The 1959 Les Paul Debate ...What made them So Great ?

[BOBBO]

I think my love of vintage Les Paul's started when I saw Jimmy Page play live the first time and my obsession with them started with my first copy of Beauty of the Burst !!! ... What sparked your interest or love of vintage LP's and what made those 1959 Les Pauls so great ?

[LoKi]

Its iconic. Its not so much that they are the best players, best sounding, best anything... its the image we all have in our minds when someone says 'electric guitar'. Even people who know nothing about music or instruments in general know what the Les Paul is. It was an idea, and an image that forever changed popular music.

[goldtop0]

I guess for me it was NOT knowing about them down here in NZ.
We saw pics of the Custom being used by EC, Page and others in the 60s and then I got a colour poster of PG using his burst in '69 and wondering what the heck it was 'oh that's the cheaper model below the Custom' I thought as a 15/16 year old.........I hadn't cottoned on to the fact that Eric had used his '60 burst on the beano album as I'd always associated him with his 335,SG and aforementioned Custom during his Cream days.
Anyway I had albums that had burst/Marshall combinations all over them(but didn't know it at the time) and Page used his burst with Zeppelin,so now it was Green and Page who I knew played one.
It wasn't really until the early 80s that I started out on the road to the Burst.
I started working for a guy who wanted me to build up a wholesale music business(supplying dealers) as he had a successful professional equipment importing business and Sennheiser,Otari,Nagra Kudelski,Ampex were some of the brands he sold here back then.So I decided to get a hold of Marshall and a few other music brands plus hi fi gear and started doing that.
I'd always played guitar and had used a SG Special(neck like a baseball bat) in the early 70s with the bands that I was in but hadn't thought about tone etc until I got some Marshall amps and cabs into the country and started selling them.
It was then(mid '80s) that I started listening to my blues records again, Mayall with EC,EC with Page etc and started hunting down the sound and the equipment used.Bought a pig of a Standard(an '88, heavy as hell and dead as a doornail) in '91 which was later stolen in a house burglary(didn't miss the thing at all) and decided then that I wouldn't buy another LP until I knew what I was doing.
By this time it was the early to mid '90s and I'd written to Tom Wittrock about vintage LPs and got his sunbust poster etc,I'd started learning about them at that stage.Had in mind that I'd eventually buy three '59s, one for each of my kids, but that never came to fruition with the passing of time,and now it's totally out of the question given the huge $$ involved.

So in answer to the question what made the burst and '59s(especially) so great.
I put it down to the
1.Guys who used them in the '60s and the fabulous recordings they made/the sound they had/have.
2.The curly maple tops
I liken these instruments to the Stradavarius violin.They're really something special,looks and tone.


Hmmm..............by the way I've yet to play a vintage LP, but I've got Xena and she's absolutely honey toned/inspirational,anything better than that would be simply amazing and dumbfounding in my books.

[BOBBO]

[lp59aholicDon]

well Bobbo, Really it comes down to the songs that were made with them, One historical correction, EC's "Beano" Les Paul was actually a 1960 Les Paul .
Whats a twist of History, is when Gibson started into Humbuckers, American music shifted to Rockabilly, Rock n Roll and Surf , Les Pauls were not popular guitars, so they wound up NOS in pawnshops and went on clearence sale, and Gibson sent many to England in hopes of better sales . Mike Bloomfield was really one of the first American white blues guys using a Les

[BOBBO]

[ReverendJWblues]

I think for me it was the look, the color, simple look great color scheme, plus the first one I ever played felt so damn good and comfortable in my hands. BTW Ive never played a real burst that I know of.I played alot of les pauls as a kid but dont remember much about them. So I actually could have played one and not know it, wasnt that big a deal way back when. Then again I did get a TV model on my 12th birthday if thats considered anything.

[BOBBO]

[siroliver]

Originally Posted by BOBBO

That's odd.
what's going on with the pickup rings?

[BCRGreg]

Play one and it becomes quite obvious.

They work.

[Lousyatit]

Yes they do.

[dwagar]

For me it was Bloomfield, and Clapton on the Beano album. Nothing else delivers the tone through a cranked twin or cranked Marshall like a Les Paul IMO.

[BOBBO]

You guys are summing it up great .. For a change I'll keep my big mouth shut !

[BOBBO]

[Spicoli]

Ok, who's this?

[61LPSG]

Tone,tone, beauty,and TONE.
Did I mention that they sound good?

[HolyGrail]

I think everyones made some great points.

For me ~ It seems " The 50's "were an era right after WWll and people
cared about making products Right . Think About it , Cars and Guitars ( Gibson & Fender ) All products from that era were generally made well .

I feel by this and sheer luck . Everything came together correctly.
The Stars were all aligned. Pickups came out great by accident ,
They cared about using the best tone woods. Hand made, not as many
machines involved . People Cared !

And of course the best musicians back then recognized how special most
of them were . The rest is history.

[61LPSG]

Thanks to Mr.McCarty, and Mr Lover.

[ReverendJWblues]

Originally Posted by HolyGrail

I think everyones made some great points.

For me ~ It seems " The 50's "were an era right after WWll and people
cared about making products Right . Think About it , Cars and Guitars ( Gibson & Fender ) All products from that era were generally made well .

I feel by this and sheer luck . Everything came together correctly.
The Stars were all aligned. Pickups came out great by accident ,
They cared about using the best tone woods. Hand made, not as many
machines involved . People Cared !

Exactly my brotha as Ive said many times people back then loved wrking with their hands, creating, useing the mind, pride whatever u wanna call it. Call it luck or whatever it was just different, I dont think it wa so much that they were so great, but Damn there was some craftsmanship. Kinda like a MAX a craftsmanship a desire to be the best one can

[HolyGrail]

Originally Posted by ReverendJWblues

Exactly my brotha as Ive said many times people back then loved wrking with their hands, creating, useing the mind, pride whatever u wanna call it. Call it luck or whatever it was just different, I dont think it wa so much that they were so great, but Damn there was some craftsmanship. Kinda like a MAX a craftsmanship a desire to be the best one can

Agreed Rev~ Max's Guitars were built the closest to the original .
In my opinion they are the same as a real Burst if all the correct
parts are used .

[BOBBO]

Originally Posted by HolyGrail

Agreed Rev~ Max's Guitars were built the closest to the original .
In my opinion they are the same as a real Burst if all the correct
parts are used .

It's a shame that somewhere along the line people lost that pride in thier work and nowdays a job is just a job to most people !

[Anchorman]

Fish Glue

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by Spicoli

Ok, who's this?

Adrian Vandenburg

[Spicoli]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

Adrian Vandenburg

Nice, I think this photo is from the late 70's.

I wonder if he still has the guitar?

[goldtop0]

Originally Posted by BOBBO

It's a shame that somewhere along the line people lost that pride in thier work and nowdays a job is just a job to most people !

There are different times now.
The 20th Century was full of turmoil and the world was a smaller place population wise.Aspirations of world domination by some nations bound us all together for a time and made us work hard for peace..........times of sacrifice, responsibility and perserverence.My how things have changed.
But it will come again,things go round in circles.

[BOBBO]