1980 Gibson Les Paul Custom 3 Pickup Black Beauty! SOLD!
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The absolute king of Les Pauls has got to be a three pickup Custom. It's definitely a guitar that you need not apply for ownership on if you aren't a rock star or have serious aspirations towards becoming one. Multi ply binding on the front and back of the body as well as the front of the headstock, a bound neck, tons of inlays and fancy gold hardware spell top of the line flash and glamour. Throw in the rare three pickup option and you have arrived. It's not just about looks though. The Les Paul Custom has all of the ingredients for good tone. The solid mahogany body features a maple top for a good balance of lows and highs. The three piece maple neck features an ebony fingerboard with fancy pearl block inlays. Factory equipped with three Gibson Shaw era patent stamped humbuckers to deliver big tone. A Stopbar tailpiece and Tuneomatic bridge team up with Gibson branded Schaller tuners for rock solid performance. The whole package is finished in ebony lacquer and set off with gold hardware. That's why they call them a Black Beauty! Nothing plays, sounds or looks like a Les Paul Custom!
If you are a Custom player, you know how great they feel. The ebony fingerboard is smooth and sets up nicely. The neck is a typical early 80s carve with a slim to medium profile. The frets are in good shape and the neck is straight. The pickups sound great and work as they should. The bridge and neck pickup have 1980 date stamps and traditional leads while the middle is a 1978 stamp and plastic leads. It is 100% jake as three pickup Customs were relatively low production guitars at this point. The electronics are all correct and the pots are stamped early 1980. The guitar is marked as a second with no obvious reasons why. The common consensus is that Gibson was stamping a lot of first quality guitars as seconds and discounting them in order to move more inventory. Makes sense as I've hardly ever seen a second with obvious signs of why. Condition wise, this example shows wear you would expect of a guitar that's been played the past 32 years. It shows scratches, dents, dings, belt wear and fading on the gold hardware consistent with a well used guitar. There are some finish check lines in the top corresponding with where the top was laminated together at the factory. pretty common. Overall, a very, very cool looking guitar with an awesome played in vibe. Comes in its original hardshell case.
Les Paul Customs don't come cheap. A new three pickup Black Beauty will cost you a whopping $5099 at the super stores. That's an incredible amount of cash. Here's a cool and very vibey 32 year old example for a lot less.
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