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14:21 Red Eye, it's believed the "Red Eye" area is a result of a Factory Hang-Tag placed on the pickup selector toggle switch. The hang-tag laid in place while the guitar was being displayed in a music store window. The shade from the hang-tag prevented the area beneath from fading! Great work Austin, this content is very interesting.
I own one of the Collectors Choice #18's called the Dutchburst. Even with the super slim 60's neck, I rarely have to adjust the truss rod. I have a few other True Historics as well and the Collectors Choice is the most stable. It's insane how rarely I have to tune the thing and the intonation is virtually perfect everywhere on the fretboard. These really were a special run of Les Pauls.
The Dutch Burst was one of the first Les Paul's I'd ever played at maybe 16 years old. I was too inexperienced to really know what I was holding but it was nice to see it here and nice to hear someone that loves theirs. My path may someday cross one again!
CC44 Happy Jack here: Vic DaPra. He has one of the most extensive collections of Sunburst LP's in the world, and the Collector's Choice #44 Happy Jack is a re-creation of one of his most beloved instruments. Happy Jack's original owner was a former member of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, who purchased the guitar new at Grinnell's Music in Michigan in 1959. The instrument was played regularly for decades, sustaining plenty of loving wear (check out the belt buckle rash on its back). A man named Jack in Ohio eventually bought the guitar, hence its name. Covered with silky, fat flame and bathed in intense autumnal colors, this limited-edition guitar is one of the most eye-catching Les Pauls you'll ever find.
John Sebastian wrote and performed the theme song to the hit 70s TV show "Welcome back Kotter". My sister was in grade school with his son when we lived in Woodstock NY back in spring of 1979.
I had the opportunity to play the REAL 1959 Goldie at Rumbleseat Music when they were located in Carmel-By-The California a number of years ago. It was on loan to RSM for display and not for sale. Fantastic guitar.
Great expose of the Collector's Choice series, thanks! More and more as I learn about 'Henry Juszkiewicz' era guitars from Trogly and my experience firsthand with a few guitars from that era, I think his team added immeasurable brand value to Gibson in producing instruments that guitar players and collectors of all stripes can enjoy for years to come.
Great video. I was lucky enough to play Bernie Marsden’s “Beast” in 2015. I won a contest to go to England and record with Bernie. The guitar in my profile pic is the original Beast. What a great guitar, huge frets just like the reissue. Guitar was very resonant acoustically. RIP Bernie, he was a true gentleman. He treated me and my wife like family. Even helped carry our luggage from his car to the bus to take us back to Heathrow. I have some nice pics of the Beast and Bernie. Joe Bonamassa’s set list was sitting under the Beast in the case. He played it on stage a few weeks before I got to play it.
I remember the story about the Greg Martin Les Paul. Hank Williams Jr let Greg borrow it, and then Greg told Hank how much he liked it and Hank said "Just keep it. It's yours now." Hank Jr literally gave away a 1958 Les Paul.
I was lucky enough to play CC#2 Goldie recently. It was, without any type of doubt, the best playing, best sounding, and best looking les Paul i have ever seen or touched. I will never play a more incredible instrument as long as I live, to say I was blown away is a massive understatement. I’m kicking myself for not buying one when they came out in 2011. The shop wanted 23k for it.
Such a great documentation of this series of guitars! This is going on the "saved" list for sure. As I recall, Tom Scholz's '68 had a very large neck and they tried to recreate it for him. For information, Waddy's last name is pronounced "wock-TEL." Was also wondering about the McCready Les Paul re-issue. Not in the collectors' series? I saw his original '59 in Tommy's Guitar shop (Everett, WA) before Mike bought it. Price tag was $60K in '98.
I have one of the leftover "repurposed" Collector's Choice 29s that they restamped and resold as R8s in 2017. They told me it was originally a CC when I bought it new at Wildwood. Great guitar!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there a 'Collectors Choice' model made after Gary Rossington's '59 he named 'Bernice'? The reason I remember it was because they even replicated the sheetrock screw he had in the headstock.
@Trog @25:09 you said "the Gruhn Burst CC34A" when it's actually CC35A, just thought I might point that out. Some serious killer pieces that sadly most of us can't afford. Cheers!
Jason wanted to buy Red Eye, and went to his accountant, who said 'no'. He then got his manager to book him a bunch of private shows to raise the cash to buy it, so he could get it and not take any money out of the bands bank account.
I wish I'd never had sold the original burst I had in 1980. 9-1695.... Bought it from original owner. Got hard up n sold it to get married.. ugh. Went to The Guitar Trader in CA, he sold it to a Collector in Japan.....crying ever since...😢 it was in Excellent condition. Good color, not tons of flame but very nice.
I played the real Goldie at Rumble Seat in Carmel By The Sea in late 2013, have seen pics of Bonamassa playing it live in subsequent years just for a night.
Wonderful video!! Thank you so much. One correction. On the Mick Ralphs burst, the pictures you showed of Mott The Hoople and Bad Company do not contain Mick Ralphs. Those pictures shown are of other lineups when Mick was not in the band.
A fantastic video Trogly, I can only imagine the time you spent putting it together. For that, I say thank you very much. I am going to hang on to this video so I may enjoy it time & time again.
The Tamio Okuda Epiphone Elitist Coronet is actually such a great Japan made guitar, that i love sooooo much. Thin coat of silverfox finish. Great to play... check one put, if You'll get a chance to...
Curious to know... when they "mapped" these guitars to get the specs they wanted to replicate, did they do anything with the pickups as far as opening them up and checking magnets, copper winding, etc.?
Yes. I know they did on the CC29, at least. 9-1165 had it's original pickups replaced with '57 Classics, so when Gibson went to Japan to scan it, they also took readings from the pickups and tone-matched them on the CCs. When it first came out, a lot of people were confused as to why a CC would have '57 Classics. Probably another reason why (aside from being attached to an obscure Japanese artist and intentionally non-matching tops meant to emulate the original) they didn't sell very well and were restamped and resold as R8s in 2017. I own one of these "repurposed" CC29s.
I've got a couple Les Pauls which I jokenly call "RobRoy Burst" My 2019 60th Anniversary '59 Les Paul Standard in "Golden Poppy Burst" looked like a couple of those you showed...Beautiful guitars everyone of them!!
Wow the ronnie montrose burst that you had made you go down this black hole! Love it,, Btw that guitar was amazing, still kicking myself for not getting it
Great video. I’m glad you created this video. I own eight CC’s and I can say they are amazing in both looks and play. I’m looking to eventually own one of each.
This video reminds me of the "guitar of the week" video you made, which was the video that made me find your channel 😃 Great job again documenting this series!
Kinda wish both Gibson and Fender would try some extra short runs to test new designs...getting a little bored of the same old bursts and flames on Les Pauls and all the usual suspects...
Wow Trogly...that was (is) Les Paul Burst overkill.....my mind boggles....again......all these replicas out there... from the original 1500 or 2000 guitars made back then.....cheeze....some lovely and not so nice guitars.....but then...i'm a player (and owner...) not a collector.....
I'm always confused when Greeny is called the Gary Moore guitar when it also belonged to Peter Green who gave it the name. And also was a more interesting guitar player, but that's just my opinion.
Great video, thanks Austin! Doesn't Kirk Hammett own the Blackburst, now? And I'm sure he said in a recent interview that Joe B tipped him off about it instead of buying it himself.
pretty les pauls, but im just not paying double or triple or more for tom murphy to age up or trash a 3000 dollar guitar. thanks for the video. interesting to say the least video
IMO the only 'good' thing about artificial aging .. for the owner .. is you don't have to worry about playing it. for the manufacturers .. all the units that don't pass QC get beat up some more and sold for MORE.
12 A really infuriates me the most. Considering all the other guitars, a “clean goldtop” owned by the CEO of Gibson has no provenance. There’s no historical significance, there’s no story to it, especially when you compare it to Greeny, Dutchburst, Blackburst, Carmelita, there’s nothing special about it. At least the DC Junior is a rare guitar just by finish, how many of those originals can you find? There’s a certain pedigree these guitars have that CC 12 A just doesn’t have.
Hey Trogly you’re saying the name Louis wrong. My name is Louis and you say it the same as Lewis. Wish I had your guitar knowledge but say it right next time lol.
George Gruhin's collection is not particularly "massive" and does not have any Gibson Electrics. Several Gibson Archtops and Banjos and many Martins. The only Electrics are the ones he designed (Gulid Nightbrids and a few others) and a few branded "Gruhn Electric"--but no Gibsons (nor Fenders). He has said if he had to pick an Electric as a "desert island" guitar, he would pick an early Black Guard Tele.
Gibson really needs to do a better job matching the grain on these expensive guitars. It's so sad to see the beautiful grains so messed up. Granted some of those quilted and flamed tops are insane then there are the wtf happened here tops. I started building electric guitars in high school and have gone back and forth building and refinishing my personal guitars over the years. I have a mockingbird that is a copy and was in pieces when I got it back in 1998, and an Ibanez X series that were played by Jerry Fogle from the band Cirith Ungol, I had no idea who they were.
Great, great work, Austin! I've never seen these awsum axes! The Tom Scholz and the Henry Gold Top are my favs. Rosie at 10:17 should be named the 'YES' guitar after the 90125 album since the serial# is 90925.
