A Near Mint 1959 'Double-Cut' Les Paul Junior

1959 Gibson Les Paul Junior

This super light guitar weighs just 7.00 lbs. Solid 'figured' mahogany body with rounded edges. One-piece mahogany neck with a nice, fat nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and that great '59 "baseball bat" style 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 "929349" inked-on in black on the back of the headstock. One super hot black P-90 pickup with a huge output of 8.26k. Black plastic pickup cover stamped on the underside "UC - 450 - 1 / 2". 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 "134 924" (Centralab, June 1959) and the capacitor is the requisite 'Bumble-Bee' type. Combination "wrap-over" bar bridge/stud tailpiece. There are a few very tiny 'dings' on the body and some very light belt-buckle scarring (nothing through the finish) on the back and treble edge. There is one very small surface mark on the back the neck behind the eleventh fret. The body and neck are a rich cherry color with no fading and no finish checking… Otherwise this incredible fifty-nine year old 'under-the-bed' guitar is in 'as near mint as one could ask for condition'. The original 'jumbo' frets show just a miniscule amount of playing wear (first three frets only), the fretboard shows no wear. The mahogany body has some really nice grain showing through - this is  one of the best looking and best sounding 'Double-Cut' Les Paul Juniors from the magical 1959 year that we have ever handled. Housed in the original Gibson brown 'Aligator' softshell case with brown felt lining (9.00).

"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).