Lots of people ask me questions about my workhorse guitar – my friend and accomplice for 40 years – so I thought I’d post a few pics for your enjoyment.

The Les Paul Custom is the top of the line of solid-body electric Gibson guitars. Immensely playable, in addition to having a rich, dark, powerful sound it is truly a finely-crafted piece of furniture.

When I saw her hanging on the wall it was love at first sight. Purchased new in early 1977 from Sharp & Flat Music in the Frontenac Mall. I take credit for all the wear and abuse it has suffered since then.

Sporting a limited edition nitro-cellulose (now yellowed) lacquer cream finish, the body has a carved maple top and a solid mahogany back. It has multi-ply white/black binding on its top, back and headstock. The neck is maple with single-ply white binding. Tuners are gold-plated Grovers. The fretboard is ebony. Mother of pearl block inlays are on the fretboard. The headstock also has a split-diamond pearl inlay. The pickups each have separate volume and tone controls and are switchable via a 3-position toggle.

This guitar has been modified somewhat over the years. Replacement parts include gold “top hat” control knobs, cream pickup surrounds and pickguard (originally black), and DiMarzio “Super Distortion” humbucking pickups. A Leo Quan “Badass” bridge and a new stop tailpiece replaced the original gold-plated hardware that had become severely corroded. The neck was completely re-fretted in the early 1990’s with top-quality jumbo fret wire.

I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting my baby. Please feel free to share my post with others.

Let that be a lesson to you.  

© 2014 Matthew Woodward