1959 Gibson Les Paul Junior Sunburst, Excellent, Soft, $6,000.00

This classic Les Paul Junior is a rare bird indeed! Although Gibson is generally acknowledged to have stopped production on the single cutaway Juniors (in favor of the double-cut version) towards the end of 1958, you can occasionally find a stray ’59 single-cut sunburst LP Jr. Tracking one down is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack! Imagine our excitement when after copious research we came to the stunned realization that we had in our hands one of these rare ‘59s! The rarity of this guitar really only extends to the year as the nuts and bolts of it are not any different from a ’58. Those nuts and bolts however add up to a simple yet famously fantastic sounding and playing machine! A single dog-eared P-90 pickup is positioned just above the bridge, chock full of thick and gorgeous tone. The neck is nice and fat, featuring a rosewood finger board. Like other rare ‘59s this baby has thinner frets than the earlier production versions but they still have lots of playing days ahead of them in our opinion. The original keys on the tuning machines had crumbled so we replaced them with modern-but-period correct 3-on-a-side Kluson Deluxe tuners. The originals are included in the case front pocket. The original burst finish is in incredible shape for the age of the guitar and has a beautiful orange-ish hue towards the middle of the top with a nice walnut-ty brown finish on the back, sides, and neck. There is some playwear and light scratching on the top, a little bit of belt rash and a few dings on the back, and a few small dings on the back of the neck, mostly going towards where the neck and body meet. It plays gorgeously and has been set-up by our staff guitar tech for optimal playability. It is pretty lightweight for a solid body, coming in just a hair under 7 lbs (roughly 6 lbs 14 ounces). This ’59 Junior is not only a beautifully simplistic instrument with arguably the best pickup known to man but also a rare piece of history that will induce intense pangs of jealousy in every other guitarist you’ll meet! Includes chipboard case and original tuning machines.