I have lusted after a Les Paul Black Beauty since my childhood, watching my hero Jan Ackermann play one in focus in the 70’s, but I never actually bought one. Recently I became aware of the 54 model with the single coil pickups and as I’ve never really been a fan of humbuckers, this piqued my interest. I watched several youtube videos and liked what I heard, but it was when I saw that Gibson had created one specially for Jan for his 75th birthday and he waxed lyrically about how this was his favourite guitar, that I decided to take the plunge.
I’ve never really understood how Gibson come up with such high prices for their custom shop guitars- I build guitars myself and can’t honestly see how they justify the price, but credit to Thomann as they somehow sell them significantly cheaper than I’ve seen anywhere else. The guitar arrived quickly ( thanks Steffen!) and here are my thoughts:
The guitar looks fantastic first of all. The VOS finish and aged binding work really well with the gold hardware. As for the finish itself, tbh it’s a little bit disappointing considering this is a top of the range custom shop guitar. While the paint finish is good with no noticeable flaws, the binding isn’t flush with the body throughout- you can feel a ridge in places. It should really be flawless on a £5000+ guitar. The action was well adjusted but I had to tweak the intonation which again is disappointing.
It’s a chunky neck but surprisingly I find it fine in spite of usually playing slim-necked Fenders. It seems to suit the guitar somehow and I find it easy to play. The ebony fingerboard is nicely finished though the frets could have done with a polish- something I’ll deal with myself in time.
Finally the sound is fantastic- loads of sustain and plenty of clarity from both the pickups. You can play clean rhythm right through to fully cranked lead- it’s a surprisingly versatile guitar. Mine is just over 9lbs which feels fine to me but I waited to get one this weight as I wouldn’t want to go over 10lbs as many of them are.
A small point but I’d expected a plusher case more in keeping with a custom shop guitar- the one it came with seems like a bog standard black job with orange lining- it doesn’t even say “Custom Shop” on it!
In summary; Is it worth the money? To be honest no it isn’t but my heart says yes so it’s a keeper…..though I’ll be nervous gigging with a 5 grand guitar!
