1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul
Gibson returns to NAMM 2025 this week to showcase their 2025 lineup.
1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul
Gibson Custom introduces the 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the five custom color Gibson Les Pauls that were displayed at the 1955 NAMM Show. Gibson displayed these five distinctive Les Paul models at the 1955 NAMM Show--which was held in Chicago, IL--with each guitar finished in one of five custom metallic nitrocellulose lacquer car finishes–Samoa Beige, Copper Iridescent, Nugget Gold, Platinum, and Viceroy Brown. In addition to their custom metallic finishes, they were outfitted with no-wire ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridges and Stop Bar tailpieces. These bridges were first introduced on the Gibson Super 400 in 1953 and were used on the 1954 Les Paul Custom, but they made their first appearance on a standard Les Paul model with the five guitars that were displayed at the 1955 NAMM Show. These distinctive-looking and historically notable Les Pauls were made in extremely limited numbers, and the whereabouts of only a few are known today.
This special run is limited to only 70 guitars in each of the custom colors, with the custom metallic nitrocellulose lacquer car finishes expertly recreated by Gibson for the first time ever. Each of these guitars features historically accurate 1955 specifications, including a lightweight one-piece mahogany body and a hide glue-fitted two-piece plain maple cap. Even the color matched Speed knobs replicate the knobs on the guitars that were shown at the 1955 NAMM Show. The one-piece mahogany neck has a long neck tenon, a 1950s Chunky D-Shape neck profile, and an Indian rosewood fretboard that has 22 historic narrow/tall frets, a 12” fretboard radius, and is adorned with aged cellulose nitrate trapezoid inlays. The headstock features a period-correct “low logo” holly headstock veneer and is equipped with a nylon nut and single line, single ring Kluson® tuners, and has a historical 1955 limited run serial number on the back. The pickups are a pair of cream-covered Custom Shop P-90 Soapbars that are hand-wired to 500k CTS potentiometers and paper-in-oil capacitors. Each guitar in this limited edition also features Light Aging by the skilled artisans of the Murphy Lab. The Murphy Lab Light Aged finish treatment, paired with lightly aged hardware, simulates decades of light play wear, giving these guitars the unique character, vibe, and feel of an original example from the Gibson Golden Era. A brown/pink Lifton five-latch case is also included to complete the authentic vintage ownership. Highly collectible, only 70 of the 1955 NAMM Show Commemorative Edition Les Paul guitars from Gibson Custom will be made in each of the five colors, for a total of 350 guitars.
Warren Haynes Les Paul Standard
Warren Haynes is highly regarded for his work in rock, blues, and Americana music with the Allman Brothers Band, as a founding member of Gov’t Mule, as a session guitarist and sideman for numerous famous friends and groups, as the leader of The Warren Haynes Band, and as a solo artist. A master of multiple styles and genres, Warren has also shared his expertise with other players via multiple instructional videos. A self-described “Gibson man,” Warren has used several Gibson models throughout the years, including his cherished ’61 ES-335, among others. The Warren Haynes Les Paul Standard is another standout, with features tailored specifically to Warren’s preferences, including a mahogany body with a plain maple cap topped with a 60s Cherry finish, just like his cherished ’61 ES-335, a mahogany neck with a chunky 50s vintage neck profile, like all of Warren’s favorite Les Pauls, and much more. Bearing the traditional looks and feel of a 50’s-era Les Paul coupled with modern features like hum-free P-90 DC pickups and an on board clean boost, the Gibson Warren Haynes Les Paul Standard bridges modern and traditional and is a great choice for players who, like Warren, want both a traditional appearance and modern functionality in one outstanding guitar.
1936 Advanced Jumbo
Gibson Custom is proud to introduce the Gibson 1936 Advance Jumbo “Heavy Aged” acoustic guitar. During a time when cultural optimism was low, Gibson dreamed up a new line of advanced instruments, and included in those models was the Advanced Jumbo. Due to low production numbers from 1936-1939, this model largely flew under the radar even though it was a supreme-sounding and performing instrument. Outfitted with a thermally aged red spruce top, rosewood back and sides, and premium Waverly tuners, the 1936 Advanced Jumbo brings back all the tone and prestige that made these such sought-after instruments by artists and collectors. It features Heavy Aging by the skilled artisans of the Murphy Lab. The Murphy Lab Heavy Aged finish treatment, paired with heavily aged hardware, simulates decades of heavy play wear, giving it the unique character, vibe, and feel of an original example from the Gibson Golden Era. The Gibson 1936 Advance Jumbo arrives in a stunning Vintage Sunburst, expect a heavy weather-checked finish, heavy belt buckle wear, light arm wear, and light neck wear.
1939 SJ-100
New for 2025, the Gibson Custom 1939 SJ-100 is a replica of the rare and distinctive mahogany-backed Super Jumbo 100 that was built for only a few years (circa 1939-1942). The 1939 SJ-100 Heavy Aged fully replicates the original and exceptionally rare 1939 SJ-100 guitars that are coveted by collectors and vintage Gibson experts around the world. It features a thermally aged red spruce top, mahogany back and sides, and a two piece maple neck with a rounded profile and an ebony fretboard. Other notable features include a vintage SJ-100 style firestripe pickguard, the rare, vintage “stair step” headstock design, the Gibson script headstock logo inlaid in mother of pearl, and Waverly tuners with ivoroid knobs. Crafted by the expert luthiers and craftspeople at the Gibson Custom Shop in Bozeman, Montana, the Gibson Custom 1939 SJ-100 has been artfully aged by the artisans of the Murphy Lab to give it the look and feel of a long-cherished musical companion.
1942 Banner J-45
The allure and legend of the Gibson J-45 lives on in the new Murphy Lab 1942 Banner J-45. Inspired by the holy grail of vintage acoustic instruments, luthiers in Montana meticulously crafted a J-45 just like the most popular and celebrated version in structure and components. The new 1942 Banner J-45 includes a thermally aged red spruce top hand-sprayed with a historic-style burst, hot hide glue top bracing for better tonal response, and a bone nut and saddle. It features a Heavy Aging finish by the Murphy Lab paired with heavily aged hardware that simulates decades of heavy play wear, giving it the unique character, vibe, and feel of an original example from the Gibson Golden Era. The 1942 Banner J-45 arrives in a striking Vintage Sunburst, expect a heavy weather-checked finish, heavy belt buckle wear, light arm wear, and light neck wear.
Margo Price J-45
The music of multiple award-winning artist Margo Price transcends the boundaries of traditional country, Americana, and classic rock, and her Gibson J-45 acoustic has always been by her side during her rise as a top country artist. Gibson Custom’s Margo Price J-45 embodies the spirit, vision, and talent that has driven Margo to stardom and continues the nature-themed model tradition of Gibson. The Margo Price J-45 was inspired by her mid-60s J-45, a guitar she’s called “my main baby; my guitar I play all the time.” The Margo Price J-45 features a slightly thinner mahogany body with a red spruce top with traditional hand-scalloped advance X-bracing, a mahogany neck with a Rounded profile and rosewood fretboard, and Grover strap tuners with white buttons. The nut and saddle are bone and the bridge pins are TUSQ. The Margo Price J-45 also comes equipped with L.R. Baggs electronics, so it’s studio and stage ready right out of the included hardshell case. Margo was also inspired by red-tailed hawks, which feature prominently on the distinctive double 50s-style pickguards of her new signature guitar. As Margo says, “Red Tailed hawks have always been symbolic to me. I see them everywhere, and I always have, as they’re common all over the U.S., but to me, they’re otherworldly, and they always come to me in my time of need with messages of strength and perseverance. Red, as a color, relates to love, passion, and even anger, matters that we typically would associate with the heart, but if you look closely, the ends of their feathers are dipped in white, and the bird itself has a spiritual nature. When I’m on long trips, I look out the window and count them alongside the highway. They pass over me at the most kismet times, reminding me to find strength in my vulnerability, and to open up and connect with those around me. I hope this guitar will remind those who play it these lessons as well.”
Les Paul Custom
The Epiphone Les Paul Custom has been updated and is now better than ever. Part of the Inspired by Gibson Collection, it honors the 1950s-era classic that was designed by Mr. Les Paul himself in 1954 as the “tuxedo” version of his groundbreaking solidbody masterpiece. It features an all-mahogany body, a mahogany neck with a refined Modern Medium C neck profile, an ebony fretboard and pearloid block inlays and medium jumbo frets, gold hardware, including a gold Epiphone LockTone Tune-o-Matic bridge and LockTone Stop Bar tailpiece, a pair of Epiphone’s new Probucker Custom humbucker pickups, which are based on Gibson Custom’s Custombucker humbucking pickups, and a larger Custom split-diamond inlay on the headstock, a Graph Tech nut, era-appropriate wiring, and CTS potentiometers. An Epiphone premium gig bag is now included to help keep your guitar safe when not in use and when traveling.
J-180
The Gibson J-180 has been the choice of rock, country, and pop royalty, including legendary artists like the Everly Brothers, Cat Stevens, Dwight Yoakam, and Billie Joe Armstrong, up to some of today’s most famous artists. In partnership with Gibson Acoustic in Bozeman, Montana, Epiphone is proud to release a new version of this player-favorite guitar. The Epiphone J-180 LS is packed with premium features, including a thermally aged solid spruce top with scalloped X bracing, solid mahogany back and sides, a one-piece mahogany neck with a 25.5” scale length, C-profile, laurel fretboard, and the iconic “star” mother of pearl inlays that the model is so well known for. The compensated saddle, bridge pins, and nut are bone, and the headstock features the world-famous Gibson-style “open book” headstock shape, with the Epiphone logo and headstock star proudly displayed in mother of pearl. An Inspired by Gibson Custom Double Diamond emblem is etched on the rear of the headstock. Available in a variety of eye-catching colors and equipped with an L.R. Baggs™ VTC under-saddle pickup and preamp system, this exceptional guitar is stage and studio-ready from the moment you take it out of the included hardshell case. The Epiphone J-180 LS is available worldwide in Ebony, Pink, and Frost Blue. Exclusive colors, available only on www.epiphone.com, include Kerry Green and Lavender.
Onstage, Tommy Emmanuel executes a move that is not from the playbook of his hero, Chet Atkins.
“My biggest decision every day on tour is, ‘What do I want to start with? How do I want to come out of the gate?’” Emmanuel explains to me over a video call. “A good opener has to have everything. It has to be full of surprise, it has to have lots of good ideas, lots of light and shade, and then, hit it again,” he says, illustrating each phrase with his hands and ending with a punch.“You lift off straightaway with the first song, you get airborne, you start reaching, and then it’s time to level out and take people on a journey.”
In May 2023, Emmanuel played two shows at the Sydney Opera House, the best performances from which have been combined on his new release, Live at the Sydney Opera House. The venue’s Concert Hall, which has a capacity of 2,679, is a familiar room for Emmanuel, but I think at this point in his career he wouldn’t bring a setlist if he was playing Wembley Stadium. On the recording, Emmanuel’s mind-blowingly dexterous chops, distinctive attack and flair, and knack for culturally resonant compositions are on full display. His opening song for the shows? An original, “Countrywide,” with a segue into Chet Atkins’ “El Vaquero.”
“When I was going to high school in the ’60s, I heard ‘El Vaquero’ on Chet Atkins’ record, [1964’s My Favorite Guitars],” Emmanuel shares. “And when I wrote ‘Countrywide’ in around ’76 or ’77, I suddenly realized, ‘Ah! It’s a bit like “El Vaquero!”’ So I then worked out ‘El Vaquero’ as a solo piece, because it wasn’t recorded like that [by Atkins originally].
“The co-writer of ‘El Vaquero’ is Wayne Moss, who’s a famous Nashville session guy who played ‘da da da’ [sings the guitar riff from Roy Orbison’s ‘Pretty Woman’]. And he played on a lot of Chet’s records as a rhythm guy. So once when I played ‘El Vaquero’ live, Wayne Moss came up to me and said, ‘You know, you did my part and Chet’s at the same time. That’s not fair!’” Emmanuel says, laughing.
Atkins is the reason Emmanuel got into performing. His mother had been teaching him rhythm guitar for a couple years when he heard Atkins on the radio and, at 6, was able to immediately mimic his fingerpicking technique. His father recognized Emmanuel’s prodigious talent and got him on the road that year, which kicked off his professional career. He says, “By the time I was 6, I was already sleep-deprived, working too hard, and being forced to be educated. Because all I was interested in was playing music.”
Emmanuel talks about Atkins as if the way he viewed him as a boy hasn’t changed. The title Atkins bestowed upon him, C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player), appears on Emmanuel’s album covers, in his record label (C.G.P. Sounds), and is inlaid at the 12th fret on his Maton Custom Shop TE Personal signature acoustic. (Atkins named only five guitarists C.G.P.s. The others are John Knowles, Steve Wariner, Jerry Reed, and Atkins himself.) For Emmanuel, even today most roads lead to Atkins.
When I ask Emmanuel about his approach to arranging for solo acoustic guitar, he says, “It was really hit home for me by my hero, Chet Atkins, when I read an interview with him a long time ago and he said, ‘Make your arrangement interesting.’ And I thought, ‘Wow!’ Because I was so keen to be true to the composer and play the song as everyone knows it. But then again, I’m recreating it like everyone else has, and I might as well get in line with the rest of them and jump off the cliff into nowhere. So it struck me: ‘How can I make my arrangements interesting?’ Well, make them full of surprises.”
When Emmanuel was invited to contribute to 2015’s Burt Bacharach: This Guitar’s in Love with You, featuring acoustic-guitar tributes to Bacharach’s classic compositions by various artists, Emmanuel expresses that nobody wanted to take “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” due to its “syrupy” nature. But for Emmanuel, this presented an entertaining challenge.
He explains, “I thought, ‘Okay, how can I reboot “Close to You?’ So even the most jaded listener will say, ‘Holy fuck—I didn’t expect that! Wow, I really like that; that is a good melody!’ So I found a good key to play the song in, which allowed me to get some open notes that sustain while I move the chords. Then what I did is, in every phrase, I made the chord unresolve, then resolve.
Tommy Emmanuel's Gear
“I’m writing music for the film that’s in my head,” Emmanuel says. “So, I don’t think, ‘I’m just the guitar,’ ever.”
Photo by Simone Cecchetti
Guitars
- Three Maton Custom Shop TE Personals, each with an AP5 PRO pickup system
Amps
- Udo Roesner Da Capo 75
Effects
- AER Pocket Tools preamp
Strings & Picks
- Martin TE Signature Phosphor Bronze (.012–.054)
- Martin SP strings
- Ernie Ball Paradigm strings
- D’Andrea Pro Plec 1.5 mm
- Dunlop medium thumbpicks
“And then to really put the nail in the coffin, at the end, ‘Close to you’ [sings melody]. I finished on a major 9 chord which had that note in it, but it wasn’t the key the song was in, which is a typical Stevie Wonder trick. All the tricks I know, the wonderful ideas that I’ve stolen, are from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, James Taylor, Carole King, Neil Diamond. All of the people who wrote really incredibly great pop songs and R&B music—I stole every idea I could, and I tried to make my little two-and-a -half minutes as interesting and entertaining as possible. Because entertainment equals: Surprise me.”
I share with Emmanuel that the performances on Live at the Sydney Opera House, which include his popular “Beatles Medley,” reminded me of another possible arrangement trick. In Harpo Marx’s autobiography, Harpo Speaks, I preface, Marx writes of a lesson he learned as a performer—to “answer the audience’s questions.” (Emmanuel says he’s a big fan of the book and read it in the early ’70s.) That happened for me while listening to the medley, when, after sampling melodies from “She’s a Woman” and “Please Please Me,” Emmanuel suddenly lands on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
I say, “I’m waiting for something that hits more recognizably to me, and when ‘While My Guitar’ comes in, that’s like answering my question.”
“It’s also Paul and John, Paul and John, George,” Emmanuel replies. “You think, ‘That’s great, that’s great pop music,’ then, ‘Wow! Look at the depth of this.’”
Often Emmanuel’s flights on his acoustic guitar are seemingly superhuman—as well as supremely entertaining.
Photo by Ekaterina Gorbacheva
A trick I like to employ as a writer, I say to Emmanuel, is that when I’m describing something, I’ll provide the reader with just enough context so that they can complete the thought on their own.
“You can do that musically as well,” says Emmanuel. He explains how, in his arrangement of “What a Wonderful World,” he’ll play only the vocal melody. “When people are asking me at a workshop, ‘How come you don’t put chords behind that part?’ I say, ‘I’m drawing the melody and you’re putting in all the background in your head. I don’t need to tell you what the chords are. You already know what the chords are.’”
“Wayne Moss came up to me and said, ‘You know, you did my part and Chet’s at the same time. That’s not fair!’”
Another track featured on Live at the Sydney Opera House is a cover of Paul Simon’s “American Tune” (which Emmanuel then jumps into an adaptation of the Australian bush ballad, “Waltzing Matilda”). It’s been a while since I really spent time with There GoesRhymin’ Simon (on which “American Tune” was first released), and yet it sounded so familiar to me. A little digging revealed that its melody is based on the 17th-century Christian hymn, “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” which was arranged and repurposed by Bach in a few of the composer’s works. The cross-chronological and genre-lackadaisical intersections that come up in popular music sometimes is fascinating.
“I think the principle right there,” Emmanuel muses, “is people like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart found the right language to touch the heart of a human being through their ears and through their senses ... that really did something to them deep in their soul. They found a way with the right chords and the right notes, somehow. It could be as primitive as that.
Tommy Emmanuel has been on the road as a performing guitarist for 64 years. Eat your heart out, Bob Dylan.
Photo by Jan Anderson
“It’s like when you’re a young composer and someone tells you, ‘Have a listen to Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind,”’ he continues. “‘Listen to how those notes work with those chords.’ And every time you hear it, you go, ‘Why does it touch me like that? Why do I feel this way when I hear those chords—those notes against those chords?’ I say, it’s just human nature. Then you wanna go, ‘How can I do that!’” he concludes with a grin.
“You draw from such a variety of genres in your arrangements,” I posit. “Do you try to lean into the side of converting those songs to solo acoustic guitar, or the side of bridging the genre’s culture to that of your audience?”
“I stole every idea I could, and I tried to make my little two-and-a-half minutes as interesting and entertaining as possible. Because entertainment equals: Surprise me.”
“If I was a method actor,” Emmanuel explains, “what I’m doing is—I’m writing music for the film that’s in my head. So, I don’t think, ‘I’m just the guitar,’ ever. I always think it has to have that kind of orchestral, not grandeur, but … palette to it. Because of the influence of Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Elton John, especially—the piano guys—I try to use piano ideas, like putting the third in the low bass a lot, because guitar players don’t necessarily do that. And I try to always do something that makes what I do different.
“I want to be different and recognizable,” he continues. “I remember when people talked about how some players—you just hear one note and you go, ‘Oh, that’s Chet Atkins.’ And it hit me like a train, the reason why a guy like Hank Marvin, the lead guitar player from the Shadows.... I can tell you: He had a tone that I hear in other players now. Everyone copied him—they just don’t know it—including Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, all those people. I got him up to play with me a few times when he moved to Australia, and even playing acoustic, he still had that sound. I don’t know how he did it, but it was him. He invented himself.”
YouTube It
Emmanuel performs his arrangement of “What a Wonderful World,” illustrating how omitting a harmonic backdrop can have a more powerful effect, especially when playing such a well-known melody.
Gary is not exclusively a destruction machine. Its distortion/overdrive section is a very streamlined take on EarthQuaker’s Gray Channel, a versatile DOD 250-derived double distortion. Like any good circuit of the 250 ilk, Gary’s hard clipping OD/distortion section bites viciously in the high- and high-mid frequencies, supported by a tight, punchy low-mid output. You can play anything from balanced M.O.R. studio crunch to unhinged feedback leads with this side of Gary. But it’s the envelope-triggered pulse-width fuzz—which most of us will hear as a gated fuzz, in many instances—that gives the Gary its werewolf duality. Though practice yields performance patterns that change depending on the instrument and effects you use around the Gary, its fuzz ultimately sputters and collapses into nothingness—especially when you throw a few pitch bends its way. The cut to silence can be jarring, but also compels a player to explore more rhythmic leads and choppy riffs that would sound like sludge with a Big Muff. The Gary’s unpredictable side means it won’t be for everybody, but its ability to span delicioso distortion and riotous splatter fuzz in a single unit is impressive.
EarthQuaker Devices Gary Automatic Pulse Width Modulation Fuzz/Overdrive Pedal
