Gibson Custom Shop Marc Bolan Les Paul Aged (Bolan Chablis)
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Gibson Custom Shop Marc Bolan Les Paul Aged (Bolan Chablis)
With his glam-rock looks and pop-metal hooks, Marc Bolan led his band T. Rex into the stratosphere in the late '60s and early '70s, and his customized Gibson Les Paul was the fuel that propelled it all skyward. Dressed in a simplicity that gave them a broad and infectious appeal, songs like "Ride a White Swan," "Get It On (Bang a Gong)," "Jeepster," "Metal Guru," "Children of the Revolution" and "20th Century Boy" were laced through with addictive riffs and crunching rhythm guitar that sounded consistently massive—and hooked burgeoning metal-heads and teeny-boppers alike. Bolan's star burned out far too soon when he died in a car accident in Southwest London in 1977 shortly before his 30th birthday, but his music and its influence have remained strong over the intervening decades.
To honour this star's legacy, Gibson Custom introduces the Marc Bolan Les Paul, a detailed recreation of the much-modified Les Paul that accompanied Bolan throughout the height of his career. With its replacement Custom Model neck and headstock (added to Bolan's late-'50s Les Paul when its original neck was broken in the early '70s), un-covered humbucking pickups including zebra-coil neck unit, and stripped "Bolan Chablis" finish, the Marc Bolan Les Paul is the spitting image of the iconic original. Add in its superior neck and body tonewoods, period-correct design and construction, and accurate PAF-style humbucking pickups, and this great Artist Model also nails the meaty, rich tone of its legendary inspiration.
Although the Les Paul Custom neck with which it was most often seen has lead to some confusion over the origins of Marc Bolan's guitar, the instrument was actually a late-'50s Les Paul that was stripped and refinished by Bolan himself in a faded translucent orange dubbed "Bolan Chablis", then "re-necked" after an accident in the early '70s. As such, the body of the Gibson Custom Marc Bolan Les Paul is produced with period-correct woods and techniques, and includes a solid (non-chambered) one-piece mahogany body and carved plain maple top, as revealed through Gibson Custom's recreation of Bolan's own "DIY" refinishing work, while its sides and back retain the original back finish.
Its mahogany neck is set with a long-tenon neck joint like all the great original Les Pauls, for added resonance and sustain, although its look and the rest of its construction mark a major departure for the instrument. Like the early-'70s Les Paul Custom neck that Bolan had added to his guitar in the course of its repair, this neck carries the ebony fingerboard that distinguishes that "upgraded" model, along with the large mother-of-pearl block inlays, period-correct 14º headstock pitch, and mother-of-pearl split-diamond headstock inlay in a holly headstock veneer.
To translate all of this thick, juicy vintage Les Paul tone to your amp of choice, the guitar carries a pair of Custom Buckers, an accurate PAF-reproduction humbucker designed specifically for the Marc Bolan Les Paul. Along with its mismatched nickel-plated ABR-1 Tune-o-matic bridge and gold-plated aluminum stopbar tailpiece, the Custom-spec gold-plated Grover tuners and a PLEK-cut Corian nut further enhance the resonance and singing sustain of this unique instrument.
The Marc Bolan Les Paul will be produced in a strictly limited run, including 100 hand Aged guitars, and a further 350 aged with Gibson Custom's acclaimed VOS process. Each will include an Artist Model Certificate of Authenticity, a plush-lined hardshell case, a vintage replica guitar strap, and owners and warranty literature.
