Vintage Gibson Les Paul Special Refinished Double Cut – USA 1958
$15,995.00 AUD
Pickup currently unavailable
The Gibson Les Paul Special was introduced in 1955 as a midway point between the recently introduced Les Paul Junior and the Les Paul itself. Like the Junior, the Special used a solid slab of Honduran Mahogany for the body – no carved Maple cap like the Les Paul.
The Special, however, had two P-90 pickups and a bound fingerboard. It had a solid mahogany neck and a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The TV finish was specific to this model and was created to allow the guitar to be better seen on black & white televisions.
This Special is a bit special as it is an early double cutaway model – first appearing in the later part of 1958.
This is a fabulous guitar in every way. It was built in 1958 at Gibson’s historic Parsons Street plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was bought in cosmetically worn condition by its current owner from a major US vintage dealer about 10 years ago.
Some years later, it was given a stunning authentic overhaul by leading Sydney luthier Frank Grubisa. Frank uses his own proprietary techniques to painstakingly recreate the look and feel of an original 50s instrument. The refinish is so authentic in terms of its colour, light fading and carefully curated lacquer checking that at fist glance it could fool most collectors.
Here at PREMIER GUITARS we have listed many guitars which have been worked on by Frank and they all share a number of attributes – the workmanship is of the highest quality, the attention to detail is amazing, and the result is always that the instrument plays and sounds remarkably better than in its original form. We take a little pleasure every time we make note of a listing at PREMIER GUITARS having been “Grubisa’d”.
As you can see in the pics, the headstock faceplate was left alone and still sports its original Gibson logo and “Les Paul Special” designation along with natural lacquer cracks & striations.
Again, the serial number on the rear was untouched and reads 8 20xx = 1958. Original Kluson strip tuners are intact and working well.
Original nylon nut is present and measures 1 11/16” wide.
Guitar weight is 7.76 lbs
Pot codes are 134839 = September 1958. There appears to be no disturbance of the original solder joints & wiring. The controls work smoothly without any crackle or dead spots.
The neck has a substantial feel - chunkier than some Specials from later years. There are NO neck issues at all – no breaks or repairs, and it plays beautifully in all positions with a medium low action. The bound fingerboard has no divots and the frets remain in good shape.
It sports a multi-ply bevelled-edge black celluloid pickguard and a solid nickel-plated bar bridge/tailpiece assembly.
This is a great all-around guitar - an effortless player suitable for rampaging rock & blues, but also for many other genres. The two original P-90 pickups are just wonderful – they offer up a plethora of gnarly tones, as you would expect from such an instrument.
But the joy is the ability to tame these beasts and take your sound from hairy to subtle with some judicious manipulation of the wonderfully sensitive volume & tone controls. For such a straightforward guitar design, there is whole world of sounds available with this one.
As Gibson solid bodies from the 1950's become ever rarer, this two-pickup Special represents great value for a "Golden Era" vintage Gibson, about to celebrate her 64th birthday and with lots of gas left in the tank.
Comes in a quality Hiscox Lite Flite hard shell case in excellent condition.
Video demo of single cutaway model from same year - https://youtu.be/qX3Skdc8IqA
