Les Paul Custom (serial no. 3749)

Legendary guitarist and gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe used a white Les Paul Custom like this one for her pioneering work in the 1960s. In 1961, Gibson redesigned the Les Paul model with a thinner, lighter body, a flat top, and beveled and pointed double cutaways. After Les Paul rejected the new design, Gibson rebranded it as the “SG” (Solid Guitar) Custom model, and it became the company’s high-end solid body of the early 1960s, attracting other notable players like Jimi Hendrix. Later musicians who championed SG-style instruments include Pete Townshend, Duane Allman, Angus Young, and Tony Iommi.

Technical Description:

Mahogany body and neck, ebony fingerboard; 24 ¾ in. scale; white lacquer finish; set neck with mother-of-pearl block inlays and ivoroid binding; headstock with inlaid mother-of-pearl Gibson logo, split-diamond design, five-ply white and black binding; three PAF humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; gold-plated side-action vibrato system with folding arm, tune-o-matic bridge, Grover tuners, and pickup covers, three-ply white and black plastic pickguard marked "CUSTOM" at end of fingerboard, black and clear plastic knobs with silver caps