The Thick Of It

We've had 'Greeny', now it's the 'Oxblood' - the most expensive Les Paul ever sold at auction. After the recent wave of reissues, Epiphone is on a roll and this unshowy historic repro might be the best yet

- Dave Burrluck

Fans of the late, great guitar wizard Jeff Beck will know all about the Oxblood, a modded '54 Les Paul that he bought in 1972 and which saw heavy live use until the mid-70s and, of course, was pictured and used on the all-time classic and hugely influential masterpiece Blow By Blow.

After last year’s £8k replica of the Les Paul known as the Jeff Beck Yardburst by the Gibson Custom Shop, this altogether more everyman replica – a collaboration with Gibson Custom – is a fraction of that price. However, like the recently introduced Reissue Les Pauls, it boasts a high spec that includes the correct Gibson headstock, proper Gibson USA Custombuckers, 50s wiring, excellent-quality components, a return to rosewood, and a low-gloss 'used' finish – all packaged in a good case, and it even comes with a period-correct strap. You can’t criticise Epiphone for trying.

Despite the magic made on the original, the opaque very dark chocolate brown finish is really far from a showoff and more like the classic black of the Les Paul Custom with (fingerboard excepted) not a sliver of wood on show. In keeping with its original manufacturing date, Gibson hadn’t quite got to the tune-o-matic yet, so Beck’s guitar always featured the wrapover (or wraparound) one-piece bridge. It's the only Epiphone model to do so, and if you want a carved-top Gibson Les Paul with one you'll have to go over to the Custom division.

One of the pre-Beck mods were the humbuckers, which replaced the original P-90s and – typically for Beck – the pickup covers didn't last long. Apparently, the pickup conversion was crudely done and one result is that the bridge pickup sits very close to the bridge with barely room for the mounting ring. That move south leaves a gap in the pickguard that's replicated here: hardly high-class lutherie.