First of all, happy belated 94th birthday to Les Paul (the man, not the guitar). We apologize for not sending these birthday greetings to Les on his big day.
Second of all, a few days ago, we mentioned that we had received 25 Sweetwater-exclusive Gibson Custom Limited Edition 1959 50th Anniversary Les Paul Standard guitars, in an astounding Ruby Burst finish. (There are less than 25 left available now, naturally, but run with us here…) There were some questions about these guitars, primarily about what really made them the most accurate re-creations of ’59 Les Paul Standards Gibson has ever made. Here’s the deal:
Gibson analyzed several original vintage ’59 Les Pauls to achieve the most accurate re-creation of any of their re-issue instruments. These guitars are not the same as any previous re-issue. Here are just a few of the differences:
- Vintage-corrected body shape
- Slightly thicker mahogany body
- 3-degree angle pickup route
- Taller, vintage-correct neck heel
- Slightly thinner maple cap
- More accurate carved top
- Slightly thinner fretboard
- Wireless ABR-1 bridge for tighter response
- Brass bridge saddles
- Lightweight aluminum stopbar tailpiece
- Historically correct pickguard shape and placement
- Historically correct backplate and switchplate
- 1″ diameter jack plate hole
- Vintage-correct dial pointers
These guitars are lightweight, but they are not weight relieved or chambered. They feature a solid, one-piece mahogany body, which is historically correct. The reason for the lighter weight is that Gibson used a better grade of Honduran mahogany that is from the higher part of the tree and therefore further from the water line. These guitars are incredibly resonant!
In addition to the features above, each of these special guitars is inspected by our staff and includes a certificate of authenticity. The run of 25 guitars (no more will be created) will feature sequential serial numbers. It’s too late for you to buy all 25 and get all the serial numbers in order, but you might still be able to score a few with the serial numbers all in a row – if you hurry!
