Extremely Rare 1955 Les Paul TV Model With The Unique Light-Washed "Natural" Finish.

1955 Gibson Les Paul TV Junior.

This super rare 13-inch-wide, electric solid body TV Junior weighs just 7.10 lbs. Solid mahogany body with the original 'TV' light-washed mahogany finish on body and neck. One-piece mahogany neck with a nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and a wonderful thick 'baseball-bat' profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 original thin frets and inlaid pearl dot markers. Black-faced headstock with "Gibson" logo and "Les Paul TV Junior" silk-screened in gold. Single-layer black plastic, bell-shaped truss-rod cover with two screws. Three-in-a-line Kluson Deluxe 'single-line' 'no-name' strip tuners with oval white plastic buttons. Serial number "510528" inked-on in black on the back of the headstock. Single-layer black plastic pickguard with three screws. One P-90 pickup (in the bridge position) with an output of 7.73k. Black plastic pickup cover stamped on the underside "UC - 450-1 / 2". Two controls (one volume, one tone) on lower treble bout. The potentiometers are stamped "615 2632 518" (ROC, May 1955). Original "Grey Tiger" capacitor. Black plastic bell-shape "Bell" control knobs. Original combination wrap-over bar bridge/tailpiece with two intonation screws. There is some overall finish checking and a few surface marks and indentations, mainly on the top, the edges of the body and the back of the neck. When we removed the truss-rod cover on this guitar we noticed that the nut on the end of the truss-rod had sheared off. We sent the guitar to our expert luthier Scott Lentz who has professionally restored the truss-rod to full working order. Overall this all original fifty-nine year old, very rare Les Paul TV Junior is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. Housed in the original Gibson three-latch softshell 'Aligator' case with brown felt lining (9.00).

"The first variant is characterized by a single cutaway thick body, but the specifications of early sample may differ in terms of wood and finish. The very first TV models were built with either a mahogany or a maple body, and whilst most of them were released with a limed finish, some were also issued in natural. By 1955 the TV specs were crystallised and limed mahogany became the norm, although mention was subsequently made of a natural or limed oak finish in Gibson brochures." (A.R. Duchossoir. Gibson Electrics. The Classic Years. p. 123)

There are two examples of this rare finish featured in The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915-1963 by Robb Lawrence (p. 181). "Two extremely rare 1955 Les Paul TV models with the unique light-washed "natural" finish."