What’s the Difference Between GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP Models?

If you’re a Gibson fan, then you’ll love Gibson Custom. Gibson Custom is a hallowed area within Gibson’s Nashville facility, dedicated to handcrafting the finest examples of new Gibson guitars that money can buy. This is where to look when you want historically accurate replicas of Gibson’s vintage heirloom classics. It’s where you turn when you want unique, special-spec, small runs of Gibson guitars that both represent and celebrate the best that this brand has to offer. Gibson Custom, basically, is where to come when only the very best will do, and that means the best timbers, hand wound pickups, hand-selected maple blanks and even specially researched formulas for the classic parts! It means the best builders using traditional methods alongside cutting edge technology to bring one-off masterpiece guitars to life in ways that exceed the copycats and also-rans.

No stone is left unturned in the quest for vintage verisimilitude, and many lucky owners of actual vintage Gibsons swear by Gibson Custom as their ‘non-museum’ guitars. They really are that good, and nowadays there are a few different groups of instruments available from them, so please allow me to tell you a little about each today…

The Gibson Custom Historic Collection is most likely what you think it is. It’s a series of direct, specific replicas of what we call ‘golden era’ Gibsons. You know the ones: Les Paul Goldtops from 1952-54, Standards from 1958-60, ES-335s from 1958 and all the rest.

The big message here is the level of effort spent to get the details correct. Gibson source actual vintage examples of a given guitar, create 3D scans of the body and the neck, and then use those as templates for the new builds. 

The guitars are built using traditional methods, and pickups are handwound to meticulous levels. Magnets are specially sourced and tested for resistance, copper windings are counted and recreated…the whole purpose of the Historic Collection is to ‘build ‘em like they used to’, basically.

The Gibson Custom Modern Collection is still fairly ‘historic’ in terms of the guitars included, but they are not beholden to any specific year or spec. For example, a Gibson Custom Flying V Custom is part of the Modern Collection because such a guitar never existed in the 50s. Players, however, want to see a Flying V dressed up in full ‘tuxedo’ regalia, with multi-ply binding, block inlays, gold hardware and an ebony fingerboard.

Also, things like the Les Paul Axcess belong here, since the notion of an LP with a Floyd Rose tremolo is a fairly recent thing, compared to models from the 1950s!

VOS is an acronym for Vintage Original Spec, and it’s actually a process that is applied to certain Gibson Custom guitars once they are made, rather than being an intrinsic part of the initial build. Not all Guitar Custom guitars get the VOS treatment of course: it’s for more historic models. VOS guitars can be thought of as having a lighter level of simulated ageing, but it is a distinct thing from what the Murphy Lab do, as we’ll soon see.

VOS, then, uses a thinner overall coat of lacquer (less layers of nitrocellulose are sprayed on, basically) and additional work is carried out to make that lacquer ever-so-slightly matte looking, as if time has taken a little of the glossy sheen from the finish. I’ve heard reports about additional ‘ingredients’ being mixed into the lacquer too, but I have no firm evidence on that. The finish gets buffed less, too.

The VOS process also applies to the metal hardware, where some light attention is paid to take out the gleam of the metal. My understanding is that the purpose isn’t to have it look like a new guitar from the 50s as much as it is to have an unused guitar from the 50s in today’s timeline. Afterall, in the 50s, Gibson would buff their finishes to a glossy shine.

Gibson Custom Murphy Lab guitars are where we see artful ageing appearing on new instruments. Tom Murphy already had a reputation for being able to realistically age new guitars when Gibson sought him out to make the work official. His team make up the Murphy Lab, which is a physical place within the Nashville premises. These people are chosen and trained by Tom himself, and their job is to turn Gibson Custom guitars into vintage replicas that are indistinguishable from actual historic guitars.

This means that the Murphy Lab do not build the guitars themselves. Those are created by Gibson Custom builders, who then earmark certain instruments for Murphy Lab treatment and send the guitars across for ageing. The levels of artful deconstruction varies by specific increments: ultra light, light, heavy and ultra heavy ageing. Whilst each guitar is a one-off, the Lab do focus on similar areas for realistic wear, making each instrument a unique piece of art as well as a convincing vintage replica AND top-tier electric guitar.

This is another area that may be pretty self-explanatory to you! The Gibson Custom Artist Collection is where you’ll find all of the famous Jimmy Page doubleneck, the 1959 Greeny Les Paul, the amazing Back to the Future ES-345 and more. These are special instruments that have painstaking levels of effort attached to them, since the guitars they replicate will be so much more familiar to music fans. Holding them to close scrutiny is actually a handy way to judge how good the work is, because you can compare them with pictures of the real deal. 

Not all Artist Collection guitars are based on famous historic guitars, though: some - particularly acoustic models - are created in tandem with the artist in order to have a brand new signature instrument. You’ll find lots of limited edition pieces in this category, which keeps things exciting!

Those categories above are the main ways in which Gibson divide their glorious Custom instruments. Certain guitars will belong in potentially more than one category, such as the Greeny ‘59 Les Paul which is an Artist model and an ultra heavy aged Murphy Lab model.  

I’ve referred to Nashville throughout this article as the base of operations for Gibson, and that is true. It’s where the Custom department is, and the Murphy Lab. However, all acoustic guitars - Custom and otherwise - are built in Bozeman, Montana. There is a special Custom department there too, so it would be remiss of me not to include that detail somewhere! 

I hope this article has helped clarify your notions on what Gibson Custom is and how the models differ from one another. They are all made to the same levels of meticulous quality, craftsmanship and detail, and represent the best Gibson guitars on the planet that are under twenty thousand quid to buy!

If you love golden era Gibsons - and who doesn’t, frankly - then Gibson Custom is essential, aspirational stuff.

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