Gibson Custom Shop Limited NAMM Show 1955 Les Paul Standard – Murphy Lab Light Aged, One of 70 Made in this Custom Color

Unobtanium of the Highest Order

Wildwoodians, the history of the NAMM trade show is overloaded with stories of rare one-off prototypes, inventive new ideas, and the births of legendary guitars. The guitar before you is a mix of the three! You see, in 1955 Gibson built five Les Paul Standards just for the Chicago NAMM show, each in a fresh custom finish inspired by the automotive industry: Samoa Beige, Copper Iridescent, Nugget Gold, Platinum, and Viceroy Brown. They also were the first Les Pauls ever to have a Tune-o-Matic tailpiece and a stop tailpiece, improving the Les Paul's intonation considerably and becoming the standard for the model for the next seven decades. Because of their historical significance and rarity (Gibson built only a few in each color), they've become something of a holy grail for collectors. For instance, Joe Bonamassa called his two '55s from the NAMM show "unobtanium of the highest order" in an interview with Guitar World.

To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of these rare birds, Gibson has reissued each color in a limited run of 70 guitars per finish. To top if off, they've been lightly aged with a master's touch by the skilled artisans of the Murphy Lab. To say we're excited about the 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Les Paul Standard would be the understatement of the century! We're suckers for shining a spotlight on little-known corners of guitar history, especially when the recreations sound and feel as stunning as these fly '55s. Let's dive deeper into what makes these highly-limited guitars sonic titans!

As Good As it Gets

Whenever the topic of desert island guitars comes up at the shop, there's one common thread between everyone: we all want at least one P-90-equipped guitar with us in our hypothetical tropical paradise. There's just something about the combination of sparkle, punch, bite, and chime that grabs your heartstrings and does a wailing up-a-minor-third bend with them, and the Custom Shop P-90s in these guitars exemplify their voodoo magic perfectly. Their low end is woody and warm, their midrange can snarl or sign depending on your mood, and the highs chime like fanged church bells. The bridge pickup packs a focused snarl with a gorgeous open high-end resplendent with sweet overtones above tight, muscular low-end. By contrast, the neck pickup has a thicker, broader midrange with glassy highs and deep, warm low-end. In all positions, the overtone presence is superb, making for a lush, rich tone across the board. They're also fantastically touch-sensitive, as they sound quite warm and open when you play softly but get more focused and meaner sounding as you dig in.

The best part of these pickups is how versatile they are. For all things rock and metal related, their nasty disposition makes them an excellent choice. However, they're warm enough for jazzy excursions, and they have enough twang and jangle to work spectacularly for country and all other Americana-adjacent genres. Bob Marley loved P-90s for reggae, and they wail like tortured souls in the hands of a blues player. There's really nothing you can't do with a great set of P-90s in your guitar, and the 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Les Paul Standard has some truly exceptional ones sitting in its maple top.

A Perfect Neck, Premium Tonewoods and Stunning Looks

Speaking of which, premium mahogany and maple attached with hide glue make for an uber-resonant body, and the one-piece mahogany neck has been fitted with a long tenon and hide glue as well to maximize sustain and resonance. Said one-piece neck has a 1959 Chunk D shape with narrow-tall frets and a 12" radius, a combination that is dangerously addictive. If you like chunky necks, it's heaven, and if you don't, it will make you a believer!

It also comes with period-correct appointments like the "low logo" headstock logo on the holly peghead face just like a real '55, plus a nylon nut, single-ring single-line Kluson tuners, aged cellulose nitrate trapezoid inlays, and a no-wire ABR-1 Tune-o-Matic bridge. Beyond that, the pickups are hand-wired with premium paper-in-oil capacitors and CTS pots to ensure excellent fidelity. Add in the amazing aging from the Murphy Lab team, and you have a guitar that stuns the eyes as much as the ears!

Drivin' '55

Move over, Sammy Hagar! With the 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Les Paul Standard and a nice Klon clone, we can drive '55 all day long! Seriously, this is one of the coolest limited-run guitars ever to grace our shelves, and we have no doubt you'll love driving '55 as much as we do!

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