1959 Gibson Les Paul Special TV Yellow

If you're in the market for a Les Paul Special, you need to make a bunch of decisions because there are a lot of different versions of this guitar. If you want a single cut, move along, this is a double cut and not what you want. If you want a double cut, then you need to pay attention. There are no fewer than three-maybe four versions of the double cut Special. The first version has the neck pickup right up against the neck, the three way in the lower position and a larger control cavity. This quickly gave way to the second version which still has the neck pickup up against the neck but the three way has been moved to a more accessible position and the control cavity was made a little smaller. These are the two versions you should be looking at. The negative of these versions is the neck joint is fragile. The position of the neck pickup didn't allow for a long tenon and some of the neck joins failed. Gibson fixed this by moving the neck pickup toward the bridge pickup and in doing so changed the tone of the neck pickup. And not for the better. Then they changed the finish from a true TV Yellow "limed mahogany" to a sort of solid yellow that looks ok but it isn't the same. This one is the second version and the neck is stable. The profile is huge and rounded. It is all original with a modern hard case. The P90's are hot and articulate with the neck pickup being the main event here-it is a monster. 59 is the pinnacle year for Gibson electrics and they always command a premium (look at a 59 burst as opposed to a 58 or 60-same goes for 335's, 345's and 355's). 59 is it. Note there is a tiny chip out of the heel that has been repaired. See the photo-it's not terribly significant but it's there and I want to mention it in case you don't look closely at the photos.