built in 1959, down to the carve, the wiring and the lacquer.
Most of what is on this page is a Historic Reissue. '58, '59 and '60 Les Paul Standards with Custombuckers, '56 and '57 Goldtops, a 1968 Les Paul Custom. VOS is Vintage Original Spec: period-correct hardware and electronics, and a finish Gibson takes off full gloss and wears in before it ships.
The Murphy Lab is Tom Murphy's aging shop inside Gibson Custom. He developed the process and trained the people who run it. It works at four levels. Ultra Light Aged is finish checking and little else. Light Aged reads as decades of ordinary playing. Heavy Aged adds buckle wear and aged hardware. Ultra Heavy Aged goes through to arm wear and neck wear, with the hardware beaten to match.
Made to Measure is where the spec gets written before the guitar gets built, and a good share of this page came through it. Handpicked and torrefied tops, koa, 5A and 7A quilt, left-handed builds, a stinger headstock, a Carmelita neck. The colours run Bourbon Burst, Dirty Lemon Fade, Iguana Burst, Green Lemon, Ice Flame, Faded Cobra, and Violet Purple Denim over a TV White back. Away from the Les Pauls there is a Murphy Lab 1961 ES-335 in cherry, a non-reverse Firebird 12-string in Aqua Mist, and a Les Paul Axcess in Olive Drab.
Lauzon Music is one of the biggest Gibson Custom Shop dealers in the world. We go to Gibson once a year, pick out the wood and spec the finishes ourselves. Every one of these crosses Ian Vance's bench in Ottawa before it ships. If the spec you want is not on this page, we will write it up and order it.