Lot Essay
While many of Gibson’s signature models are designed to be evergreen, the Custom Shop also produce “Inspired By’ models, designed as short-run editions of one-off instruments that generally sell out so quickly that they do not even make it onto the regular price list. Jeff Beck’s 1954 ‘Oxblood’ Les Paul presented a perfect opportunity for a successful ‘Inspired By’ edition. Although better known as a Fender player, some of his most celebrated work was accomplished on the Les Paul. ‘We get asked about the Oxblood guitar all the time,’ Gibson Entertainment Relations representative Pat Foley told Tony Bacon for The Les Paul Guitar Book in 2009. ‘People want it, but we've never been able to do an official model. Now, under the umbrella of the Inspired By programme, we were able to approach Jeff about acknowledging and paying tribute to his use of a Les Paul. The beauty of the Inspired By series is that for guys who for one reason or another don't want to commit to a long-term arrangement, they really respond to the idea of a limited-edition model.’
Gibson’s next step is to closely examine the original, usually travelling to the guitar itself to capture each microscopic detail. Particular is taken when analysing and measuring the neck to ensure the replica comes as close as possible to the look and feel of the original. ‘Now, we've got it down to a science,’ said Foley, ‘and we'll get very accurate measurements. Overall, the things that you're trying to reproduce are the look and feel and sounds of the guitar. So that means documenting it with photographs to get the wear marks, the cigarette burns, that kind of thing. We have to get neck dimensions. We weigh the guitar. Sometimes pickups have been changed or rewound, so we measure the output levels of the guitar. We try to note any idiosyncrasies. It's great for us when the guitar does have minor modifications, because these are the things that make it really distinctive."
Gibson worked with Jeff to ensure the greatest level of accuracy when representing this historic instrument. As meticulously as Jeff played the Oxblood, Gibson used advanced techniques to painstakingly photograph, measure and weigh the original guitar to mirror its every feature including its signature Oxblood finish, custom neck profile and Burstbucker humbucking pickups. Once the prototype is approved, the Custom Shop goes into production on the model. ‘In the case of Jeff Beck and the Oxblood guitar, we took them to our London office,’ Foley explained. ‘He went through and gave each one a little strum. And we usually take more than is needed; in the case of Jeff it was 55 or 56 guitars. We know in advance that they're all right, but just in case he feels something's a bit funny, we'll pull that one aside, and we'll end up with 50 that he'll sign. The artist almost always keeps number one, the first of the run, as his own personal guitar, and in most cases he would also keep the prototype. We would have a production prototype that we keep to base them all on, and then when we're done with that the prototype generally goes to the artist's collection.’
The Oxblood edition was praised as one of the most precise replicas ever produced by Gibson when it was released. Just over 50 of the first that were released were carefully aged and personally signed by Jeff. The next 100 sported the Gibson Custom’s V.O.S finish, leaving a total of only around 150 of these iconic instruments in existence.
Jeff retained both the artist’s prototype and the first of the run as his own personal guitars. Jeff often used the prototype Oxblood Les Paul for performances of the jazz standard and Les Paul classic 'How High The Moon' throughout his 2010 tour in support of his tenth studio album Emotion & Commotion.
Gibson’s next step is to closely examine the original, usually travelling to the guitar itself to capture each microscopic detail. Particular is taken when analysing and measuring the neck to ensure the replica comes as close as possible to the look and feel of the original. ‘Now, we've got it down to a science,’ said Foley, ‘and we'll get very accurate measurements. Overall, the things that you're trying to reproduce are the look and feel and sounds of the guitar. So that means documenting it with photographs to get the wear marks, the cigarette burns, that kind of thing. We have to get neck dimensions. We weigh the guitar. Sometimes pickups have been changed or rewound, so we measure the output levels of the guitar. We try to note any idiosyncrasies. It's great for us when the guitar does have minor modifications, because these are the things that make it really distinctive."
Gibson worked with Jeff to ensure the greatest level of accuracy when representing this historic instrument. As meticulously as Jeff played the Oxblood, Gibson used advanced techniques to painstakingly photograph, measure and weigh the original guitar to mirror its every feature including its signature Oxblood finish, custom neck profile and Burstbucker humbucking pickups. Once the prototype is approved, the Custom Shop goes into production on the model. ‘In the case of Jeff Beck and the Oxblood guitar, we took them to our London office,’ Foley explained. ‘He went through and gave each one a little strum. And we usually take more than is needed; in the case of Jeff it was 55 or 56 guitars. We know in advance that they're all right, but just in case he feels something's a bit funny, we'll pull that one aside, and we'll end up with 50 that he'll sign. The artist almost always keeps number one, the first of the run, as his own personal guitar, and in most cases he would also keep the prototype. We would have a production prototype that we keep to base them all on, and then when we're done with that the prototype generally goes to the artist's collection.’
The Oxblood edition was praised as one of the most precise replicas ever produced by Gibson when it was released. Just over 50 of the first that were released were carefully aged and personally signed by Jeff. The next 100 sported the Gibson Custom’s V.O.S finish, leaving a total of only around 150 of these iconic instruments in existence.
Jeff retained both the artist’s prototype and the first of the run as his own personal guitars. Jeff often used the prototype Oxblood Les Paul for performances of the jazz standard and Les Paul classic 'How High The Moon' throughout his 2010 tour in support of his tenth studio album Emotion & Commotion.