“They gave me a hard time when I brought it through customs. I thought, ‘Are they going to take it off me?’” Steve Hackett on the guitar that defined his Genesis sound – and how he bought it for a bargain price

Steve Hackett’s ’57 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop is as storied as they come, having been featured on a wide range of Genesis albums and tours from ’73 to ’77, as well as on his solo recordings. Not bad, considering he bought it for $800 mid-US tour.

“They gave me a hard time about it when I brought it through customs,” he tells Guitarist in a new interview.

“I'd paid $800 for it, and I had a bill of sales. ‘Oh, is that rather cheap for one of those?’ And I thought, ‘Are the bastards going to take it off me or what?’ But it's still here.”

Prog gods Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery on why joining forces on guitar opened up huge potential - YouTube

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Featuring PAF pickups and a Tune-O-Matic bridge, this mahogany-with-maple-cap Les Paul was bought to replace the LP Standard that was stolen and subsequently held for ransom during the North American leg of the Selling England By The Pound tour. Yet it turned out to be a worthy investment, as it ultimately defined Genesis’ guitar sound throughout the better part of the ’70s.

For Hackett, owning Les Pauls also served as a full-circle moment, after spending his teenage years window-shopping and pining after gear he couldn’t afford.

“My God, when you're young, and you're big borrowing and stealing to try and get hold of anything like this, up and down the shops… looking at guitars that I couldn't afford, amps that I couldn't afford… I used to think anyone who's got a Les Paul and a Marshall stack has made it already,” the guitarist recalls.

As he puts it, “If you've got that equivalent, you've got that equipment. You've got the sound of rock and roll. You are that magician. Now go out and do that thing.”

Hackett's arsenal of guitars – including his ’57 Les Paul – appear on his collaborative album with Marillion's Steve Rothery, which has been in the making for the better part of eight years.

Titled The Roaring Waves, the record will finally see the light of day on August 28 via InsideOutMusic.