Several characteristics continued to set the Les Paul Custom apart from Gibson’s other models, including its beautiful gloss ebony finish, which had been one of Les Paul’s two original color choices (the other was gold) for the Les Paul Model – he felt a guitar player’s hands would be more visible to audiences against a black background. Additionally, the Les Paul Custom featured a thicker body design and seven-ply body binding on both the front and back of the guitar to create a visually striking instrument, along with a multi-bound headstock with a prominent five-piece split diamond patterned inlay of genuine mother of pearl – a design that still graces every Les Paul Custom made today.

And while maple tops would come to define the Les Paul Model and subsequent Les Paul Standard, the body of the Les Paul Custom was made entirely from a solid piece of mahogany, with no added maple top. This difference gave the Les Paul Custom a much warmer overall sound, but with incredible sustain and rich, balanced tone.

Aside from its obvious visual enhancements, the 1957 Les Paul Custom was the first Custom model to offer the new Tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar tailpiece which had debuted one year earlier on the Les Paul Model Goldtops – a change that greatly improved the overall functionality of the Les Paul. To this day, the Tune-o-matic bridge remains one of the most revered and copied pieces of guitar hardware ever developed, setting a standard for simplicity and functionality that has never been bettered.

The 1957 Les Paul Custom was also the first Custom model to feature Gibson’s pioneering humbucking pickup, which was developed by Gibson engineer Seth Lover. Lover began working on a tone circuit with hum-cancelling capabilities sometime in 1954, applying for a U.S. design patent – hence the name “Patent Applied For,” or “PAF” – on June 22, 1955. By early 1957, the standard double-coil version of the humbucker pickup had begun to appear on Gibson ES-175s and ES-350Ts, and eventually on the Les Paul Customs of the same year.

Presented as an “upgrade,” a three pickup version of the Les Paul Custom was also made available in 1957, complete with a distinct new circuitry that offered a host of new tonal possibilities. The guitar’s toggle switch was wired to activate the middle and bridge pickups together in the center position, instead of combining the neck and bridge pickups, which gave the guitar an out-of-phase option that wasn’t available before. Both the two-pickup and three-pickup versions of the 1957 Les Paul Custom were also available with a Bigsby “True Vibrato” unit, which was an option available on most Gi