“Making its long-awaited return to the lineup”: For the first time in 20 years, Gibson is offering the Custom Les Paul ’70s as a standard run USA model

Gibson has welcomed back the Les Paul Custom ’70s to its standard line-up for the first time in what feels like an eternity to celebrate 50 years of guitar-building in Nashville.

Specifically, the new Les Paul Custom ’70s becomes the first standard-run USA guitar of its kind in 20 years. Before today, for two decades it had only been available as a Gibson Custom model, carrying price tags of up to $8,000.

This new model – a more bespoke version of Les Paul’s solidbody electric guitar design – pulls out of Gibson's Nashville factory with “classic-era correct specs”, with the firm marking half a century since it relocated from Kalamazoo.

Those specs include a headstock volute, throwback finishes, and, under those, the preferred tonewood recipe of the period: a mahogany body with a three-piece maple top, ’70s profile maple neck with a ’70s profile, and an ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl block inlays.

After Gibson’s move, the Les Paul went through a series of refinements before it landed on that combination, and ’70s Custom builds have since become drool-worthy vintage guitars. Randy Rhoads’ infamous Custom was a mid-’70s build. The Edge is another famous advocate for what they can do.

These new Customs have five-ply top binding and three on the back, while there are 22 medium jumbo frets, a GraphTech nut, and, of course, a 24.75” scale.

Tradition is maintained with an Aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge and Stop Bar combo, Grover Rotomatic tuners with Keystone buttons, and Calibrated T-Type humbuckers hand-wired to Orange Drop capacitors.

Finer details include Witch Hat knobs and a black washer with gold text for its three-way pickup selector 'poker chip'. They also come complete with diamond-shaped Posi-Lok strap locks, which are handy.

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For ’70s-chic looks, its bound headstock gets a mother-of-pearl Custom Split Diamond headstock inlay, and there are four gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes to admire. Choose from Ebony, Tobacco Burst, Wine Red, and a version with a beautiful Buttercream Top that’s sure to whip up (ahem) excitement from vintage enthusiasts.

At $3,999 apiece, these nostalgic riff machines don't come cheap, but that's cheaper than their vintage and Custom Shop counterparts.

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“Some of the first Gibson models to come out of the new craftory were Les Paul Customs, which quickly made their way to the heavy metal pioneers and hard-rock icons of the era,” the firm says. “Gibson is proud to reintroduce the legendary Les Paul Custom 70s, making its long-awaited return to the Gibson lineup after two decades.”

Head to Gibson for more.

For more old-school Gibson goodness, check out its latest Certified Vintage drop, and Marcus King's signature ES-345.