By 1968 Gibson reintroduced the Les Paul Custom original design. It was based on the original design launched in 1954. Due to it’s black glossy finish it was called Black Beauty. From 1957, the Custom featured Gibson's new humbucker pickups, PAF and later became available with three pickups instead of the more usual two pickup version.
This 1971 Custom Les Paul 3 Pickup Black Beauty belonged to Billy Jones, one of the founding members of The Outlaws. It was custom made by Gibson for Billy Jones whose name is engraved on truss rod cover. It was not his main guitar used on stage but it was his guitar he used at home and in the studio.
When he died in the early 90's the guitar went to Hughie Thomasson. Hughie used the guitar with Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Outlaws.
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