REAL 1959 les Paul

[aharp]

This is a real 1959 les Paul standard that I had the honor and privilege of playing at elderly instruments in Lansing Michigan.

 

[aharp]

It was $225,000

 

[aharp]

Here is my father holding the same guitar

 

[aharp]

 

[pinefd]

Very cool!

Looks like your father keeled over from the excitement!


Frank

 

[DADGAD]

You should have asked if they do financing. ~ $5000 a month for 48 months.

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

It was $225,000

Lucky guy! How was it, what were your thoughts on it after you had played it?

$225k seems really cheap for a '59, don't they usually sell for double that price or higher?

 

[Thundermtn]

Cool, now you're ruined for life, lol.

Did your hands sweat? Mine sure did the first time I held a Burst. Getting your hands on one is the only way to know what the fuss is about, it'll give you a much better grasp of what to look for in a good LP in the future.

 

[Pete M]

Reflector knobs?

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

I don't even ask to see it when I go to Elderly.

 

[aharp]

Lucky guy! How was it, what were your thoughts on it after you had played it?

$225k seems really cheap for a '59, don't they usually sell for double that price or higher?

Well....the market isn’t what it used to be. Ten years ago that guitar would have been easily worth half a million before the recession.

As for how it played....it lived up to the mythos.

 

[aharp]

Cool, now you're ruined for life, lol.

Did your hands sweat? Mine sure did the first time I held a Burst. Getting your hands on one is the only way to know what the fuss is about, it'll give you a much better grasp of what to look for in a good LP in the future.

 

[aharp]

Well...hopefully I’ll get to play other vintage Gibson’s. Yah I guess it’s kinda over, its something that people wait an entire life to do, but I did it when I was 20 .

I didn’t sweat that much actually. I basically casually played it once the gentleman handed it to me. It was my dad who was more apprehensive. To him, this was a massive insurance litigation, and he was biting his nails as I was picking my way along the fretboard. He held it for like two seconds and then handed it back to the gentleman .

yah, the reissues don’t even do these things justice.

 

[aharp]

Reflector knobs?

I think that it may have been a late 59. Perhaps Gibson was preparing to make the first batch of 60’s and decided to throw these newer knobs on there.

 

[aharp]

Very cool!

Looks like your father keeled over from the excitement!


Frank

Yah, he was incredibly nervous holding it. I’m sure he never thought this would happen at any moment in his life.

 

[aharp]

You should have asked if they do financing. ~ $5000 a month for 48 months.

Lol!

 

[aharp]

I don't even ask to see it when I go to Elderly.

I think they let my dad and I play it because it was a Monday morning when no one was there to go “oh can I play it too.”

the gentleman who let us play it was really chill.

 

[jcsk8]

So how it sounded?

 

[Lousyatit]

Well....the market isn’t what it used to be. Ten years ago that guitar would have been easily worth half a million before the recession.

As for how it played....it lived up to the mythos.

Over three, maybe. Half a million, not hardly. Replaced tuners, wrong knobs, wrong pick guard screw, possibly some other odds and ends.

 

[aharp]

Actually, replacing the tuners with klusons (as long as they’re Gibson’s) isn’t a huge issue. The original tuners probably disintegrated. It’s not uncommon for that to happen. As for the knobs, I believe from what the gentleman said this guitar was a VERY late 59. So, it was probably a translation model before the first batch of 60’s hit the market. I’m unsure about the screw on the pick guard. But everything else was 100% original.