Far More Rare Than A Burst! 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom (2 Pickup!)

It might not look that strange at first, but this 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom is likely to be the only one of its kind that you've ever seen (it's the only one I've seen in person!). Did you spot the anomaly? When Gibson updated the Les Paul Custom model in 1957 to the new humbucking pickups, they skipped over the simple two pickup version like the Standard and went straight to three humbucking pickups. But this caused a slight problem for some players: where does the pick go if there is a big PAF humbucker in the way?! Not only that, but Gibson in all its wisdom decided that the middle position should be out of phase with no way to control the amount of phase cancelation.

John:   / truevintageguitar  
Riggs:   / the_riggstaylor   or YT here: @RiggsTaylor

When I first saw a picture of this vintage guitar, I knew exactly what it was: one of maybe 20 examples to the two pickup variety of the Gibson Les Paul Custom single cut made between 1957 and 1961. Since the shipment ledgers are missing from that time period, we don't know for sure exactly how many Gibson Les Paul Custom guitars were made with only two pickups instead of three. This is one of those and it's a very fine example as well!

Pick up Andre Duchossoir's Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years here: https://amzn.to/4b5dQZN

And Robb Lawrence's book The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915 - 1963 here: https://amzn.to/3w3hpRv

Are you looking to sell a vintage Gibson guitar? You can contact me here: https://truevintageguitar.com/pages/s...