Gibson Custom 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul Electric Guitar, Copper Iridescent

To salute Gibson's lengthy history with the NAMM Show, the Gibson Custom Shop proudly presents the Gibson Custom Shop 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul. The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is a non-profit global trade association dedicated to the musical instrument industry. Annually, their trade shows are marked as major events in the industry with industry giants and up-and-comer brands alike coming together in celebration of music products. This special release from Gibson Custom Shop pays tribute to a limited series of Les Pauls produced for the 1955 NAMM Show in Chicago, Illinois. Those originals, now highly coveted by collectors with only a few of them with actual whereabouts known today, earn a revitalized status through this Gibson Custom Shop series.

Today's Gibson Custom Shop 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul is constituted of a series of guitars with seventy pieces produced in each of the five colors. A truly limited run, these guitars are produced to commemorate Gibson's original Les Paul series from the NAMM Show from seventy years prior. Classic '50s-style custom metallic nitrocellulose lacquer car finishes replicated by Gibson for the first time ever and period-accurate specifications denote these models as authentic revivals of Gibson's original limited NAMM series.

Gibson Custom's 1955 NAMM Les Paul lays it all out first with a one-piece lightweight mahogany body with a two-piece plain maple cap. This top, fitted with hide glue, is a quality specification to deliver on tonal brightness and concision. One-ply cream royalite binding wraps the top for a fine accent. From here, the one-piece solid mahogany neck enters the fray designed with a long neck tenon and a Chunky D-Shape profile. Playing with a classic and smooth feel in hand, this neck fits perfectly alongside the Indian rosewood fingerboard with twenty-two historic narrow/tall frets. The fingerboard's twelve-inch radius and aged cellulose nitrate trapezoid inlays tie it all together for an impressive look and feel.

For this Custom's voice, Gibson loaded in two cream-covered Custom Shop P-90 Soapbar single-coils. These P-90s are handwired with 500k CTS potentiometers and paper-in-oil capacitors, resulting in rich tonality and a colorful spectrum of sounds to mix through. Authenticity to the original 1955 series becomes apparent with a series of smaller considerations. For one, the headstock features period-correct "low logo" holly headstock veneer. Alongside, the headstock is paired with a nylon nut, a set of Kluson single-line tuners and features a historical 1955 limited run serial number. The guitar is treated to a Murphy Lab Light Aged finish treatment which simulates light play wear along with lightly aged hardware. A No-Wire ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar tailpiece lands on this model, replicating their first appearance from Gibson's original 1955 NAMM Les Pauls. Finally, this special release travels with a brown/pink Lifton five-latch case.

In commemoration of the NAMM Show and all it does for the musical instrument industry, Gibson Custom Shop tips its hat with a truly special series. See you at NAMM!