Quite Special Owning a Gibson Left – Les Paul Left Custom Guitar, Ebony

The name just rolls off the lips like melted butter: Gibson Les Paul Custom left handed guitar in Ebony. You just want to keep saying it to yourself. But that is all indulgent on my part as I LOVE the LP’s- Gibson left handed guitars are the choice of the seasoned professional.

Now a Les Paul Custom is the top of the line, state of the art piece of musical equipment and is played by numerous notable professionals. There is a reason for that and this article will explain the superior quality in this model of Les Paul left hand instrument.

First, there are the materials involved, which are nothing short of magnificent. The body of the Custom LP is either solid Mahogany or Mahogany with a carved Maple top. The neck is constructed of Mahogany as well, but the major player on this axe is the fret board.

Made of Ebony

The fret board is made of the purest Ebony you have ever seen. Between the Mahogany body/neck and the Ebony fret board, the resonance and sustain provided by this Gibson left handed instrument is just overwhelming. The guitar takes its name from that Ebony fret board as well as the deep, black gloss finish. It actually LOOKS like a piece of Ebony as you hold it.

The neck joint is a set joint style and that is significant in the world of guitar construction. As opposed to a bolt on that allows for some measure of vibration, a set joint neck is actually inserted into the body and clamped in place, then bolted down for security. The result is your tone flowing from the neck down through the body like a running river. This is signature tone, even in a Les Paul left handed guitar.

Another very different part of the Custom Les Paul left hand guitar is that the neck joins the body at the 16th fret. There is a cut away on the underside of the neck so you have easy access to frets 16 through 22. Speaking of frets, the one on the Les Paul left are uncharacteristically low and flat as the usual medium jumbos normally installed on Custom LP's.

As the sound hits the body, it is picked up by the Humbucker pickups of which there can be two or three. If it has two, they are at neck and bridge positions; with three, you get neck/middle/bridge positioned pickups. Originally, the pickups were P90s, but the Humbucker smoothed out the tone and made it creamy and glass like.

Tie set of super light strings onto this Gibson left handed guitar and you are on your way to a sonic nirvana. The Custom Les Paul left handed guitar is a bit heavy, but that’s due to the materials used. Mahogany and Ebony are dense woods and they carry some weight. The bright side is that all that wood makes for extra sound transference.

You can expect to pay a bit more for any Gibson left handed guitar or a Les Paul left hand instrument, but the money is well invested. The tone is phenomenal, the feel is great and the playability is unequaled anywhere.