Description
The sunburst Les Paul from the late fifties has become an iconic musical instrument, although at the time it was largely ignored by guitar players and discontinued in 1960 due to poor sales. Out of the nigh on 1700 original Les Pauls with two-piece sunburst tops made between 1958 and 1960, the 643 that were shipped in 1959 are the most highly prized and sought after, fetching eye-watering sums from collectors and dealers when they come up for sale. The ’59 sunburst Les Paul – often referred to as the ‘holy-grail’ of guitars – is special not only due to its rarity, looks and tone, but because of its later association with legendary players like Mike Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton, all of whom recognised that the guitar nobody had wanted was perfect for their brand of the blues. So the legend of the ’59 sunburst Les Paul grew, but Gibson was very slow to acknowledge the demands for a reissue from musicians and dealers alike and it wasn’t until the Custom Shop got underway in the late eighties that the model began to appear again. As production increased throughout the following years, tweaks were made to ensure that the new guitars were as near as possible in spec to the old ones and to add interest, Gibson started to issue VOS (Vintage Original Spec) Les Pauls with toned down finishes and ‘aged’ Les Pauls which showed the wear that a guitar would naturally undergo through normal use. The current VOS model is the nearest most people are likely to get to playing a real ’59, however not everyone wants a new guitar to look old or even a little worn and so for lovers of the shiny and the unabused, Gibson has released a batch of Les Pauls not only with authentic looking flamed maple tops, but with gleaming hardware and a gloss finish. – See more at: http://magazine.dv247.com/2011/11/16/gibson-1959-les-paul-standard-reissue-review/#sthash.29fq97az.dpuf
