Vintage guitar of the week #2 - 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom Silverburst

This, ladies and gents, is a proper Silverburst.

One of the better Silverburst finish guitars you will see is a '79 Gibson Les Paul Custom.

Why does the Silverburst on this Les Paul look so good?

Answer: Because it's aged naturally.

Something I'm surprised guitar makers have not done yet is an "Aged Silverburst" finish. We've seen every single kind of aged/"relic" finish you can think of except an aged Silverburst, so if you want the aged look for this particular finish, you have to buy the genuine article.

While I'm not a Les Paul guy personally, I totally admit that the look of this guitar is pretty much spot-on perfect. The finish and binding has nice, even yellowing to it, and the headstock in particular looks crazy-good.

This can't be replicated (or at least not yet)

Guitar builders who "relic" don't do Silverburst, and I doubt they ever will. Why? Because nobody knows how. I've never seen it attempted. In addition, it's really tough to replicate genuine yellowing where the body and the body binding and the neck binding and the headstock binding all match up properly for a proper aged look.

Any guitar builder who would attempt this look would spend many long hours trying to get a guitar to look like the '79 Paul does. In fact, they would have to outright buy and study this Paul just to have a proper frame of reference.

"Golden Era" rock guitar?

Definitely.

Here are some of the top rock hits from 1979:

• AC/DC - Highway to Hell
• Led Zeppelin - All My Love
• Van Halen - Dance The Night Away
• The Police - Roxanne
• Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
• Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me
• Bob Seger - Old Time Rock And Roll
• Eagles - Heartache Tonight

1979 was a good year for rock, and a lot of Les Paul guitars were used in recording studios back then.

This is a Paul you'd be proud to have in your own studio, even if it's just a small one in your home. Grab one of these Pauls while you can.

Published 2015 Jul 18