1959 Gibson ES-335 Sunburst

A 1959 ES-335 can be a lot of things. There are so many variables in the early years of 335's that maybe we should designate different models-thin top, thick top, fat neck, transitional neck, white, zebra or black PAFs, good neck angle, shallow neck angle and any combination of features you can imagine. I have my favorites but you might have yours and they may not match mine. This one checks ALL the boxes for me. I like double white PAFs-they tend to be wound hotter (I have a theory about that) and they are cool even if you leave the covers on. I prefer the thin top (these are mostly left over 58's but not always-this one isn't). Some thin tops have a shallow neck angle. Some folks like that, some don't. I don't care either way as long as it plays well. I like a big neck but some 59's are simply too big for my little hands. 59's can be as large as .94" at the first fret and 1.05" at the 12th. That's too big for me. I always look for something in the neighborhood of .87-.89" at the first and anything from .96" to 1" at the 12th. This one is .87" and .96". It is perfect for my taste. All original is important to me although I don't mind a re-fret. This 59 is all original and has its original frets as well. I have installed new Kluson tuners rather than re-tip the originals that are included in the case. Virtually all 59's end up with shrunken tuner tips. The over all condition is important to a collector, less so to a player. This 59 is 9.5/10 with only very light checking and a couple of tiny dings. No wear to the body. Slight wear to the frets (it had flat wounds on it when I bought it). This guitar was put away in the early 80's after the owner became disabled and was finally sold recently by the family. These great ones somehow always find their way to me. It was unplayed for over 40 years. I would rate this guitar in my top 3 for playability and top five for tone. It is extraordinary. It is expensive and it is worth it. I see one like this once every two years. The last one I had like this (thin top, double whites, big neck) lasted for one day and sold locally. That was over two years ago. So don't snooze. Any 59 is hard to come by these days but one like this is getting close to impossible. Every major collection in the world has a 59 ES-335. They only made around 600 of them (compared to 1600 LP bursts). Call me to discuss the price. It weon't be showing up on Reverb any time soon, if ever. They take too much money. I'd rather you saved that money (like the sales tax). Nice brown Gibson badged case.