SOLD! - 1953 - 1959 Gibson 3.9Kg Les Paul Goldtop to Burst Conversion

If you hadn't noticed already: this conversion is one hell of an eye-catcher that takes you right up there with the best of the best! And no, this is not a 50's LP Special turned into a Burst with a re-top....

It started life as a super nice 3.9Kg old wood 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with wraparound tailpiece and P90's which was converted to a '59 spec Burst with amazing sounding 1963-1964 Pat. No. sticker double black PAF humbuckers (with the short magnets swapped for original early 50's long Alnico III magnets), 60's Tune-O-Matic wire bridge and Stop Tailpiece and '61 Centralab pots with a resistance of 550-600k!

And now it is a big fat sounding beast of an axe with lots of airy harmonic overtones and a touch of hair and edge, acoustically as well as plugged in. This one has that 'real Burst tone' in spades.

The conversion of the '53 to '59 specs and refinish was performed by luthier Sjak Zwier (Sjak Zwier Gitaarbouw) in The Netherlands and several real 50's and 60's parts were included to get as close as possible to a real burst without breaking the bank. The conversion was completely documented at the time.

After stripping, the guitar revealed a stunning 3-piece maple top with a fire blazing flame on 2/3 of the top, which was refinished and aged in a sweet honey / tea Burst. It shows some nice wear, checking and craquelé all over the body, top and neck.
 
The neck shows some beautiful flame (!!) and has a very nice round '53 profile that feels soft and sweet despite being quite a handful. The action is nice and low and the neck angle is just perfect for a 53. The headstock had a crack at some point but was stabilized and repaired very professionally with an additional slab of mahogany "sleeved" into the neck and headstock.

The neck pickup is a '64 Patent Number sticker PAF Humbucker and the bridge pickup is a '63 Patent Number sticker PAF Humbucker, both now with real early 50's long Alnico III magnets. POT's are '60 Burst era  Centralabs with the original 1953 Grey Tiger capacitors and the guitar has the original 1953 wiring loom. The bridge is an early '60's Tune-O-Matic wire with soft brass saddles, repro long steel studs and bushings for improved sustain. Stoptail is an Aluminum lightweight Gibson custom shop tailpiece. Is has high end repro 59 aged parts like the pickguard, pickup rings, knobs, black backplates, a set of nickel pickups covers, switch tip and Kluson Deluxe tuners. The guitar includes the original 1953 brown backplates, trussrod cover, switch tip and toggle switch ring and washer.

This beauty comes in a recent Faber replica of the famous Lifton Brown cali Case with red plush lining as pictured.