HISTORIC HARDWAREGibson Custom Shop Jimmy Page #2 Les Paul Standard
One of the most striking developments in the guitar market has been the emergence of high-end Les Pauls that command the kind of prices that, just a few years ago, original 60s or even 50s examples used to cost. Built as part of limited-run ranges such as the Collector’s Choice series, such guitars are not simply aged to resemble generic ’Bursts of the golden era but are crafted to closely resemble specific celebrated guitars – from the instruments Jimmy Page used with Led Zeppelin to ’Bursts that have no artist associations but have become known among collectors as particularly fine examples of Gibson’s late-50s and early 60s handiwork.
Not simply reissues, Gibson’s Custom Shop Artist and Collector’s Choice guitars (the latter is now discontinued) are therefore better understood as factory replicas – timepieces that are also right at the top of the tree in terms of build quality. Debuting at roughly the same time as Fender’s Relic Custom Shop guitars, Gibson’s aged replicas of famous Les Pauls first appeared in the 1990s and one could argue that early examples are now hovering at the edge of ‘vintage’ status themselves, being around 30 years old. All the same, you’d be forgiven a sharp intake of breath when looking at the prices the most sought-after examples of such guitars now command, which can be upwards of £20,000.
To be fair, most are considerably less expensive but still command prices well north of conventional R9s and’s home city of Bath told us they had quite a few nice examples in stock, if we wanted to take a look? We did, and while we were there seeing what all the fuss was about (see box on page 83), we took the opportunity to quiz the store’s manager, Steve Hove, about why top-tier artist-affiliated and replica Les Pauls seem to be growing into a market in themselves – cheaper than vintage but among the priciest (and most desirable) modern-built Les Pauls you can get.
