Take
me to the pics! "1958"
Blues Rig More Guitars
Purchased new 2/9/2003. She's a real Betty! :)
8 pounds, 9 ounces, Eastern maple top, non-wire ABR, CTS pots & Bumble Bees. Flecks and mineral streaks. Very dark, even fretboard. Sharp inlays.
Pickguard removed, otherwise stock for now. Timbuckers awaiting installation.
Believed to be rather rare. Gibson says only 399 1959 Reissue Les Pauls were made in 2002, the year of the restricted "only 5 USA R9 dealers" situation. Within those 399, it seems that only a very small number were selected for the "Custom Authentic" treatment. Gibson could provide no production numbers (as usual), but when I asked on the Les Paul Forum, only one other was mentioned, from Wildwood. Does anyone know where that one is? Any other reports of '02 R9 Authentic sightings, please email me.
I can't give a worthwhile tone report on this guitar. The reason is that I can't do it without making it a total gush.
Literally, I didn't know they made guitars like this. I didn't know it got this good. The tone, the touch, the sustain. Sometimes it's almost more like playing a pipe organ than a guitar.
Coming back down to Earth a bit, and just in comparison to the non-Historics I tried, I'd say this one is bright and bitey without being ice-picky. Plenty of bass without it being overpowering, muddy, or boomy. Great articulation. Very sensitive to touch, and also to the controls. Back it down and it has a very sweet clean. There is a certain chimey, jangly quality. But overall just this huge rolling tone that goes on for days. If Zeus plays a guitar, he plays a Les Paul like this. :)
I am now totally spoiled. I thought the purchase price was a big expense, but I figured it would be a one-time thing and then I'd be "done". Ha! Now almost all my other guitars suck! I only have one other guitar that can come anywhere close in tonal complexity and just an indefinable tonal "quality". This guitar has raised the bar so much that almost all my other guitars are essentially on the block. They just aren't any fun to play, in comparison. So it turns out the original purchase price was just a down payment.
Now I need one with a Bigsby, a P-90 one, a mahogany-topped Custom....
Ever since I was in high school in the late 60s, my "dream guitar" has always been a 1959 Les Paul. Even back then, at $1k plus (when you could find one), they were too expensive for me. Nowadays, at $100k+, I'll never have an original. But that's ok, this Historic version of a '59 is pretty darn nice.
What I wanted wasn't to have one that appeared 40 years old, but rather one that appeared about 10 years old - as old as it would have been when I lusted after it in high school. I wanted it to have a nicely flamed top, but it had to look very "real", like the old tops did. No even chevrons or barbecue grilles. I wanted it to have grain, and mineral streaks, and maybe a fleck or two, just like the originals so often did. Not that I claim any expertise in 59 LPs - this is my mental image of a '59 here. :)
So this is the one I ended up with. Tell me, do you think it looks like a '59 would have looked in 1969?
Betty is back from the setup salon (Bird Dog Bobby), sporting a fret polish and a set of Timbuckers with aged covers, 7.43/7.93 wind. Wow, I thought it was good before. This just makes it ever so much better. Incredible sensitivity and bloom. Great hollow tone. Great clean, great dirty, just GREAT! :))))))))))
These pics aren't the best. I'm still getting used to my digicam (Coolpix 950), and also learning that flame maple is the devil to photograph well. It looks a lot better in person, trust me! :)
Click on the pics for a bigger version.
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How about this "Cindy Crawford" fleck? I love it. :) |
A shot showing the grain. |
And, just to prove I am playing this puppy hours every day, here's the fretwear
after 3 months. :)
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