Vintage Gibson Les Paul Jr - USA 1959

Starting in 1954, Gibson offered players a simple, affordable take on the Les Paul dubbed the Les Paul Junior. This bare-bones solidbody featured one dog-eared P-90 pickup, a stud-mounted stop tailpiece / bridge, an unbound rosewood fingerboard, and slab mahogany body.

Because of its lower-end production quality, many early Les Paul Juniors have been the subject of major repairs, neck breaks etc. This one has suffered none of that.

In fact it is in remarkable, almost original condition. It features an excellent pro refret, it also has a replaced jack and jackplate, but apart from that we can see no other modifications. Electronics are unchanged and the original tuners are working fine. The guitar shows some wear with the occasional bumps and bruises on the body but nothing too offensive. This one has been played in, and it certainly feels like it, in all the best ways!

It has a fast, smooth action, with the frets showing little wear. This Junior can really bark when needed - it has a big, meaty sound. The neck profile is a full and quite deep C shape. It is not a slim neck by any means, just not as chunky as the “baseball bat” profile necks of some built in the mid to late 50s. And is super comfortable to play.

Weighs in at 3.15kg / 6.95lb – a light and lively guitar.

This is a lean mean rock machine that can also do the straight jazz thing with a little attention to the incredibly graduated tone and volume pots. The way these old P90's clean up is quite unique. They retain their sparkle when you roll the volume off, but at full volume it sounds huge.

These old Juniors are, for all their apparent simplicity, amongst the most versatile electrics ever made.

Here is a classic single pickup workhorse with stories to tell, and more to do.

Comes in non-original hardshell case in good condition.

Specs:

Scale length: 24 3/4"

Action at 1st fret: 0.25mm

Action at 12th fret: 1.25mm

Neck depth at 1st fret: 23.37mm 

Neck depth at 12th fret: 24.97mm

Nut Width: 42.30mm

12 fret width: 52.13mm

Weight: 3.15kg / 6.95lb

Set mahogany neck

16/22-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays

Three-per-side tuners with white oval plastic buttons

Combination bar bridge/tailpiece

Tortoiseshell pickguard

Single P-90 coil pickup

Two controls (volume, tone)

Nickel hardware

Original Cherry finish faded to vintage brown