'Rosie Lea'
The Queen of 1959

This magnificent fifty year old Les Paul Standard 'Burst' weighs just 9.50 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 beautiful medium-flame, wiggly, tight pinstripe, Cherryburst solid carved maple top which has uniformly faded to a wonderful shade of "Ice Tea" One-piece mahogany neck with that oh so perfect '59 profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 medium jumbo frets. Inlaid pearl trapezoid (crown) position markers. Serial number ("9 1962") inked-on in black on the back of the headstock. The top of the guitar has a single cream binding and the fretboard has single white binding. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and with "Les Paul Model" silk-screened in gold. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover.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 single-ring tulip-shaped Keystone plastic buttons (stamped on the inside "D-169400 PATENT NO."). Two PAF humbucker pickups (double-black) with outputs of 7.86k and 7.78k. 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. 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. The potentiometers are stamped "134 929" (Centralab July 1959). Two original "Bumble-Bee" capacitors. ABR-1 non-retainer Tune-O-Matic bridge with metal saddles and separate stud tailpiece. Housed in the original Gibson brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (8.25).

This guitar has what many 'Burst' aficionados consider THE consummate type of flame; breathtaking all-over coverage, moderate color retention, a FLAMED mahogany back, swirly-grained mahogany sides. 100% correct parts, untouched inlays/fretboard, proper 1959 neck profile, NEVER had a Bigsby, NEVER had Grovers, two beautifully-balanced PAFs… it is very similar in appearance to two of the 'Bursts' featured in Jay Scott and Vic DaPra's book The Gibson 'Burst 1958, '59, '60. The two guitars are on page 48 (serial # 9 1978) and the guitar featured in the eighth full page color plate.

Now lets be super critical…
1. The original pickups have been out, and are now back in
2. The guitar has had a magnificent Terry Mueller refret with the correct vintage profile fretwire
3. The guitar has a small amount of angel-hair weatherchecking
4. There is some light belt-buckle rash on the back, a few small marks on the top, a few small marks on the edges,
and a few small marks on the back of the neck.
5. The tuner-tips have been replaced by Terry Mueller with a set of the finest Uncle Lou premium tips which are
virtually indistinguishable from the originals.

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

"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…)

The most famous 'Bursts' have nicknames… with that in mind I decided to go back to my English roots and recall the Cockney Rhyming slang of my youth… The color of this beautiful instrument can be described as nothing other than "Iced Tea" and back in London when I wanted a cup of tea I would say "I'd love a cup of Rosie Lea"…
so from now on we will call her "Rosie Lea" - see and hear 'Rosie Lea' sing on Youtube…
PRICE ON APPLICATION.