Tom Doyle with Les Paul's BLACK BEAUTY 1954 Prototype - Guitar Player Magazine

LES PAUL'S ORIGINAL 1954 GIBSON BLACK CUSTOM "BLACK BEAUTY" - Tom Doyle, Les Paul's personal guitar-man, luthier, sound engineer, co-inventor, and close personal friend of over 45 years, shows us Les Paul's personal 1954 Black Custom... THE Very First and Original Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar that was custom made just for Les - The ONE that started it all... THE Genesis of every other Les Paul that has ever been made since... every other make and model Gibson Les Paul guitar was based off of this specific guitar! There would be no Les Paul Standard, there would be no '59 Burst, no Les Paul guitar as we now know it without this first Black Les Paul Custom Guitar.

This is THE electric guitar that started it all. The first 1952 Goldtop, albeit iconic, was a bit of a "flop" and had a whole bunch of inherent design flaws. Les wanted and demanded that Gibson make a much better electric guitar if it was going to have his name on it -- So he and Gibson's Ted Mccarty got to work and they designed this Les Paul Black Custom especially just for Les.. and Les approved!!! This guitar had all the right mechanical specs, proper parts, design features, aesthetics, and sound that Les had been after... and is the VERY guitar all other Les Paul guitars to come have been based on ever since. This is Les Paul's personal Custom "BLACK BEAUTY" guitar that left the Gibson factory in late December of 1953 and was delivered to Les in the first weeks of 1954. Les used this guitar on all of his Listerine Shows, and began modifying and experimenting almost immediately. You can see what looks like several Black Les Paul guitars on these mid 50's TV Shows, but in reality it was just this one - just with different hardware configurations that les would try ie: different pickups, different knobs and various controls, and even stoptails that were switched out for various Vibrolas and Vibratos, and so on. This beautiful Black Gibson Guitar is the beginning of the beginning, and we are so proud and very grateful that Les Paul himself personally gave this historical icon to Tom way back in 1976, for all of Tom's years of dedicated service.

Guitar Player Magazine called this guitar "One of the Most Important Electric Guitars of All Time!"

For more info go to: http://issuu.com/guitarplayermagazine2015/docs/gpmag-feb2015-blackbeauty

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