An Exceptionally Fine 1959 'Double-Cut' Les Paul Junior

1959 Gibson Les Paul Junior

This super light guitar weighs just 6.90 lbs. and has a solid mahogany body with rounded edges. One-piece mahogany neck with and a nut width of 1 11/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and that great '59 "baseball bat" profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 original jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with "Gibson" logo and "Les Paul / Junior" silk-screened in gold. Black plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with two screws. Closed-back single-line Kluson Deluxe strip tuners with white plastic oval buttons. Serial number "929274" inked-on in black on the back of the headstock. One super hot black P-90 pickup with a blistering output of 9.04k. Black plastic pickup cover stamped on the underside "UC - 450 - 1 / 1". Single-ply 'tortoiseshell' plastic (0.08 inches thick) pickguard with four screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) on the lower treble bout. Black plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs. The potentiometers are stamped "134 92" (Centralab, January 1959) and the capacitor is the requisite 'Bumble-Bee' type. Combination "wrap-over" bar bridge/stud tailpiece. There is some fine finish checking and the body and neck are slightly and uniformly faded. There is a tiny amount of belt buckle 'scarring' on the back of the guitar - but nothing actually through the finish. There are a few very small and insignificant 'dings' on the top and the sides of the body. This incredible fifty-four year old guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. The original 'jumbo' frets show just a miniscule amount of playing wear, the fretboard shows no wear. One of the best looking and best sounding 'Double-Cut' Les Paul Juniors that we have ever handled. Housed in the original Gibson brown 'Aligator' softshell case with brown felt lining (7.50).

"In mid-1958 an extensive body redesign brought about a novel double cutaway shape permitting complete access to the entire fingerboard via a neck-to-body junction at the 22nd fret. Contrary to what appearances might suggest, this redesign did not alter the overall body dimensions. But in the process the standard finish was changed from sunburst to cherry red… " (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics. The Classic Years, p. 205-206).

"Ted McCarty explained the re-design as a reaction to player's requests. "They wanted to be able to thumb the sixth string," he said, "but they couldn't do it if the only cutaway was over on the treble side. So we made them with another cutaway, so they could get up there. We did things that the players wanted, as much as anything." The Junior's fresh look was enhanced with a new cherry red finish. (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul, pp. 33 & 36).

The 'double-cut' Gibson Les Paul Junior was the favorite choice of many great guitarists including (in alphabetical order) Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day); Mick Box (Uriah Heep); Allen Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd); Mick Jones (The Clash); Mick Ralphs (Bad Company); Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) and Leslie West (Mountain).