1959 Gibson ES-335 Sunburst, Excellent

HOLDIf you ask serious players and collectors what year 335 is the best of them, the answer will almost always be 1959. But all 1959's are not the same. There was a short period of time between mid May and mid June when the stars aligned and the guitar gods smiled. If you ask me what I look for in a 59 335, I'll tell you: 1. Thin top (a 58 feature that sneaks into a few guitars in mid 59). 2. Big neck but not the baseball bat. The "transitional neck" that went from the Fall of 59 to mid 60 is wonderful but the earlier bigger neck was perfect. Call it "medium chunky" at .86" at the first fret and .97" at the 12th. For reference, the baseball bat neck is .89 or more at the first. The "transitional" is .83" at the first. 3. Double white or zebra PAFs. These don't actually sound better than black ones but they add value to the guitar. This 59 checks all the boxes. It is a spectacular player and a beauty to boot. It doesn't appear to have been played much-the condition is close to 9.5 and the frets are original and near perfect. I wish I could call it a no issue guitar but it had Schaller tuners at some point. The holes are perfectly filled but the telltale indentations in the front of the headstock from the washers are present. Double white PAFs measure 8.53K and 8.23K. The guitar shows almost no checking-none in the top, back or neck- just a little in the rim inside the cutaways. This is one of the best sounding 335's I've had. Top twenty for sure. Maybe top ten. The case is correct brown with pink interior Stone.