Man, I appreciate the hell out of people that know and love their trade. I could sit and listen to you for hours. Normally, I can only talk to people for minutes.
i learned more about the Burst LP's in the last 23 minutes from your knowledge and experience than the last 40 years of observing, reading and watching videos...thanks!
I have been working on these old Gibsons for years, since I was twelve. I am now 69. This guy really knows his stuff. I have learned much from listening to this video. Awesome stuff! Thanks for this, and for sharing your knowledge here. Very well done!
Now to put my Collector's Choice guitar under the magnifying glass. Great stuff. Also I'd love to hear some stories of counterfeits that you have found and the experience with the decieved owner.
I lived in Seattle for 12 years and always brought my guitars to you guys for the same level of knowledge and talent this video shows off. Quite enjoyable.
The fade-in / fade-out lighting technique is annoying af. Just get a really nice lighting on the subject and leave it there. They are trying way too hard to be dramatic.
Great information. What don't you know about Bursts? I was very fortunate to have met and befriend the late luthier Steve Carr. He built many guitars for Kiss. Steve was Jimmy D'Aquisto's apprentice. He lived next door to me in Orlando. Everytime he had something cool , he would knock on my door. One day he brought a '59' in. He said I could play it. I saying my sofa and made sure I had no belt or jean pocket rivets exposed. I plugged it into my Marshall 50 watt. What a treat. Steve could build nice replicas, and always stamped in the back of the headstock, that it was a replica. He used a lot of vintage parts. Miss my friend. Thanks for sharing.
The value of these bursts has exceeded a lot of fine art, but I have to say this is far more interesting than appraising fine art. The craftsmanship on these was awesome. This guitar is 62 years old and it’s still 100% functional. Not only that, it’s one of the most prized and sought after electric guitar of all time. Amazing.
Yes very good video, but huge mistake about "brass covers." NEVER EVER HAPPENED. Earliest part of '57 they were stainless, last part they went to nickel silver from then onwards.
Good Gawd I'm thoroughly fascinated at how such a young man has seen enough 59's to have observed so many details that you have amassed such a reliable baseline. As a small-time gigging player, home machinist and all around tinkerer my hats are off (I wear several) to your attention to minutia and eagerness to inform. This stuff is realms away from mine but I'm intrigued all the same.
Hi Michael, We appreciate your concern for the purity of the Burst market! The fact is, all the info I disclosed in this video is common knowledge to just about everyone in the field, and has been for many years. The folks who don't know this stuff tend to be the buyers/collectors, which is why there are still so many subpar Burst forgeries that change hands as original. Information is our friend in this case!
There is so much info out there, that the question is, why hasn't anyone made a better fake? Answer, because time is money, and to get every, single, minute detail right would be extremely time-consuming.
That was absolutely fascinating, i'm a total guitar nerd and I could listen to those tips all day long. I assume then that guitar was original and therefore worth something close to half a million dollars! Mind boggling to think its worth as much as a huge house!
I would really love to see a comparison between a historic reissue 59 LP vs an Original 59 LP on how close are they in term of parts and how accurate the reissue is to an original.
Never heard one come close, and thats my biggest guitardream. The originals sounds like a hambucker and singecoil combined with a bloomy and wooden tone all at the same time. It sucks but thats how it is
The reissues are not very accurate to be honest. They kind of hit what I would say is a "general idea" of what is a burst is. They are amazing instruments but they are not accurate to a real burst.
@@fchampd4512 Can’t comment on 59s, but I can comment on 58s. Original and 2017 custom shop VOS. I own one, and have access to the other. The 2017 custom shop “R8” reissue is about as perfect as it gets. I defy you to tell the difference plying them blindfold, or even harder, on any recording. Unless the original has developed a nasty fault. Which they mostly do.
So have i and i noticed it has been edited since the first version. The took out the part of the vid where Tyler stated that the Pickguard screw is lined up exactly with the 22nd fret on all the originals and this is not true! I have seen several documented 59's where the screw of not lined up exact with the last fret!
Great job on the Glue for the top. Gibson called it “Radio Glue” and used an early form of Microwaves to cure it! Read the book on Ted McCarty as he goes into the construction of Les Pauls!!
What a fascinating video. Many here will know some iteration of this saying: "Of the original 1,400 Bursts ever made, only 3,500 remain." Be careful out there.
a fascinating look at the little tiny details which make up an awesome tone tool!? you guys really know your stuff, and always have incredible inventory! thanks!
@@TylerECG oh your welcome! I have been playing guitar all my life, and have owned many.....currently have my second Les Paul Standard which I love? but, your video's are always really interesting, very entertaining, and your shop has the feel of a place which would be great to visit.......welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly?....even on video? keep doing what your doing......I look forward to each new story.
Speaking for everyone in the world.......yes please make another video where you give your complete authentication process. That would probably make this one the 2nd best RU-vid video ever.
Amazing video. I commissioned a replica and I insisted on hide glue for the top. I'm blown away by that fact and it makes total sense. Never too old to learn!
Wow, can't believe I watched the whole video, really enjoyed it. Tyler presented this material really well. He's like a tour guide that really knows his stuff and is passionate about vintage gear. Awesome! Normally don't comment on videos, but I would definitely like to see more videos like these. That was badass.
Thanks for tightening up the quality control issues that were raised in the last management meeting of my underground 1959 Les Paul forging business... mhor hor hor.
OMG, he used the screwdriver that I lost in a ditch 12 yrs ago to remove the strap button!!!! I looked nearly 2 minutes for that thing when I dropped it.
First time seeing this and so glad it came up in my feed! I learned a whole lot in 24 minutes about Bursts that I did not know before. Thank you for this!
"flush is the right way to do it". Somewhere, someone got the idea that perfect fit in parts that don't matter is somehow better than something with the proportions and important details correct and the others done with some kind of life. The countersink is overcut because cutting it flush: * gives no error to having the screw proud * if the pickguard is celluloid or even if it's plastic, it may shrink, leaving the top of a screw proud Neither of these is better than having the screw sunk further. When you read classical guides for actual craftsmanship, they discuss things like liveliness in design. They'd never advocate for "perfect" work, and carving guides will mention things like "sanding the life out of a carving". From a maker's perspective (I make more than guitars), the personality of the work is FAR more interesting than things like "a perfect rout" in a pickup cavity from one guitar to the next, identical . What's far more interesting in a guitar is overall design proportion, some liveliness, and much attention paid to the bits and pieces like the neck joint being done right - not "within a certain cnc spec", but hand fitted. There are a lot of stiff lifeless perfect guitars, including guitars made by gibson. They're boring. electric guitars are a product of the power tool era, so a lot of the life in making is going to be gone (gibson was using carving/duplicating machines long before les pauls ever came along), but at least there's a little something interesting left in these. This idea of perfect little details that don't matter carries over to people now judging the quality of a fender guitar by lateral pocket fit. What's the result of making that tight at manufacture (when the critical part of the fit is actually the bottom of the pocket?). Cracked neck pockets. The nature of the wood is ignored at sale. It will shrink and expand. But over time, it will expand less than it shrinks, so nearly every newer guitar is likely to develop finish cracks to actual structural cracks in the neck, despite the fact that the lateral fit has nothing to offer in terms of transmitting sound. Notice that despite sloppiness with countersinks, etc (which we'd really call bias in favor of the craftsman and longevity), they knew from a design perspective that the guitar would look far better if the knobs followed the contour of the top. They don't need to be done perfectly, but the contour following needs to be there for aesthetics. The hide glue vs. synthetics being discussed in guitar forums, etc, is absurd. When someone is a builder and not selling anything, you may get an honest answer, but the fact that people would be upset by the maple top being glued on with something other than hide glue is goofy. (I do not sell guitars, so I have no stake in this stuff - I just see the joy in the lively bits and pieces in the bursts that's no longer there now that people are obsessed with stupid stuff like whether or not the router bit on the CNC machine looks like it was sharp enough when it cut the pickup cavities).
Loads of interesting information here. I guess most of us are never going to own a 1950s Les Paul but many guitarists are very interested in what went into the building of this iconic guitar.
"Uncle Gene" played in a traveling 5 man combo throughout the midwest from 1948 - 1965. He also was a session player on gospel records. His 1958 & 1960 bursts are in his sons (my cousin) possession and when their insurance company needed them to be authenticated it was "scary as hell" as Steve put it. "I kept worrying the way the guy was handling the guitars he'd drop them". After all was did and done both were proven to be authentic. Cousin Steve has thought about selling one but says he "just can't let go of the memories of dad playing them" to ever sell one or both.
Phil Jones in Nashville is likely a very good contact to help you decide how to proceed. Phil has been involved with Gruhn's Guitars and Gibson custom shop for decades, and he is an outstanding source of knowledge. He, along with George Gruhn likely could help you put the guitars into the hands of someone who would honor your uncle's memory with the utmost respect, and not just stick them in a "glass coffin" for idiots to pass by and stare at. I'm an Archtop Luthier and Jazz guitarist/songwriter (builder and vintage restorer) and know that any true musician knows instruments need to be played, played, played!! Feel free to contact me as well, and I'll be happy to help as much as possible. I'm in Alabama, but know some very trustworthy pro players in L.A., Atlanta, and obviously Nashville, that could put you in direct contact with guys like Brian Setzer, Billy Duffy, Slash, and counless other dinosaurs that made America what it was from the 50's on! Haha... If you google search Marc O'Rear archtop guitar, you'll find a few of my guitars online. I've shipped them worldwide, and even one to Sonny West (legendary songriter). Primarily building and restoring vintage Gretsch hollowbody replicas, now. Marc
Man, that’s some incredible stuff and it’s all super interesting. Thanks! I’m amazing that this particular guitar is in such original and prefect condition. I’m really not that much of a tinkerer, but I think I’ve managed to mess around in some way with every guitar I’ve owned.🤷♂️
Thanks, Tyler. Very informative and useful. People should at the Rolex and other examples. Today, people are buying real guitars, parting it out for the cost invested, then replicating everything about it. I realize you know this, but everyone else should also be aware of it. Hope it helps and thanks again.
SUBSCRIBED!!! Awesome video. Great delivery of the information. You get straight to the point. That's what we like. No useless blathering. SUBSCRIBED!!!
Thanks for the input, very infomative,and knowledgable, not that I'll ever be able to afford one of those originals, but i enjoyed your video, and its gotta be a dream to even get to hold or play an original 50's Les Paul..thanks
