1959 Gibson ES-335 Red

Why is this guitar anything special? Well, it's a 59. That's pretty special. It's got a Varitone which is unusual for a 335. It's red and Gibson didn't offer red on a 335 until 1960 (and they only made 21 of them in 1960 and a clean 60 will cost you $40K or $50K). All red dot necks made before 1960 were special orders. There is one 58 and 6 59's. The 58 was delivered in December 58 and was wired in stereo. This one was delivered next and was probably built alongside the 58 as the FON is from 58. This one is also stereo and has a factory varitone. It had a floating Bigsby added at some point but left the factory as a stop tail. I have seen all of the known red 59's and only three are stop tails. The rest are Bigsbys. So, being one of a kind, it's expensive. If it didn't have the Varitone, I'd be asking more like $125K-essentially on a par with a 59 blonde which is way more common (they made 71 in 1959). This is probably your best (and possibly only) chance to score a red 59. It is all original. The neck is the big early 59 profile. PAFs are double black. Frets appear original as do the tuner tips. This guitar has a lot in common with a first rack 345-big neck, thin top, unusually resonant and slightly thinner than normal body (1.55" where most 59's are 1.65") Case is Gibson badged 5 latch in very good condition. It is also the victim of one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. There were three properly filled holes at the end pin from the Bigsby (none in the top). Some nitwit drilled four holes in order to install a plastic cover for the three holes. Who drills four holes in order to cover three holes? It's like if you lost two fingers on your left hand and, in order to make your hands match, you cut two off from your right hand. I would have the four holes filled and call it a day. Nobody sees that part of the guitar anyway.