Gibson commemorates 1955 NAMM show with run of custom-colour Les Pauls
NAMM 2025: Gibson is celebrating 70 years since the 1955 NAMM show, where it showcased a number of custom-colour Les Paul Standards. The 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul is available as a run of 350 guitars – 70 each of the five custom colours – has been announced, recreating these show-floor instruments.
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The original instruments shown at the 1955 NAMM show showcased five very ‘50s custom car colours: Samoa Beige, Copper Iridescent, Nugget Gold, Platinum, and Viceroy Brown. These showcase instruments were made in very limited numbers, but were notably some of the very first standard Les Pauls to feature the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic and Stop-Bar bridge/tailpiece system, which had been introduced on the Gibson Super 400 in 1953 and the Les Paul Custom in 1954.
The new instruments are made by the Gibson Custom Shop, and the finishes feature Murphy Lab light aging on their custom-colour nitro finishes for an authentic, vintage look and feel. The build and hardware specs are likewise meticulously recreated, including the 50s D-shaped neck profile, the long-tenon neck joint, the nylon nut, the ABR-1 bridges, the colour-matched speed knobs and the narrow-tall frets. The guitars come loaded with a pair of cream-coloured P90s hand-wired to, as you’d expect, CTS potentiometers and period-correct paper-in-oil capacitors.
All of this should combine for a pretty authentic mid-50s Les Paul experience, and while the guitars aren’t exactly super affordable, at £5,699 each, they do come with a Lifton five-latch case for protection. They’re also likely a little more affordable than trying to find an original custom-colour Les Paul from the 1955 NAMM show. Those guitars were made in such small numbers that, if you do, it’s safe to say the price tag could be a six- or seven-digit figure.
You can find out more over at Gibson. For more NAMM news, click here.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
