Epiphone 1957 Les Paul Gold Top

The Epiphone 1957 Les Paul Gold Top that translates the Gibson Custom Shop's R7 recipe into a price that brings the stage closer

The 1957 Gold Top is one of the most coveted vintage Les Paul configurations: the Gold Top finish on a mahogany body with maple cap, combined with P-90 Soapbar pickups that gave the Les Paul its raw, direct character before humbuckers made their appearance. The Gibson Custom Shop R7 reissue is the reference for any instrument that takes this specification seriously, and Epiphone, in its Inspired by Gibson Custom line, has built a version that comes as close as possible to the fidelity of that reference.

The P-90-style Soapbar pickups give the 1957 Gold Top its characteristic tone: raw, direct single-coil energy with enough body to cut through in a band context. That sound is somewhere between a Stratocaster and a humbucker-equipped Les Paul, and it's the sound with which early rock and roll music found its identity. The vintage '50s neck shape and the rosewood fretboard with Trapezoid inlays give the instrument the substantial, period-correct feel that a Gold Top requires.

Mahogany body with maple cap in Gold Top finish, mahogany neck with Vintage '50s C-profile, rosewood fretboard with Trapezoid inlays and 22 frets on a 24.75" scale. An instrument that takes its heritage seriously and lets it be heard.

The 1957 Les Paul Gold Top is for the guitarist who wants to know how the Les Paul sounded before the world learned about humbuckers.