The Les Paul Custom- the upscale sister to the Les Paul Goldtop- was launched in 1954. Its all black body and ebony fingerboard soon had everyone referring to it as the Black Beauty. The Les Paul Custom that was the first Gibson fitted with Gibson's new Tune-O-Matic bridge; these were added to the Goldtop two years later.

In 1957, the Custom was redesigned to remove the black single-coil pickups, replacing them with three "PAF" humbuckers (a few two PAF Customs were made, but this is rare). Frets were lowered and dressed flat, earning the 1957 the nickname the "Fretless Wonder."

Guitars

Editors

• davek