John Squire’s 1970s Gibson Les Paul Custom (3 Pickups)

John acquired this black Les Paul Custom probably sometime in early to mid 90s. As far as one can tell from the images and videos online, he didn’t use it with the Stone Roses, but it became one his of his main guitars with The Seahorses, alongside a Les Paul Standard with three pickups.

The guitar was also famously used by Squire with Oasis at Knebworth in 1996, when he joined the band to play the lead guitar on Champaigne Supernova.

Model, Year

The guitar is definetely a vintage model, but it’s hard to tell whether its from the 50s, or the 70s. First af all, on some photos (see above) the pickguard seems to be non-original, as stock Les Paul Custom pickguard are usually five-ply and look thicker and have a beveled edge.

But then again, on some other photos (see below), the pickguard does seem to have a thicker white beveled edge, so it’s hard to tell anything for sure.

However, one specific things definetely points to this being an earlyer, 70s model. If we look at the photos of the neck, where it meets the headstock, we can see that there’s no volute on the back.

Recent Years

It seems that this is one of the guitar that John kept for a long time, so parhaps it’s among his favorites. He was seen playing it during the recent Stone Roses reunion tour in 2012, specifically during a gig in Singapore.