Gibson Custom Shop Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar, Murphy Lab Aged, Ebony

The Gibson Custom Shop Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom is a bona fide convergence of legacies. Concerning historic names of rock guitar, Gibson and Clapton, very few get close to matching the gravitas of either individually. Together? That's a completely different story.

There are guitarists with legacy, and then there are guitarists with legacy – among them, Eric Clapton. The iconic bluesman has decades of diamond-studded rock guitar work and generations of guitarist followers to show for it. How does one accurately quantify Eric Clapton's impact on the electric guitar? Well, it ain't easy.

A Legacy Decades in the Making

Clapton's work with the Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, Delaney & Bonnie, and as a solo artist all add up to a mountain of influential guitar playing all his own. Just one of these projects alone would have been enough to make an impact on rock guitar big enough to shout into and echo off of, but all of them combined might as well have a collective size visible from outer space. Eighteen Grammys, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, an Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award, three Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions...we could go on.

Today's Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom is not only a painstaking recreation of one of Clapton's most timeless pieces, but a tribute to his legacy on the six strings. To get specific, this Custom Shop model is replica of Clapton's original three-pickup 1958 Les Paul Custom he first purchased then used on Cream's Disraeli Gears, took on multiple tours, and then gifted to fellow legendary guitarist Albert Lee. Let's get into what makes this guitar what it is.

Replicated Musicality

This Gibson Custom Shop piece is an exacting replica of Clapton's original 1958 Les Paul Custom. Its status as a replica comes not only from the passion and care that went into making it, but through its technology. The Custom Shop employed new 3D scanning technology and ultra-precise Murphy Lab finish aging techniques to deliver on a striking recreation of this historic Gibson. Everything that made the original what it is appears in this Gibson Custom model from its specific aging wear to its lived-in sonic character. In short, you won't find a closer model anywhere, outside the original.

The Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom starts this all out with a one-piece, ultra-lightweight all-mahogany body. This striking cut of mahogany forms the basis of the sonic engine that drives this guitar forward. Notably light, the body has a vintage feel in hand that generates its own sort of charm. A mahogany neck extends from this classic Les Paul Custom body in a Medium "C" shape that slips effortlessly into hand and is sure to inspire some blues licks right off the bat. The Medium "C" profile recreates the exact shape as Clapton's original, so the experience in hand is identical.

An ebony fingerboard lands with the mahogany neck and acts as a veritable runway for your rock licks to fly. Twenty-two historic Medium Jumbo frets punctuate the ebony with '50s Pattern Mother of Pearl block inlays, giving it that element of '50s authenticity. With an included black leather Archive Series strap over your shoulder and the fretboard on your fingers, you're set to plug in. Onboard, three unpotted Gibson Custombucker pickups summon decades of worn-in, well-loved bluesy heat. This pickup configuration takes an extra step for authenticity with the middle pickup mounted with its screwed oriented towards the neck, as Clapton's original does. CTS 500k audio potentiometers land within this instrument, hand-wired to paper-in-oil capacitors for accurate mixing through this guitar's vast spectrum of tonality.

A Historic Revival

Let's start wrapping this up with some discussions of hardware. Onboard, this Custom Shop Les Paul Custom features a nylon nut and a set of Grover Milk Bottle tuners. Together, these additions ensure string stability past the fingerboard. At the opposite end, an ABR-1 bridge with a lightweight aluminum Stop Bar tailpiece ground strings to the body. Tying this whole piece together is a distinct Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab finish aging treatment that recreates the wear and age of Clapton's original Les Paul down to the number. Multi-ply top, back, and headstock binding along with single-ply fingerboard binding accentuates the darkness of the guitar's deep ebony color.

This Gibson Custom Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom comes with a number of fine accessories. A custom Duck Brothers-inspired case protects this guitar from wear and tear. Along with this, the guitar comes with a second pickguard signed by both Eric Clapton and Albert Lee in a wooden case. A certificate of authenticity booklet, a photo by Chuck Stewart, and a Gibson Custom switch plate medallion are also included with this model, bringing the whole experience home.

Limited to 150 pieces worldwide, this special Gibson Custom Shop piece is handcrafted by the expert luthiers of the Gibson Custom Shop and Murphy Lab in Nashville, Tennessee.

For any guitarist, this Gibson Custom Shop model is something to truly swoon over. A convergence of legacies, this Custom Shop guitar carries quite a bit of narrative weight and tells a few stories of its own – care to lend an ear?