Les Paul Custom (serial no. 7 7277)
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.After the Rolling Stones’ infamous drug arrest in February 1967, the band took a break from performing, and at some point Keith Richards decorated this guitar using paint pens, creating a colorful abstract design on the body and silver stars on the controls. The instrument appeared in the Jean-Luc Godard film Sympathy for the Devil (1968), which explores that song’s writing and recording process during the Beggars Banquet sessions. It was also used in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1968, released on film in 1996).
Technical Description:
Carved mahogany body and neck, ebony fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; black finish with hand-painted design, seven-ply white and black binding; set neck with mother-of-pearl block inlays and white binding; truss rod cover inscribed “Les Paul CUSTOM,” inlaid mother-of-pearl Gibson logo and split diamond design on headstock with five-ply white & black binding; three PAF humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; gold-plated ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, Kluson tuners, and pickup covers, clear and black plastic knobs, black and white plastic 3-ply pickguard; colorful abstract design on body and silver stars on knobs drawn with paint pens
Technical Description:
Carved mahogany body and neck, ebony fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; black finish with hand-painted design, seven-ply white and black binding; set neck with mother-of-pearl block inlays and white binding; truss rod cover inscribed “Les Paul CUSTOM,” inlaid mother-of-pearl Gibson logo and split diamond design on headstock with five-ply white & black binding; three PAF humbucking pickups, three-way selector switch, two volume and two tone controls; gold-plated ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge, Kluson tuners, and pickup covers, clear and black plastic knobs, black and white plastic 3-ply pickguard; colorful abstract design on body and silver stars on knobs drawn with paint pens
Artwork Details
- Title: Les Paul Custom (serial no. 7 7277)
- Artist: Gibson (American, founded Kalamazoo, Michigan 1902)
- Artist: Keith Richards (British, born Dartford, Kent, 1943)
- Date: 1957
- Geography: Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
- Medium: Mahogany, rosewood, nickel, plastic, mother-of-pearl
- Dimensions: Length: 39 5/8 in. (100.6 cm)
Width: 13 in. (33 cm)
Depth: ~2 in. (5.1 cm)
Weight: ~9-10 lbs. - Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
- Credit Line: Collection of Keith Richards
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments