From Gibson Custom Les Pauls with two-tone paint jobs to classic acoustics with red spruce tops, see what’s new for July 2025
From alternative histories to souped-up acoustic guitars, this collection of 12 new instruments showcases some unique offerings that are only available on Gibson.com as well as at the Gibson Garage locations in Nashville, Tennessee, and London, United Kingdom.
Whether you’re on the search for a uniquely specified Gibson Custom 1957 Les Paul™ Standard with customized features or your next stage guitar in a special finish, this is a great place to start. The list that follows includes guitars from Gibson Custom on both the electric and acoustic sides, as well as unique color options on Gibson electric guitars. Scroll onwards but be warned: you may begin to drool and reach for your wallet.
Gibson Custom Select 1957 Les Paul Custom 2-Pickup & 1963 Les Paul SG Custom With Maestro Vibrola
Gibson shipped only a handful of Les Paul Custom and SG™ Custom guitars in special finishes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and those unicorns inspired the design of these two guitars. Nearly 70 years later, the tradition continues with the 1957 Les Paul Custom 2-Pickup in Light Aged Antique Cherry and 1963 Les Paul SG Custom With Maestro Vibrola in Light Aged Inverness Green.
Shared features on these two models include twin-pickup configurations, nickel hardware, and Murphy Lab Light Aging. A two-pickup configuration is available as an option on the standard-line 1957 Les Paul Custom Reissue, but this option is not available on the 1963 Les Paul SG Custom. Nickel hardware replaces the gold hardware that would have come as standard, giving these instruments a vibe that’s a little less ostentatious and a little more rock ‘n’ roll. Finally, the Murphy Lab Light Aging treatment on both guitars brings them much closer to the feel of a real vintage instrument, complete with lacquer checking, minor playing wear, and rolled fretboard edges.
Featuring an Antique Cherry finish with nickel hardware, this 1957 Les Paul Custom reissue’s colorway somewhat resembles the standard aesthetics found on a 1961 SG Standard. The Antique Cherry finish also shows off the natural woodgrain of the one-piece mahogany body—unlike the 1957 Les Paul Standard, this model does not have a maple top, and the all-mahogany tone brings a subtly different Les Paul flavor to the mix.
The 1963 SG Custom Reissue, meanwhile, features a cool Inverness Green finish from the 1960s Gibson Custom Color chart. “Inverness Green Poly,” as it was originally known (“Poly” being used to denote metallic, rather than polyurethane), was a DuPont color found on Cadillac automobiles from 1959-60. Vintage Gibson instruments with original Inverness Green finishes are vanishingly rare.
Gibson Custom Select 1959 ES-335 Reissue, Light Aged, Vintage Sunburst
This combination of finish and Murphy Lab Light Aging is not currently available in the catalog. The Gibson Custom Select 1959 ES-335 Reissue features all the classic stylings of an ES-335 from the model’s second year of production, which includes the “light bulb” sunburst finish pattern, a long pickguard, and that ever-so-loved 1959 neck carve.
More often than not, vintage ES-335 models from this era were owned by jazz or blues musicians who were more reserved than the average rock ‘n’ roller and didn’t throw themselves around the stage. The Light Aged level of Murphy Lab aging used here gives these guitars an authentic vintage look, as if they were played and loved by guitarists who cherished their instruments.
Gibson Custom Select 1957 Les Paul Standard Reissue, Ultra Heavy Aged
Featuring three different colorways, this series of 1957 Les Paul Standard Reissue guitars has unique features that are rare to find on a ’57 Les Paul Standard. The first is the finish process, which was inspired by those vintage guitars that didn’t make it through the decades with their original finish intact. The idea here is that all three guitars started life as a Goldtop, but each subsequently had a different color sprayed over the top. As the refinish wore through, the original gold began to reappear—a process that will continue over time.
First over gold is Ebony, a classic Gibson finish that was incredibly as a factory original color from the 1950s. Second up is Pelham Blue, which wasn’t available from Gibson until the early 1960s. Third is a combination of Inverness Green and Pelham Blue. This paint job is the imagined result of the guitar being refinished all over in Pelham Blue, but only the top having a clear coat applied. The yellowing of the clear coat would make Pelham Blue look like Inverness Green, so you get a cool two-tone effect with a green top and blue back and sides.
Another unique feature of these guitars is the 1960 V2 neck shape, which is much slimmer than the standard neck profile on a 1957 Les Paul Standard Reissue. Hiding under the hood is a coil-tap on the neck pickup, which can be engaged with the push/pull potentiometer on the neck volume control. This gives the guitar two unique additional voices—the neck pickup on its own in tapped mode, and the bridge pickup in combination with the tapped neck unit. Judicious use of the onboard volume and tone controls will yield even more tones you’d never expect to hear from a Les Paul Standard.
Gibson Custom Select J-45 & J-50 50s with Red Spruce Top
Here are a pair of Custom Select acoustics with classic aesthetic stylings and plenty going on under the hood, that have been readymade for the modern stage. Red spruce replaces the usual Sitka for both the top and the bracing, which adds richness to their acoustic tonality. For stage use, the innovative L.R. Baggs™ HiFi pickup system is mounted directly on the bridge plate. This pickup system is very lightweight and is less intrusive to the guitar’s acoustic tone than an under-saddle system. It also delivers a more natural amplified sound—perfect for those who find a typical direct acoustic sound a little synthetic.
The Gibson J-45™ 50s features a Faded Vintage Sunburst finish, which is wider than the Vintage Sunburst finish found on the standard J-45 50s model. The spray pattern is similar to those patterns found on vintage examples from around 1957. The Gibson J-50™ 50s has been absent from Gibson’s catalog for a number of years and now makes its return in the Gibson Custom Select series, featuring upgrades that enhance both the natural and plugged-in tones.
Gibson Les Paul Standard 50s & 60s Mahogany Top, Dark Walnut
The latest additions to the popular Dark Walnut series are the Les Paul Standard 50s and 60s Mahogany Top models. With black binding around the body and fretboard, black plastics, and nickel hardware, these guitars look menacing. Fit for doom and indie-rock players alike, these guitars show off the natural wood grain of the mahogany and feature a different and slightly darker sonic flavor to a maple-topped Les Paul.
The rest of the features on the Les Paul Standard 50s Mahogany Top are as standard, including Burstbucker™ pickups, a Vintage 50s neck profile, Gibson Deluxe tuners, and gold Top Hat knobs. The same goes for the Les Paul Standard 60s Mahogany Top, with its 60s Burstbucker pickups, SlimTaper™ neck profile, Grover® tuners, and gold Top Hat knobs with silver inserts.
Gibson Les Paul Studio Figured Top, Bourbon Burst
This exclusive iteration of the Les Paul Studio features a figured maple top with a more traditional finish—Bourbon Burst—on a model with both modern and vintage-style appointments. Featuring a SlimTaper neck profile, Ultra Modern weight relief, and Burstbucker Pro pickups, this Les Paul Studio Figured Top has everything you need to tour the world. Bourbon Burst is most commonly found on Les Paul Standard model iterations, so you get the aesthetic vibe of the standard with all the quality-of-life benefits of the new Studio.
Gibson Les Paul Studio Session, Dark Purple Burst
This exclusive version of the Gibson Les Paul Studio Session brings the ever-so-popular Dark Purple Burst finish to the Les Paul Studio Session platform, a model that fits the finish very well. This sinister paint job is paired with an ebony fretboard and black plastics, which makes for a unique take on the Les Paul Studio Session. Take it out on the road or bring it to your next session and utilize the push/pull controls to engage coil tapping and phase inverting to unlock endless tones.
See more guitars you’ll only find on Gibson.com and at the Gibson Garage and shop now.
