“It suffered a broken headstock, was completely refinished, refretted and had P-90s replaced with humbuckers”: Untangling the history of Jeff Beck’s Oxblood Les Paul, the most expensive Gibson Les Paul ever sold at auction

A black-and-white image of Jeff Beck playing a Les Paul live in 1973.

It’s far from easy to tell the definitive tale of any guitar that was used by a famous artist back in the day. The Oxblood is no exception, not least that it’s pretty much 50 years ago that Jeff Beck retired it. What we do know for a fact is that the guitar was auctioned at Christies on 22 January 2025 and sold for £1,068,500 (approx $1,315,708), making it the most expensive Gibson Les Paul ever sold at an auction.

Of course, that huge sale price has little, if anything, to do with the instrument itself. Imagine rocking up at a well-regarded vintage guitar dealer with a similar piece and asking for a valuation. The devaluation of what was once, purportedly, a 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop would be colossal, wouldn’t it?