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Eric Clapton’s 1958 Les Paul Custom may be the guitar equivalent of a riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped inside an enigma.
As Clapton has owned more than his share of iconic guitars—and played them throughout a career of scrupulous documentation, given his legendary status—historians can usually pinpoint which one he used when and where. These celebrated gems include his “Blackie” Stratocaster (now owned by Guitar Center), “Brownie” Strat, “The Fool” psychedelic Gibson SG, two Gibson Les Paul Standards (1959 or 1960 “Beano Burst” and 1959 “Summers Burst”), 1964 Gibson ES-335 TDC (another Guitar Center prize), 1939 000-42 Martin (the MTV Unplugged guitar) and 1957 “Lucy” Gibson Les Paul Standard he famously gifted to George Harrison in 1968.
His black 1958 Les Paul Custom, however, has been a bit more adept at sliding in and out of shadows—which makes for an intriguing, “Masterpiece Theater”-type mystery.
It is widely accepted Clapton bought the guitar at Manny’s Music on Manhattan’s music row during Cream’s inaugural American tour in March 1967. Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi allegedly brought Clapton to Manny’s to check out some gear—which could even be true, as Pappalardi may have met the guitarist backstage during Cream’s show at the RKO Keith Theater in Queens, New York (the bill also included The Who, Mitch Ryder, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Rascals).
The '58 Custom (serial number 8 6320) came into Clapton’s orbit when he was mostly using his 1964 Gibson SG—a vital component of the guitarist’s fabled “woman tone.” Painted in psychedelic motifs and colors by The Fool—a Dutch art collective that also designed the inner sleeve of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the outside of the Apple Boutique in London—the eye-catching SG may have relegated the Custom to backup duty. That said, it’s reputed the Custom didn’t stay totally silent during Clapton’s Cream era, as the guitar is documented in some photos from the Disraeli Gears sessions in 1967.
The year 1969 is when the three-pickup Custom really starts showing up consistently in photographic and video evidence—albeit with the pickup covers and pickguard removed. You can see it being played by Clapton when he toured with Delaney & Bonnie, as well as at the Live Peace in Toronto concert where he “supergrouped” it with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, bassist Klaus Voorman and drummer Alan White as the Plastic Ono Band. The Custom’s sweet snarl is evident—even with Clapton using the bridge pickup—on the band’s cover of “Dizzy, Miss Lizzy.” There’s also a post-Blind Faith shot of Clapton recording with George Harrison at Olympic Studios, London, that year.
Ten years later, the ’58 Les Paul Custom was in the hands of another guitar legend—Albert Lee.
“I had joined Eric’s band in 1979, and we were talking about guitars during one of the initial rehearsals,” Lee told Premier Guitar. “I knew he had played Les Pauls, so I said, ‘I used to have a Les Paul Custom and I sold it like an idiot.’ Eric said, ‘Oh, I have one of those at home somewhere, and I don’t think any more of it.’ The next day, a roadie came in with this case, and that was it—the ’58 Les Paul Custom. I was playing that guitar from there on.”
Lee still owns the guitar and had it restored to its original configuration.
An interesting sidebar regarding Clapton and Les Paul Customs, is that the ’58 Custom is occasionally confused in accounts with a two-pickup 1955 Black Beauty (with a bridge P-90 and Alnico V “staple” in the neck position) that Paul Kossoff used to trade for Clapton’s 1958 Les Paul Standard (serial #8 24530), when Kossoff’s band, Free, opened for Blind Faith in 1969.
It appears Kossoff got the better deal in that swap, as Clapton’s “Dark Burst” Standard was one of three guitars that Kossoff used extensively for Free sessions, tours and TV appearances. Photographs of Clapton with the 1955 Custom are rare—if they exist at all.
The 1958 Gibson Les Paul Custom, however, arguably represents a transitionary period in Clapton’s approach to tone. As we’ve stated, the Custom saw a fair amount of action in 1969, but by 1970, Clapton was using his “Brownie” Stratocaster to record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs with Derek and the Dominos.
Celebrating an intensely collaborative period in Clapton’s career, the Gibson Custom Shop has meticulously handcrafted the Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom in a limited edition of just 150 guitars. The team painstakingly studied the guitar and deployed Gibson’s Murphy Lab aging techniques to ensure the 1958 Custom looks, feels and plays just like the actual guitar that Clapton and Lee wielded. In fact, a cool bonus is that the 1958 Les Paul Custom comes with an additional pickguard signed by the two legendary owners of this guitar.
The replica features a one-piece all-mahogany body, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets, aged-gold hardware, three unpotted Custombucker pickups, CTS 500k potentiometers, paper-in-oil capacitors, custom case, Gibson Custom switch-plate medallion and a certificate of authenticity.
Gibson Custom Shop Product Development Manager Cody Higbee made himself available to provide Guitar Center Riffs readers with a deeper dive into the production of the Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom.
What is the basic process when Gibson looks back at its long history of famous Les Paul models to decide, “Yeah, let’s do the Clapton ’58 Custom,” or “Maybe we should reissue something from Marc Bolan of T.Rex”?
Higbee: The Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom had been on our wish list for more than a decade. Sometimes, the decision is as simple as “Hey, how about we do ‘X?’” However, more often than not, it is a matter of timing—both with artists and materials. For example, when we did the Kirk Hammett “Greeny” Les Paul Standard, we had to make sure we purchased enough tops for the run. Purchasing maple tops for Les Pauls is easy. Finding a few hundred tops with the same grain characteristics to match the original can be quite challenging.
Were there any specific wood-sourcing challenges for the 1958 Custom?
All of the wood for this project was hand selected—as it is for most projects of this type. We work with vendors to source the proper one-piece mahogany body blanks, and then we hand select for quality and weight. It took a long time to find all the lightweight one-piece bodies required. Even though hand selecting material for 150 guitars is time consuming, it’s well worth the extra effort.
Gibson obviously does an awesome job replicating Seth Lover’s 1955 PAF pickups for today’s players, but were there any struggles recreating the sound of the PAFs that were in Clapton’s 1958 Les Paul Custom?
Well, Eric already had a favorite pickup of ours—the Custombucker Alnico III—and that is what he approved for the 1958 Custom. Typically, we would go beyond the typical ohm resistance readings and measure magnetic strength in gauss and coil inductance in Henries, as magnets do use some strength over time. However, while Custombuckers try to capture the tone of pickups from today, we need to remember the guitar was just ten years old when Eric was using it. That said, you can’t go wrong with Alnico III for the right mix of strength and smokiness. We’ve seen it all here, and we've learned there were a few different magnet types used in that era. But, sometimes to match the sound of, say, a vintage Alnico II, a modern Alnico III is a better choice—if that makes sense.
Did the team modify any ergonomic features from the original specs?
Yes. Eric had a particular neck profile that he was very fond of—one that was used on another guitar we made him. That was the neck profile he wanted on this run, because it wasn't too chunky and it wasn't too thin. It's a medium C-shape that measures roughly .85" to .95".
According to Guitar Player’s “Les Paul Legends” issue (December 1998), the classic factory setup for Les Pauls was .012" neck relief at 7th fret, 5/64" low-E string height at 12th fret, 3/46" high-E string height at 12th fret, and the following string heights at the nut,” Low E and A (2/64"), D and G (1.5/64"), B and high E (1/64").
That is still our standard setup here at Custom, and those are the measurements we used on these guitars.
How critical is the aging process to reissues such as the 1958 Les Paul Custom?
Appearance is a very important part of the equation. We used high resolution photos as references to capture every detail of the original. There were around 100 photos capturing every detail at every angle. When a prototype is produced for artist approval, we will manufacture an identical twin of the guitar we send to the artist. Then, when the artist approves the guitar, we can be sure we are recreating the approved instrument to every detail. This also helps us ensure consistency throughout the run.
It's Albert Lee’s guitar now. Was he involved in the replica process?
Absolutely. Albert was involved from the start. Eric did have notes about refinements here and there, and Albert understood we were making some slight modifications—such as the neck profile—based on Eric's preferences.
Any other insights you’d like to share about the process for the Eric Clapton 1958 Les Paul Custom?
The team at Gibson Custom takes great pride in what we do. We strive to hit every detail from visual elements you can see, and even the things you don't see—such as rolling the binding properly for that well played or “broken in” feel. Pickup materials can also change, depending on the unique voicing of the instrument we are recreating. All of these details come together to give players as much of an exact copy of the original guitar as possible.