To celebrate the 50th birthday of their watershed ’57 LP Goldtop, Gibson recently announced the release of this extremely Limited Edition Custom Shop model––the aptly title 50th Anniversary Les Paul Goldtop.
The guitar, which pushes the boundaries of taste with its engraved & gold-plated 50th Anniversary headstock veneer, not to mention full-body antique gold finish (top, back, neck and headstock,) is being produced in a limited run of just 157 instruments, and is retailing for a paltry $7,500.00––pocket change, right?
Built to true ’57 specs, the 50th Anniversary Les Paul Goldtop features period-accurate electronics––including CTS pots and bumblebee capacitors––a pair of Gibson’s BurstBucker PAF reissue pickups, carved maple top, mahogany back, one-piece mahogany neck w/1957 reissue profile, reissue trapezoid inlays, and multi-ply black & white top binding.
The guitar will also sport a gold-plated pickguard, gold-plated truss rod cover, and of course all gold hardware, including gold Grover tuning machines, an original gold ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, and a lightweight aluminum stopbar tailpiece––in gold!
All of which begs the question… do people really buy these things?
- Gibson Announces Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul Standard
- It’s Back… Gibson Releases 50th Anniversary 1960 Les Paul ‘Black Beauty’
- Gibson Announces Guitar Of The Week #8 :: Les Paul Antique Deluxe Gold Top
- Gibson Releases Les Paul Tribute 1952 Goldtop
- Gibson Announces Guitar Of The Week #22 :: Les Paul Supreme Gold
- Gibson Unveils 50th Anniversary Line
- New From Gibson: ’57 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue
- Gibson Announces Guitar Of The Week #28 :: Les Paul Classic Custom W/Dual P-90s
August 1st, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I once painted a Tokai Love Rock all-gold. Kept the headstock black, appointed it with standard chrome/cream bits and bobs, amber knobs etc. It looked great. Better than this garish monstrosity, anyway.
August 1st, 2007 at 6:22 pm
I saw a couple of these at Guitar Center. Looks more like a award statue than a guitar!…..and the Les Paul for best rock performance goes to….
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Much nicer than the domestic disturbance Goldtop written up at IG Blog today. Still not a Strat though…
November 14th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
This guitar plays like a dream,its the first guitar I could take the strings down as far as i wanted to without buzz,$7500 is alot of money but im sure this guitar is on its way to becoming a classic,they always say you get what you pay for an in this guitar you do.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I bought one! I got it as it was my 50th. Any way I was going to put it away as an investment until I played the thing. It is a great guitar and is now going out to work five nights a week. I put 12s on it and play primarily jazz on it. I have spent the last 35 years playing sunburst and natural guitars so to hell with it. Seriously, it is a truely fantastic instrument built to be played.