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Gibson 1957 Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar

1957 was a big year for Gibson. After a couple of years of experimenting, the company made the decision to change the pickups in its flagship solidbody electric guitar, the Les Paul, from single-coil P90s to "PAF" humbuckers.

Humbuckers were revolutionary. By combining two pickups wound in different directions, Gibson discovered that you could cancel noise and 60-cycle hum from power supplies or lights, while ramping up the crunch and growl of the guitar. More volume for your music, less volume for the noise. Win-win.

Humbucking pickups were a crucial development in the sound of the electric guitar. While Jimi Hendrix would eventually master single-coil distortion, the concept of distortion as music really started with Clapton, playing a 1960 Les Paul with humbuckers alongside Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker in Cream.

So there's no doubt as to why 1957 is a big year for Les Pauls, and why the company continues to reissue guitars made to that year's specs.

There are a lot of subtle differences between '57, '56, and '59 reissues. Subtle changes in the neck, for example. They don't feel the same, as Gibson was experimenting and exploring to see what they could discover. Some of these experiments (like humbuckers) caught on like wildfire. Others (like the Gibson SG, which the company originally saw as a refinement of the Les Paul) not so much.

I could write a lot about how each of these different necks feel, but when talking about subtle changes in nuance, honestly, the only thing that matters is how it feels in your hand. You've got to pick up these guitars and play them. To call the neck on a '57 thicker or thinner than the neck on a '56 would be slightly misleading. They're different. Both great.

Gibson does a fantastic job with these reissues. In this case, the glossy black finish looks like a new guitar, but it plays like the kind of vintage machine that launched rock as we know it. If that's what you want, then this is the guitar for you.

The Gibson Custom 1957 Les Paul Custom 3 Pickup VOS Electric Guitar Features:

* Carved mahogany top

* Solid, non-weight relieved mahogany back

* Mahogany neck with long tenon

* 22-fret ebony fingerboard

* Burstbucker 1 and 2 pickups

* Holly headstock veneer

* Pearl block inlays

* Vintage Original Spec aging treatment

* Gold hardware

* Bumble bee caps

* CTS pots

* Green tulip tuners

* 24-3/4" scale

* 1-11/16" nut width

The 1957 Les Paul Custom can be purchased from a number of popular online musical instrument websites such as Amazon, Musician's Friend, Zzounds, American Musical Supply and Guitar Center. If you shop around you can get a good price.

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