"Burt" A Superb 1958 Les Paul Standard 'Burst'

1958. Gibson. Les Paul Standard. Sunburst - 'Iced-Tea' with 'Cherry' overtones (9.00).

Single cutaway solid body. This magnificent sixty year old Les Paul Standard 'Burst' weighs just 8:90 lbs. Solid mahogany 'Iced-Tea' with strong 'Cherry' overtones body with a beautiful swirly-grain, light-flame, solid carved maple top which shows a medium and uniform fade. One-piece mahogany neck with a nice, fat nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and that oh so typical fat '58 neck profile. Brazilian rosewood fret-board with 22 original factory 'small' frets. Inlaid pearl trapezoid (crown) position markers. Serial number "8 6917" 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. Bell-shaped two-layer black over white plastic truss-rod cover with two screws. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring tulip-shaped Keystone plastic buttons (stamped on the inside "D-169400 PATENT NO."). Two original double-black PAF humbucker pickups with very strong outputs of 8.52k and 7.83k. 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 "Bonnet" knobs. All of the electrics including the solder joints are all original and untouched. Two original "Bumble-Bee" capacitors. ABR-1 non-retainer Tune-O-Matic bridge with metal saddles and separate stud tailpiece. Two original black plastic control cavity covers. The original frets on this fine example have never been dressed or crowned. There is medium wear to the first seven frets and light wear to the rest. Classic late ‘58 with a good-grain top with strong color, light flame and plenty of character. In summary - this is an all original, unmodified, one Texan owner, '58 Burst (complete with a photograph of the original owner and the guitar) which has never had any repair or re-finishing carried out. The color and the grain are typical of a ‘58 and there is some light flame in the top. This guitar is in very strong excellent plus to exceptionally fine 8.75 - 9.00 condition. Housed in the original four-latch Gibson brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (8.50).

This guitar is featured in Vic DaPra's Burst Believers (page 100) "Serial # 8 6917. A nice '58 with light figuring and a very attractive fade."

The most famous 'Bursts' have nicknames…
The previous owner is a professional guitar player with a small collection of 'Bursts'…
During our negotiations he would refer to this guitar as 'Burt' - so that will be her name from now on…

Now lets be super critical…

1. The original tuners had been long ago removed by the original owner and replaced with two ‘three-in-row’ strip
     tuners. These ‘strip   tuners, unlike Grovers, did not require any additional boring out of the tuner shaft holes –
     just four tiny additional securing holes which are almost invisible now that the original Kluson Deluxe ‘single-line’
     tuners have been put back onto the guitar. The original tips were disintegrating (as usual) and have now been
     replaced with ‘Uncle Lou’ premium tips.

2. There is a small sliver of wood missing from the face of the headstock measuring approximately 1 x 1/4 x 1/16
     inches (25 x 62 x 30 cm).

3. The cream plastic series-one jack-plate has been replaced with an identical original example from 1958 (due to break)

4. The output jack solder joint is not original - there is a very small piece of plastic wire inserted,
    probably 50 years ago

5. The guitar has a small amount of angel-hair weather checking

6. There is some very 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.

7. There is moderate finish checking on the guitar sides and back; The back of the headstock, neck and face exhibit
     light finish checking.

Taking into account the aforementioned ‘imperfections’ this is still, to our knowledge, one of 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…)