'Gladys'

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.

This magnificent fifty-three year old Les Paul Standard 'Burst' weighs just 8.80 lbs. and has nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body with a 'Glowing Honeyburst' top with quite spectacular, all-over, deep heavy flame with an almost holographic effect on the solid carved maple top which has uniformly faded to a wonderful shade of "Iced Tea". One-piece mahogany neck with that oh so perfect '59 profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard, expertly re-fretted (see note below) with 22 medium jumbo frets. Inlaid pearl trapezoid (crown) position markers. Serial number "9 2218" inked-on in black on the back of the headstock. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and with "Les Paul Model" silk-screened in gold. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover, with era-correct 'striations'. The top of the guitar has single-ply cream binding and the fretboard has single-ply cream binding. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with original single-ring tulip-shaped Keystone plastic buttons (stamped on the inside "D-169400 PATENT NO."). Two PAF humbucker pickups (double-white) with outputs of 8.49k and 7.73k. The cream neck pickup mounting ring is stamped on the inside "MR491" and "M-69 7" and the cream bridge pickup mounting ring is stamped on the inside "MR490" and "M-69 8." Single-layer cream plastic pickguard. Era-correct, impossibly rare 'round-cornered' jackplate. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on lower treble bout plus three-way pickup selector switch on upper bass bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs. Era-correct 'Series ll' Rhythm/Treble switch-ring with 95% of the gold lettering remaining. The potentiometers are stamped "134 907" (Centralab February 1959). Two original "Bumble-Bee" capacitors. ABR-1 non-retainer Tune-O-Matic bridge with metal saddles and separate stud tailpiece. Apart from an expert refret Gladys is a 100% original example in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition with no 'weather checking' whatsoever. Complete with the original frets (in the case pocket), the original gray guitar cord, an original Gibson set of Hi Fi Flat Wound Strings (three only) and the following case-candy: Original manilla envelope containing: 1. original orange folded Gibson Les Paul hang-tag; original white 'Lifton' case hang-tag; original 'Tune-O-Matic' bridge instruction sheet; original 'Humbucking Pickup Adjustments' sheet; original saddle-adjuster, original case key, and finally a letter from George Gruhn dated December 2nd 2002, accurately and fully describing the guitar. Housed in the original Gibson five-latch, shaped brown 'California-Girl' hardshell case with pink plush lining (9.00).

'Gladys' has what many 'Burst' aficionados consider THE consummate type of flame; breathtaking all-over coverage, thick, wide and wavy with moderate color retention and a swirly mahogany back and sides. As you walk around Gladys and give her the eye her flame seems to come alive; this Burst bursts into fire…

100% correct parts, untouched inlays/fretboard (other than the expert refret), proper 1959 neck profile, NEVER had a Bigsby, NEVER had Grovers, two 'Double-White' PAFs… 'Gladys' is a very well known and highly admired guitar - she is featured on The Les Paul Forum and appears in several books and magazine articles including: Robb Lawrence. The Early Years of The Les Paul, p. 244; Jay Scott and Vic DaPra. The Gibson Burst 1958, '59, '60. p. 52;

Provenance: One owner in Galen, MI from the early sixties until 2001; sent to George Gruhn in Nashville for appraisal and subsequently sold by George Gruhn in November 2001 to well known collector Ronny Proler (who named her "Gladys Hell" (because he was 'Glad As Hell' to get her); sold by Ronny Proler in November 2002 to burst afficionado and well known 'burst' authenticator Joe Ganzler (who shortened her name to 'Gladys').
http://www.ganzlerincorporated.com/

Now lets be super critical:

1. The guitar has had a magnificent George Gruhn refret with the correct vintage '59 fretwire
2. The guitar was expertly plek'd for the current owner - resulting in an absolutely perfect playing instrument
3. The top corners of the black face of the headstock have been 'touched up' - this is only visible under UV light
4. There is a tiny wood repair to the mahogany just below the high 'E' tuner (the tuner post was probably struck from
     the front, which made the wood around one of the screw holes split out). Again this is only visible under UV light
5. There is some light belt-buckle rash on the back, two small areas of surface loss (the larger one 1 x 1/2 inch),
     a few small marks on the top, and a few small marks on the edges.

Otherwise this '59 Burst is as good as it gets and to our knowledge the best available at the present time.

Regarding the color - Gladys was originally 'double-stained' at the factory, as evidenced by the stain 'runners' visible in the large electronics cavity. This process was done to several batches of guitars during 1959, resulting in a vibrant red finish on the back, neck, and sides, as well as the top on unfaded examples (see "The African" - S/N #9-2074); on Gladys, the top shows moderate fade which, due to the original staining/color of the guitar, has taken on an almost indescribable hue. It might be described as a 'Glowing Honeyburst', due to the iridescent quality that the (moderately faded) top has acquired.  It has more color and vibrancy than a 'Lemonburst' or a 'Honeyburst', due to muted orange overtones, which tend to selectively 'shimmer' when exposed to sunlight or even florescent light sources.  Also of interest in these batches of guitars - the ones that I have examined show ZERO weather-checking!  I believe that these batches of sunburst Les Pauls were painted with 'vendor sample(s)' - perhaps 1-2 different 5 gallon sample cans supplied by current or prospective paint vendors to Gibson. This makes sense for the following reasons:
 
This could explain the dramatic color differences of several notable guitars during the 1959 model year; The 'Brock' Burst, for example.
 
If vendor sample cans WERE supplied to Gibson, why would they NOT use them?  And if so, why not use them on THIS model of guitar, known for fading issues by 1959 (dealer feedback on guitars that were fading in store windows)?

"What I dig most about bursts is, like chicks, they're all unique. Descriptions like, gorgeous, pretty face, killer, lightweight, great top, blonde, curly, or plain Jane apply to both. Nobody can really say they've got the best looking burst or chick. After all, one man's treasure is another man's trash and there's always one better anyway…" (Uncle Lou Gatanas - written many , many years ago…)