The First Les Paul Standard made in 1958
What is believed by many guitar experts to be the first Les Paul Burst, released in May of 1958, has come on the market. All Gibson Les Paul Standards made from 1958-1960 are viewed as the pinnacle of electric guitar making. If you've got a spare $625,000.00, this First Burst could be yours.
News 5 in Nashville has done a nice piece on this beauty (see link below), currently for sale at Carter's Vintage Guitars in Nashville. Vince Gill and Ed King (Lynyrd Skynyrd) are on the video clip playing this baby and you can tell they are just tickled with what an amazing guitar it truly is.
As they discuss, it was 1958 when the new "sunburst" finish was applied to the Gibson Les Paul and while they were only made between 1958-1960 (until production resumed in 1968). These Les Paul guitars made by Gibson in Kalamazoo, Michigan were the guitars that became the iconic rock guitar and far ahead of its time.
The Irony of the 1958-1960 Gibson Les Pauls
The ironic thing about these Les Paul guitars is at the time, they were discontinued by Gibson in 1960 in favor of the new Les Paul, known today as the Gibson SG, because sales were low and Gibson Guitars wanted a new guitar model to compete with the increasing popularity of the Fender Stratocaster. Today, those Gibson Les Pauls made between 1958, 1959 and 1960 are the most valuable electric guitars on the vintage guitar market. They currently sell for anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 and more if they celebrity owned or like this one, very rare by being the first Les Paul Sunburst finish guitar Gibson made.
There were so few made and most guitarists and guitar experts agree that for whatever reason, they are simply the Holy Grail of the electric guitar. Some say it was the Brazilian wood, others say it was the hand craftsmanship of the folks at Gibson up in Kalamazoo, Michigan during this era, but whatever the reason, there is no denying that these Les Pauls are special.
Celebrity Guitarists Who Made the Les Paul Burst Popular
Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Slash and many other guitar legends brought an unprecedented popularity to the Les Paul Burst and most of us who own one can credit one or more of these icons for our desire to play a Burst...for me, it was Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
More about Les Pauls “Bursts”
For more on these great "Bursts" check out our interview with Vic DaPra, the Vintage Les Paul Expert who does limited Les Paul artist design runs for the Gibson Custom Shop and is the author of "Burst Believers 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5."
UPDATE: THIS FIRST BURST SOLD
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According to sources, Les Paul started holding Court around 1984 in the small basement club in New York until it closed in 1996…