Electric Guitar
Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Price: 4.013 EUR – 10.202 EUR
Price history
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
Availability: 6/10 (Common)
This is the same Custom Shop '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue researched alongside it, but ordered through Gibson's Made to Measure (M2M) program - meaning a dealer or individual customer worked directly with Custom Shop craftspeople to select a hand-picked figured maple top, custom hardware, and sometimes an exclusive finish unavailable in the regular catalog. It's a bespoke path to the same underlying '59 specification rather than a different guitar.
About the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Everything about the underlying instrument - the mahogany body with figured maple top, the 1959-spec Medium C neck joined with period-correct hot hide glue, the unpotted CustomBucker humbuckers, the thin VOS nitrocellulose finish - matches the standard-catalog Custom Shop '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue documented alongside this entry. What 'Special Order' describes isn't a different guitar but a different path to getting one: Gibson's Made to Measure program lets authorized Custom Shop dealers or individual customers work directly with craftspeople at Gibson's Nashville and Bozeman facilities to select specifics the regular catalog doesn't offer as standard options. That typically means choosing a hand-picked figured maple top from Gibson's actual inventory rather than accepting whatever ships - dealers sometimes flag exceptionally dramatic examples as 'kill tops' - alongside custom hardware choices, and occasionally access to dealer-exclusive finishes commissioned as limited runs and never released into the general catalog. These bespoke orders carry a price premium over standard catalog units, driven by the more selective wood sourcing and the individualized ordering process itself rather than any change to the fundamental '59 specification.
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Reverb 4.013 EUR Best price View details
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Reverb 7.274 EUR View details
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Reverb 10.202 EUR View details
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Sound character of the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Tonal foundation matches the CustomBucker-equipped standard-catalog '59 Reissue documented alongside this entry. A hand-selected, more dramatically figured maple top is chosen primarily for appearance, though wood density and grain can introduce subtle tonal variation consistent with general tonewood principles - no model-specific test data comparing Special Order tops to standard ones was found in this research round.
What owners of the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue say
Buyers and dealers speak of the M2M process as delivering a genuinely one-of-a-kind instrument and a service experience beyond simply picking a catalog item off a shelf, with hand-selected tops treated as a real, tangible upgrade rather than marketing language - dealers who flag particularly striking examples as 'kill tops' are signaling something buyers actively seek out and pay a premium for. The trade-off is straightforward and generally accepted: more selection and exclusivity in exchange for a higher price than the standard catalog version.
Playability & handling of the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Base playability matches the standard-catalog '59 Reissue documented alongside this entry. Because Special Order units are built to individual specification rather than a fixed catalog listing, small variations in neck feel or hardware choice can occur from one commissioned instrument to the next - a natural consequence of the bespoke process rather than an inconsistency to worry about.
Recommended accessories & strings for the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
24.75-inch scale suits standard .010-.046 sets or heavier vintage-style gauges well, identical to the standard-catalog version. Anyone considering a Special Order should work closely with an authorized Gibson Custom dealer to confirm exactly which options - top selection, hardware, finish, aging - are actually being specified before committing, since these details vary order to order rather than following one fixed catalog spec sheet.
Technical data for the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
| Foundation | Identical to the standard-catalog Gibson Custom Shop '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue (mahogany body, figured maple top, Medium C neck, hot hide glue joint, unpotted CustomBuckers, VOS nitrocellulose finish) |
|---|---|
| Ordering channel | Made to Measure (M2M) / Special Order program through authorized Gibson Custom dealers |
| Customization | Hand-selected figured maple top ('kill top' designation for exceptional examples), custom hardware choices, occasional dealer-exclusive finishes |
| Production | Gibson Custom Shop, Nashville and Bozoman facilities |
| Pricing | Premium over standard catalog units, driven by selective wood sourcing and individualized ordering |
Price history for the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
Cheapest seen: 4.013 EUR · Most expensive seen: 10.202 EUR
Cheapest seen
Most expensive seen
The history of the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
The Made to Measure program exists as a natural extension of Gibson Custom Shop's core business: if the Custom Shop can already build faithful, laser-scanned recreations of specific vintage instruments for a standard catalog, it can just as easily apply that same craftsmanship to a single customer's or dealer's exact wishes. This isn't a separate product line competing with the standard '59 Reissue documented elsewhere in this project - it's the same underlying guitar, built through a more personalized ordering channel that gives dealers and individual buyers access to hand-selected tops and, in some cases, finishes that never reach general retail. For the fuller historical arc behind why a '59-spec Les Paul commands this level of attention and customization demand in the first place - the original Burst's commercial failure, its rediscovery by 1960s blues-rock guitarists, and its transformation into the most coveted electric guitar design in history - see the standard-catalog Custom Shop '59 Reissue researched alongside this entry.
About Gibson as a manufacturer
Built at Gibson Custom Shop's Nashville and Bozeman facilities through the Made to Measure program, where authorized dealers or individual customers work directly with Custom Shop craftspeople to select hand-picked tops, hardware, and sometimes exclusive finishes on top of the same '59 Les Paul Standard specification sold through the standard catalog.
Notable players & recordings featuring the Gibson Custom Shop Special Order '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue
No verified professional endorsement ties a specific touring artist to Special Order units specifically. See the standard-catalog Custom Shop '59 Reissue researched alongside this entry for the well-documented list of guitarists associated with the original vintage instrument this reissue recreates.
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