Gibson Custom Shop 60th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Standard

If there is one guitar that could be said to have started the whole vintage guitar market in the first place and one that is considered to be the Holy Grail amongst players and collectors then it is the 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard – or Burst as they have become known. There’s not a lot that can be said about the original 58-60 Les Paul Standards that hasn’t already been said thousands of times, and you no doubt already know the history so we won’t go into that again here.

There have been countless Burst reissues over the years by the Gibson Custom Shop as well as the ‘unofficial’ replicas that have been built by independent luthiers. All of which have aimed to get as close as possible, with varying degrees of accuracy, to the original 58-60 Bursts.

1959 has become the most sought-after year due to the combination of the neck profile, medium jumbo frets and non-fade resistant aniline dye. So, in 2019 the Gibson Custom Shop decided to mark the 60th anniversary of the ’59 Burst by taking their regular R9 ’59 reissue and including some additional upgrades to create their most accurate reissue to date. Historically accurate specs include: aged cellulose nitrate inlays, genuine Kluson single line tuners, laminated cellulose acetate butyrate pick-guard and jack plate, authentic stepped 2-Ply truss rod cover, butyrate gold top hats control knobs, amber catalin switch tip, silkscreened cellulose acetate butyrate ‘poker chip’, a pair of Custombucker Alnico III unpotted pick-ups, CTS 500K audio taper potentiometers and paper-in-oil capacitors. The original ’59 Burst ‘Carmelita’ (s/n 9 1953) was scanned to provide the top carve and neck profile on the 60th Anniversary reissues.

Finished in Cherry Teaburst (representing a cherry burst that’s started to fade towards teaburst) the red element will fade further if exposed to UV if that’s something you’d like to do – it’s already started to fade slightly as evidenced under the pick guard. The AAA flame maple top has the right amount of ribbon curl and ‘peek a boo’ quality to give it the authentic look of some of the best flametop vintage Bursts. The overall condition is near mint with just a handful of very light surface scratches on the back of the guitar which are only visible when looking closely in the right light. There are also some very faint checking lines around the control knobs and between the pick-ups. These follow the grain of the top and again are only visible upon very close inspection when the light hits them – see pictures.

Sonically it’s everything you could ask of an authentic Burst reissue - or clone as Gibson described the 60th Anniversary models. The pair of alnico III un-potted Custombuckers are probably as close as Gibson has got to original PAF specs so far…and they sound great. The fact they are un-potted gives them a little bit more top end clarity than the potted versions.

These 60th Anniversary reissues don’t come up for sale very often and are going up in value, so here is an opportunity to get a great example at a good price.

Comes in a period correct lacquered 5 latch Lifton reissue case along with the Certificate of Authenticity, 60th Anniversary switchplate medallion and all of the case candy.

Weight: 8lb 11.5oz
Pick up readings: neck 8.0k, bridge 8.1k