Gibson have shared details of a new ‘YardBurst’ 1959 Les Paul Custom, made in honour of guitar icon Jeff Beck.
The new model arrives both as the guitar manufacturer celebrates 130 of music history, and on the same day as the legendary player would have celebrated his 80th birthday.
It pays homage to the axe that Beck played as he was first put on the map – the iconic 1959 Les Paul Standard that he played when making a name for himself as part of the Yardbirds. Available now, the ‘YardBurst’ is a faithful recreation of the historic guitar, and has been designed to capture all of its distinctive traits including the classic white bobbin humbuckers and black single-ply pickguard.
Only 130 have been made – in keeping with the Gibson 130th anniversary – and each one was made by hand at the Murphy Lab and artfully aged to match the exact appearance of the original model during the guitarist’s Yardbird days.
It comes following the unexpected death of the guitar pioneer in January last year, when he was aged 78.
“Jeff was enormously proud to have owned the original of this guitar,” said his widow Sandra Beck of the new recreation. “He was aware and fully supportive of the amazing job and love that Gibson Custom provided to create this instrument and would have hoped that this guitar will give hours of pleasure to those who play it.”
Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson, also shared his tribute to Beck upon announcing the model. “Jeff was a trailblazer, the guitar hero of our guitar heroes and admired by his contemporaries,” he said.
“Jeff played an instrumental role in the cultural significance of the Gibson Les Paul early in his career during the Yardbirds’ era. Just like Jeff was influenced by Les Paul, he influenced many iconic musicians to create their art with a Gibson Les Paul. We are proud to pay tribute to Jeff.”
Beck joined The Yardbirds in 1965 as the replacement for Eric Clapton. He worked with the band for just over 12 months, and also had a short period collaborating with Jimmy Page as part of the line-up.
The guitar comes in the Dark Cherry Sunburst colourway and arrives with an aged Lifton hardshell case. It is available now for £8,999 on Gibson, but appears to have already sold out. Visit here for more information.
In other Jeff Beck news, earlier this year it was confirmed that the last ever studio recording captured by the virtuoso had featured on Mark Knopfler’s re-recorded version ‘Going Home’.
The track was reimagined in a bid to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity, and featured some of the biggest names in the guitar world, including Queen‘s Brian May, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and many more.
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