1979 Gibson Les Paul 25/50, Black

The Gibson 25/50 model was released to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Les Paul model and the 50th Anniversary of Les Paul's career in the music business.

A noteworthy model in the Les Paul range due to its ornate appearance and distinctive features including the elaborate headstock inlay with a pearl and abalone ’25/50’ design and unusual mix of silver and gold hardware. The 25/50 was offered in a variety of finishes, predominantly Sunburst and Natural with less produced in Wine Red and Black being very rare. The 25/50 was considered a special order instrument with Gibson committing to all orders having to be placed by December 31, 1978 with each guitar having its own unique 4 digit serial number alongside its regular format 8 digit serial.

Additionally, the 25/50 had multi-ply binding on the front and back of the body and the front of the headstock, Super 400 style inlayed ebony fingerboard, engraved gold plated truss rod cover, brass nut, Nashville bridge with TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece, black speed knobs, Gold "Gibson" Schaller tuners with silver buttons, and Series VII pickups with a coil tap.

This guitar is a great player grade example of the model, sporting some well considered mods that really add to the versatility of the guitar as well as keeping the price down.

The original Series VII pickups replaced with some excellent vintage Seymour Duncan JNJ and JBJ's. The controls have been modded to give you a variety of tonal options with the micro switch - originally a coil tap - being repurposed as a phase switch and the two tone pots replaced for push/pull coil taps. The two volume pots are original, CTS manufactured, dating to late '78. The bridge has been switched for a TonePros model with original Schaller version retained in the case. The neck is a slim 'C' profile and feels great - overall this is an excellent playing Les Paul!

Cosmetically the guitar is in very good overall condition for an instrument of this age. It shows some worming to the back and the odd ding to the sides. The top is in really good shape showing minimal wear besides a ding to the upper bout. The frets are original and despite being fairly low allow plenty of purchase for string bends; overall the guitar plays really well. It weighs in at 10.1 lbs. The perfect vintage Les Paul for anyone looking for a rarer model with unique appointment at player grade price! Complete with Gibson 'chainsaw' hard shell case.