1959 Gibson ES-355TDSV Red

59 is generally considered the most desirable year for any of the ES models and you usually pay a pretty big premium for the privilege of owning a 59. But not always. This very well played 59 ES-355 has a few issues and changes so pay attention. First off-lots of wear but no breaks, no repairs no structural issues at all. The back of the neck shows heavy wear. The headstock has a chip out of the corner. The body is checked and faded (to that gorgeous watermelon red). It is still stereo with its Varitone intact and working. I can convert to mono if you prefer for $300 including a new harness-you get the original). I will also consider selling just the husk (body and neck). There are some changed parts, most notably, the pickups. This probably had double whites (many 355's during this period do) and they probably were scavenged years ago. The current pickups are early patents (purple windings like a PAF). The neck pickup is out of a Byrdland (narrow spacing) but lines up perfectly and sounds great. Bridge is normal spaced early patent. The long pick guard is a really expensive reproduction-real celluloid and glued on binding like the originals. The original guard probably turned to dust long ago. Switch tip is repro. A few screws are changed. Tuners, truss cover, knobs, harness, Bigsby, Varitone ring and no wire bridge are original. So, for about half the price of an all original 59 ES-355, you can have a great player grade one that could be put back to correct status with a couple of pickups and a guard. Case is original brown