Gibson Guitars | CME Exclusive
Gibson guitars, but make it cme exclusive!
For over 20 years, the Gibson Custom Shop has been building a legacy on American craftsmanship and human ingenuity. They firmly believe that there remains a place in the world for the best of the best, and the value of their achievement extends well beyond the glossy sheen and gratifying weight of a well-crafted guitar. These guitars are equal parts their mission, and ours.
USA SG Standard w/ Tortoise Pickguard &T-Type Pickups
What’s this? A custom line of SG Standards, designed and built exclusively for Chicago Music Exchange? That’s right. Our very own Dan Bordonaro and Joel Bauman worked in close collaboration with Gibson USA’s Master Luthier Jim DeCola to create this custom run of double-cut crazy, featuring all kinds of stuff you’re not soon to see, or possibly ever see, on any SG outside of our Lincoln Ave. showroom. Believe us. This is big. And if these SGs don’t already have their horns in you by now, they will.
1960 Les Paul Standard
Based off our very own "Scarface" Les Paul, our Gibson Custom 1960 Les Paul Standards are a true thing of beauty, and an incredibly close recreation of the original - trust us, we've seen it.
Featuring some of our most flamed-out, hand-picked tops, our '60 LPs feature all the appointments that made the originals so great- right down to the all hide-glue construction.
SHOP 1960 LES PAUL STANDARDS

1959 Les Paul Standard
This is it. The 1959 Les Paul Standard in all its glory...just better than the original. With insane hand-picked tops and fingerboards, completely historically-accurate VOS hardware, Carmelita hand-carved necks and Custom Bucker pickups, the '59 Les Paul has never looked or sounded better than it does in one of our exclusive Burst finishes.
We worked tirelessly with the talented luthiers at the Gibson Custom Shop to produce the highest possible quality '59 Les Paul. Our models seem to come straight out of a custom order form from 1959, and will look great and sound even better for decades to come.




SHOP 1959 LES PAUL STANDARDS
1958 Les Paul Standard
It all started here. '58 was the first year the iconic "Sunburst" finish was added to the Les Paul, giving it the legendary "Burst" name it has grown into today. Our '58 Bursts honor tradition, but cherry-pick the best of the best features from the stories '58-'60 timeline.
With '59 and '60 profile necks, you can choose your Burst to look like a '58, but feel like a '59 or '60 with painstakingly accurate, true-historic specs and hardware.
SHOP 1958 LES PAUL STANDARDS

1957 Les Paul Standard
With hand selected tops and fingerboards, custom finishes, and true historic specs, our '57 Les Paul Standards are designed to help you stand out from the crowd while giving you access to those highly sought-after vintage Les Paul specs at a fraction of the cost of an original.
SHOP 1957 LES PAUL STANDARDS
1956 Les Paul Standard
Our '56 Les Pauls are completely unique, unbelievably-accurate modern versions of highly coveted vintage LP's with custom finish options that you wish were around back in the day. With hand-carved Carmelita necks and Custom Shop P90 Soap Bar pickups, the only way to get a more authentic vintage owning experience is to find a genuine '56 itself.


SHOP 1956 LES PAUL STANDARDS
Memphis ES-335 Dot w/VOS Hardware & T-Type Pickups
The classic ES-335 goes CME and gets an exclusive finishes and T-Type treatment!
From it's inaugural appearance in 1958, the Gibson ES-335 set an unmatched standard. The pearloid dot inlay rosewood fingerboard on a hand-rolled Rounded "C" mahogany neck remind players where it all started. CME Exclusive T-Type pickups are paired with our MTC Plus control assembly. The result, is that versatile Gibson ES tone that players have craved for over 60 years. Tuning stability and precise intonation are provided by the Grover "Milk Bottle" tuners, ABR-1 bridge with titanium saddles, and locking tail piece studs.
SHOP CME EXCLUSIVE GIBSON ES-335
Gibson is guitar history, and Gibson “CME Spec” is guitar history in the making. Thoughtfully designed with our favorite historic specs, custom colorways, and components you won’t find anywhere else, these exclusive models are love letters to one of rock’s most fundamental brands—big, bold, brash, and breathtaking, just the way they should be.
SHOP ALL CME EXCLUSIVE GIBSON
Related Posts
Boutique Guitar Showcase | 2023 - TC
Mark your calendars! Just as we did in 2020-2022, Chicago Music Exchange will proudly host the Boutique Guitar Showcase enTour 2023! Admirers of boutique guitar craftsmanship and fine lutherie, alike, from all across the Midwest are invited to attend the in-person showcase on Saturday, October 21, from 12-4 PM, featuring over 40 incredibly unique instruments all thoughtfully curated by Jamie Gale from boutique builders around the globe.
View DetailsAntelope Audio Interface Free Plugin Offer
As part of Chicago Music Exchange's ongoing partnership with Antelope Audio, we’ve partnered up to offer CME’s six-string devotees three FREE quintessential guitar effects plugins—including the Memory Cat Brigade Bucket Brigade Delay, the BBD Chorus Bucket Brigade Chorus, in addition to Antelope’s Reel-to-Reel tape saturation—with the purchase of any Antelope Audio Zen Q or Zen Go bus-powered recording interfaces!
View DetailsEarthquaker Devices | CME Exclusive One-Of-A-Kind Series
Chicago Music Exchange has started up an exclusive partnership with EarthQuaker Devices to offer our customers unique, one-off editions of some of the most popular EarthQuaker Devices pedals! Check out our entire offering of CME Exclusive EQD one-off pedals, and find a perfect fit for your pedalboard!
View Details