• Model: Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Custom Reissue "Black Beauty"
• Series: Pre Historic
• Finish: Ebony
• Body: Solid mahogany with carved mahogany top
• Neck: Mahogany
• Scale Length: 24.75"
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Inlays: Pearl blocks
• Frets: 22
• Pickup Configuration: HH
• Pickups: Gibson '57 Classic humbuckers
• Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone
• Switching: 3 way toggle
• Bridge: Tuneomatic
• Tailpiece: Stopbar
• Hardware: Gold
• Pickguard: Multi ply black
• Country: USA
• Year: 1992

This is the Black Beauty, Gibson's Les Paul Custom in its 1957 form, built in 1992 during the Pre Historic era before the Historic Collection proper was launched. These early Custom Shop reissues are increasingly sought after as the bridge between the 80s Customs and the later, more obsessively accurate Historics, and good examples are getting harder to find.

The all mahogany construction is what sets a Black Beauty apart from a Les Paul Standard. Instead of a maple cap you have a carved mahogany top on a mahogany body, and paired with the ebony board it gives a darker, warmer midrange with a glassy, defined attack on each note. It is a voice that suits big chords and singing leads, and it is quite different from a maple topped '57 Goldtop.

The '57 Classic humbuckers were Gibson's PAF voiced pickups of the period, so this guitar sounds like a vintage style Custom rather than the hotter 498T Custom tones that came later. Clean it has plenty of depth and clarity, and through a cranked amp it has that thick, slightly compressed roar that made the Black Beauty a favourite.

Visually it is everything a Custom should be. Ebony finish, gold hardware, pearl block inlays on the ebony board and multi ply binding and pickguard make it look as smart as it did when it left the Custom Shop. Against a modern Murphy Lab Black Beauty this gives you an older, characterful Pre Historic piece with real history behind it.

Very Good condition. This is a played but looked after example, with some honest signs of use consistent with age. Please see the photos for a close look at its condition. No significant damage or issues to mention.

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