The Gibson Guitar Corp. operates two Custom Shops - one in Nashville, TN (mostly electric mfg.), and one in Bozeman, MT (only acoustic mfg.). The Nashville Custom Shop was established in Gibson´s main production facility beginning in 1983. During 1993, they moved into a separate facility. During 2003, Gibson celebrated its 10th anniversary as a separate operation. The Custom Shops manufacture instruments for the Gibson Custom, Art, and Historic Divisions. The Historic Collection specializes in handcrafting exact reproductions of historically significant Gibson instruments, i.e., Les Pauls, SGs, Firebirds, and large body jazz guitars. The Custom Collection focuses on Custom Shop artist signature models and newer variations of some of Gibson´s older classics. The Art Guitars are mostly limited edition and one-of-a-kind guitars -- most of these involve elaborate painted/inlaid scenes.
The Custom Shop listings are broken down into the following categories: Archtop Series, Designer Series, ES Series, Les Paul Custom Collection, Les Paul Historic
Collection, Limited/Special Editions, Misc., and the SG Series. Art guitars, one-of-a-kind and very limited editions can be found under Limited/Special Editions.
The models listed below are either reproductions of Gibson classics (Historic Collection) or other Custom Shop models manufactured in a wide variety of models and configurations. In recent years, the Nashville Custom Shop has produced many limited edition instruments, and these are all grouped under: Custom Shop - Limited/Special Editions. Whenever possible, original MSRs and quantities produced are listed. Artist Signature models are listed separately within the individual categories.
Whenever possible, Gibson factory model nomenclature (in some cases, only prefixes are listed) has been provided at the end of the model name, and appear in parenthesis. In some instances, you may see [ ] brackets, which indicates the color/finish abbreviation would appear in that spot.
Gibson Custom Shop/Historic Collection instruments are produced in limited quantities. Historic instruments are manufactured to the exact original specifications and in several cases, use the same tooling when available. Since most of these instruments see little or no use (the great majority remain NIC), most are in Excellent+ condition, values below will only be listed down to the 95% condition factor, except on the limited editions, where typically only the MSR and quantity manufactured appear.
Custom Shop and Historic Collection instruments listed below can be differentiated by the Gibson Custom Shop or Historic Collection code reference in parenthesis at the end of each model listing. The finish and hardware can also be determined from this code using the last four letters.
Also refer to the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars for more information on the acoustic Custom Shop models available from the Bozeman, MT Custom Shop.
The Custom Shop listings are broken down into the following categories: Archtop Series, Designer Series, ES Series, Les Paul Custom Collection, Les Paul Historic
Collection, Limited/Special Editions, Misc., and the SG Series. Art guitars, one-of-a-kind and very limited editions can be found under Limited/Special Editions.
The models listed below are either reproductions of Gibson classics (Historic Collection) or other Custom Shop models manufactured in a wide variety of models and configurations. In recent years, the Nashville Custom Shop has produced many limited edition instruments, and these are all grouped under: Custom Shop - Limited/Special Editions. Whenever possible, original MSRs and quantities produced are listed. Artist Signature models are listed separately within the individual categories.
Whenever possible, Gibson factory model nomenclature (in some cases, only prefixes are listed) has been provided at the end of the model name, and appear in parenthesis. In some instances, you may see [ ] brackets, which indicates the color/finish abbreviation would appear in that spot.
Gibson Custom Shop/Historic Collection instruments are produced in limited quantities. Historic instruments are manufactured to the exact original specifications and in several cases, use the same tooling when available. Since most of these instruments see little or no use (the great majority remain NIC), most are in Excellent+ condition, values below will only be listed down to the 95% condition factor, except on the limited editions, where typically only the MSR and quantity manufactured appear.
Custom Shop and Historic Collection instruments listed below can be differentiated by the Gibson Custom Shop or Historic Collection code reference in parenthesis at the end of each model listing. The finish and hardware can also be determined from this code using the last four letters.
Also refer to the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars for more information on the acoustic Custom Shop models available from the Bozeman, MT Custom Shop.