1959 Gibson Les Paul Junior, Cherry

By Gibson
£6,995.00

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Excellent Gibson Les Paul Junior Double Cut from 1959. It has a the perfect ’59 neck profile, a killer P-90, no breaks, repairs or mods and weighs a scant 6.8lbs.

One of our favourite golden-era Gibson models, the Junior was the student level Les Paul Model and proved immediately popular for Gibson. Launched in 1954 the Junior would go through several changes in body shape until ‘Les Paul Model’ was dropped from the models name in 1963 and it would continue as the SG Junior.

Dating to the first part of 1959, this Junior has survived with no breaks, repairs or mods and is in generally great cosmetic condition. The faded Cherry finish looks great, with some very attractive tight cellular lacquer checking throughout. Being a ’59, the guitar has the neck profile every player wants, it’s instantly comfortable and a joy to play. The dark Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard has an almost oily appearance. Electronics are correct with Centralab pots, Sprague capacitor and Switch Craft input present. All solder joints all look great. The P-90 measures 7.78K and is a fine sounding example, it has a powerful but very balanced tone but isn’t as shouty as some 60’s P-90’s can be. The CentaLab pots both date to the 52nd week of 1958 and in use have a very usable sweep. The hardware is all correct with no issues, the bridge has no twist and the guitar plays well with its original nut and frets.

Guitars don’t get much simpler than this, a featherweight Honduran Mahogany body and neck, single P90 pickup in the bridge, volume and tone controls and a wraparound bridge and tailpiece. Despite the simplicity, a good Junior can be one of the most versatile and intuitive guitars out there. Through an amp that’s breaking up nicely they sound big, bold and punchy but will clean up to an almost acoustic like whisper. Picked close to the bridge they have an almost tele like twang or strummed by the neck it’s instant Keef. Weighing a featherweight 6.8lbs it feels lively and resonant acoustically which in combination with the fine P-90 pickup translates into one excellent sounding Junior.

The guitar comes with a modern Hard Case.