GGJaguar's Guitarium and Ampeteria 1999 Gibson Les Paul Standard '59 reissue

All images and text copyrighted and property of Greg Gagliano.

FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The 1958-60 sunburst ("Burst") Gibson Les Paul is perhaps the most collectible and sought after guitars in the world. Its holy grail status is not only due to its relative rarity (about 1500 made, most had plain tops and only very few had awesome figuring), but because they are incredible sounding instruments. Ironically, they were not very popular and only received attention in the late-1960s and 1970s when they became the axe-of-choice by blues and rock guitarists such as Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, and Duane Allman. In 1999, Gibson celebrated the birth of the flametop '59 Les Paul with the Custom Shop's 40th anniversary '59 Les Paul Reissue. The 40th anniversary package included a deluxe Gibson Custom Shop Case, a 1959 Reissue Case, a leather 1959 Reissue Guitar Strap, and a copy of Yasuhiko Iwanade's Beauty of the Burst. The '59 Reissue, or "R9", was conceived in response to the rapidly growing vintage and reissue market in 1992. From its debut through 1998, the R9 was a close, but not exact reissue of the original 1959 Les Paul. In 1999, Gibson produced a very accurate reissue with respect to binding, body perimeter shape, top dish carving, fret size, control placement, bridge and bridge pickup position, thin nitrocellulose finish, and peghead shape. The 2001 model year R9's came even close with improved fret shape, neck binding width, tortoise side dot markers, and lightweight stop bar. The 99R9 was offered with a plain top, AAA flame top, and top-of-the-line "killer" flame top. A small percentage of R9s made each year have "aged" finishes and hardware.

GIBSON '59 LES PAUL 40th ANNIVERSARY REISSUE (May 1999)

Body: Solid; 1-piece mahogany with 2-piece carved maple top, single bound top