A Near Fine 1959 Venetian Cutaway Byrdland With Two PAF's.

1959 Gibson Byrdland.

This top-of-the-line 17-inch thinline (2 1/4 inch deep) guitar weighs just 6.70 lbs. and has a nut width of 1 5/8 inches and a short scale length of 23 1/2 inches. Two-piece carved spruce top with nine-ply binding and single-bound f-holes, one-piece lightly 'flamed' maple back with five-ply binding and heavily 'flamed' maple sides. Heavily 'flamed' two-piece rock maple neck with center mahogany strip and a nice medium-to-thick profile. Multi-bound ebony fretboard with 22 original wide jumbo frets and inlaid pearl block positions markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl flowerpot inlay. Individual Kluson Sealfast tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. Black plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with wide white binding and two screws. Factory black 'stinger' on back of headstock. Two original PAF 'double-black' humbucker pickups with black plastic surrounds and outputs of 7.45k and 7.60k. Rim mounted jack input. Tortoiseshell pickguard with five-layer (white/black/white/black/white) plastic binding. Four controls (two volume, two tone) all on lower treble bout, plus three-way selector switch on treble horn. Gold plastic bell-shaped knobs. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with metal saddles on an adjustable rosewood base. Specific three-loop tailpiece with "Byrdland" engraved on the cross-bar. All hardware gold-plated. With the original Gibson orange oval label inside the bass 'f' hole, the style ("Byrdland") written in black ink and the serial number ("A 31257") stamped in black. Stamped in black inside the treble 'f' hole is the factory order number (FON) "S 8258 4". There are a few small marks on the top of the guitar by the bass side of the neck where the players pick has touched the top. There are a few other small marks and indentations and some overall fine body checking. The neck and sides are heavily flamed and the back is lightly flamed. There are three small splits in the binding on the treble side of the fretboard, but nothing that needs to be touched. This totally original excellent plus (8.75) example is one of only eighty Byrdlands made in 1959 of which forty-six were finished in sunburst and thirty-four in natural. Housed in its original Gibson brown five-latch hardshell case with pink plush lining (8.50).

Named after famed 1950s guitarists Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, the $550.00 Byrdland was unveiled in 1955 as the top-of-the-line model in the then new thinline series. Patterned after the L-5CES, except for a shorter and narrower neck (designed for easier fingering of "twisted" chords and faster playing speed), the Byrdland went through the same evolution in terms of pickups and body style. In late 1960 the body was restyled with a pointed Florentine cutaway to facilitate access to the fingerboard. The newer shape entailed the use of a slightly shorter pickguard. The Byrdland is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful guitars ever made.

This guitar is one of the second variant Byrdlands which were produced between 1958 and 1960.
"In early 1958 the Alnico pickups were replaced by humbuckers. All the other specifications remained unchanged except the inception of humbuckers signalled the exit of the marble pickguard found on the previous [first] variant. (A.R. Duchossoir. Gibson Electrics. The Classic Years. p.220).