“I would know if the ‘Red Eye’ was a good guitar even if I was stone deaf –you can feel it vibrating”: Gibson’s Custom Shop has recreated Jason Isbell’s prized 1959 Les Paul – formerly owned by Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ed King

Gibson has announced the arrival of a new limited edition Custom Shop recreation of Jason Isbell’s 1959 Les Paul Standard, known as a ‘Red Eye’. 

The instrument, a particularly fine example of the fabled ’Burst era Les Pauls, was formerly the “long-term sidekick” of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ed King (who passed away in 2018) before it passed to six-time Grammy-winner Isbell for further gainful employment. 

The ‘Red Eye’ moniker is an allusion to a brighter, red area of finish near the toggleswitch. The story goes that the instrument was on display in a store window and the original finish faded in the process. 

However, the tag that was hung on the toggleswitch covered a nearby area, meaning it kept more of its original pigment, leaving the a ‘red eye’ zone near the switch. 

This new Isbell and Gibson partnership looks to celebrate the guitar’s history – ‘Red Eye’ and all – as part of Gibson’s top tier Custom Shop Collector’s Edition series and, as such, is no standard production.

There will only be 59 of this ‘59 Burst recreation made, which – alongside the detailed reproduction, and a Brazilian rosewood fretboard – helps account for its exclusive price tag of nearly $22,000. 

As we’ve come to expect by now, Gibson has spared no expense in translating every last detail of the original ‘Red Eye’ into this exclusive build, not least – courtesy of the Murphy Lab – the wear and red eye finish quirk [it even comes complete with its own toggle switch hang tag – Ed].

Isbell himself reportedly helped pick the tops for the builds. Beneath said tops, you’ll find a one-piece lightweight mahogany body, with mahogany continuing through with its 24.75” neck and Brazilian rosewood fretboard. It also offers 22 medium jumbo frets, a nylon nut, and aged cellulose nitrate trapezoid inlays. 

It sports two un-potted Custombuckers, two Volume and Two tone Gold Butyrate pots and a three-way pickup switch, with an ABR-1 No-Wire bridge, lightweight aluminium stop bar, and Kluson tuners. 

The 59 individuals lucky enough to pick one up will also find some case candy inside its Les Paul Protector Series hardshell case, including a Jason Isbell strap – made by Savas from Midnight Blue Wild Alligator leather with a chain stitched and inlaid Red Eye emblem – two rubber “beer bottle” style strap locks, a certificate of authenticity booklet, and, as mentioned, custom and reproduction hangtags.

“You just know [when a guitar is good], before I even plugged the ‘Red Eye’ in, I just knew,” says Isbell on his first encounter with the guitar.  

Isbell, who rose to fame playing in Drive by Truckers before establishing himself as a solo artist, was tasked with documenting a number of King’s guitars in the wake of his passing  and instantly fell in love with the ‘Red Eye’. 

“When I was a kid me and my dad would go shopping for fishing tackle,” he recalls. “He’d take the rod and say ‘go stand over there, put the end of the rod on your throat’ and he would hold the handle of the rod and I would talk. If he could feel it in his hand, it was a pretty good fishing rod rod. 

“It’s that way with a good guitar. Every point that you touch on that instrument, you feel the vibration moving. I would know if the ‘Red Eye’ was a good guitar even if I was stone deaf, just because you can feel it vibrating.”

Desperate to get his hands on the guitar, he asked his manager to book him for some private shows with the fairly modest provision of “no war criminals.” 

Thus the guitarist, whose latest solo LP, Weathervanes released last year, “wound up at a bunch of weird Bitcoin birthday parties,” to pay for the guitar. It’s since been a staple of his live performances, carrying a torch the King so blazingly lit by King. 

Isbell says he grew up studying Skynyrd’s licks “ad nauseam” and is full of praise when asked about his appreciation for King’s guitar-playing legacy. 

“The Sweet Home Alabama solo is still one of the strangest, most well-constructed solos I can think of because it just does not go where it would expect it to go. The way he creates the tension and releases it – he was a brilliant guitar player.” 

This unique recreation build is available for $21,999,  with only 59 produced. 

Head to Gibson for more information.