• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

Bottom line - can a 59 Les Paul burst be produced today ?

randall

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 21, 2002
Messages
1,310
Answer is YES! Gibson still makes Les Pauls just like the old ones but they are just new now, give them 60 years!
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2001
Messages
334
No, it can't be done and not only I think because of the materials but also of the people who made them. Having said all that, I am sure people can get close
but I think those 50's and even early 60's guitars were a convergence of time and place and happy accidents. Not to start on the whole Strad thing but sometimes in the course of human events there is almost a mysterious alchemy that occurs that can never be reproduced again because no one at that time knew that it was happening. The genius of stain glass makers of the middle ages has been lost forever, the formulas for paints and methods by the European masters, the great instruments of 16th and 17th century, the library of Alexandria, etc.
More recently the destruction of the master tapes of the great recording artists of the 20th century through warehouse? fires comes to mind. One hundred years from now people will look back at us and wonder what were they thinking.
 

djcmusician

Active member
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
263
Did he make the pickups, the wire harness, the caps, the pots, the screws?

Yes, Gil Yaron has done it. I have 2 of them (along with a '56 Goldtop he built)! If you want to see how, check out the build thread on the Telecaster Forum. I think it comes down to having THE right wood and an insane attention to detail.

Earlier this year, a friend of mine who owns a great music store came into the possession of a killer '59 Burst. They were selling it for $475,000. They wanted me to play it and record a few clips, which I did. I brought my Yaron Burst to compare.

The real '59 was amazing and a real treat to play. However, my Yaron held up extremely well to the real '59--way better than all the new CS Gibson Historic Reissues.

Gil does not make them anymore, and he only made a small quanity. Part of the reason he did it was to prove that it could be done.
 

fred dons

Active member
Joined
Jul 20, 2001
Messages
318
well he did make the pickups, and knowing his work he might have made the caps as well, the other stull would be silly :D
 

Trans-Am

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
4,686
The simplest reason is that, after 60 years, materials have changed. :ganz

If there is a will there is a way am sure if Gibson really wanted to with price a non-issue they can. A 60 year old growth wood can be had and are still around.

Materials can be easily cloned and reproduced with the right people/team............when you can have the GMO and genetics (Dolly the sheep) being cloned and other cultured? Anything is possible these days, we just haven't gone that far or afraid to really.

Yes they can!:dude:.................I think Mr. 1.5 billion Paul McCartney had one done and no not the original 60's hes got. Hehe!
 

CatManDoo88

Active member
Joined
Mar 3, 2019
Messages
156
If there is a will there is a way am sure if Gibson really wanted to with price a non-issue they can. A 60 year old growth wood can be had and are still around.

Materials can be easily cloned and reproduced with the right people/team............when you can have the GMO and genetics (Dolly the sheep) being cloned and other cultured? Anything is possible these days, we just haven't gone that far or afraid to really.

Yes they can!:dude:.................I think Mr. 1.5 billion Paul McCartney had one done and no not the original 60's hes got. Hehe!

No, there isn't unless the Gibson execs want to go to prison for violating health and safe and/or environmental laws. Certain chemicals and processes used in the making of instruments and their parts in the 1950s and 1960s are rightfully outlawed now due to their hazardous nature. They are not coming back. Without them, you cannot make certain plastics, electronics, magnets, etc. exactly the same as they did in the 1950s. So the idea of a perfect replica is impossible made exactly the same is impossible. Does this make any perceptible difference with respect to sound, feel, or appearance? Who knows!
 

Trans-Am

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
4,686
No, there isn't unless the Gibson execs want to go to prison for violating health and safe and/or environmental laws. Certain chemicals and processes used in the making of instruments and their parts in the 1950s and 1960s are rightfully outlawed now due to their hazardous nature. They are not coming back. Without them, you cannot make certain plastics, electronics, magnets, etc. exactly the same as they did in the 1950s. So the idea of a perfect replica is impossible made exactly the same is impossible. Does this make any perceptible difference with respect to sound, feel, or appearance? Who knows!


Ahahaha! and the cocaine/cannabis/vape induced CBD/THC oils and all the other epidemic drugs that's out there getting made for the world consumptions?

If the recipe exist it's there, just the matter whose willing to step up man! Maybe even better than the original ones made. What is Mexico making these days that doesn't all require the safety regulations that the USA needs to adhere to?

You know they can make a perfect vehicle but they wont and why? I think we all know. All relative here. I beg to differ in this reality world we live in.:yawn

But then again maybe it's just me thinking outside the box.:dude:
 

djcmusician

Active member
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
263
Gibson didn't make those other parts, so what's your point. :wah
In 1959, other than the imported wood, pretty much every single part of a LP, or any other Gibson, was actually made in the USA. Every screw, the tuners, output jack, braided wire, pots, etc.

Why do guys like Gil or other replica builders pull the electronics from 50s Gibsons if they could be duplicated today?

the OP said “exactly the same” down to the smallest details. They can get close, but as others have stated, it will never be exactly the same for myriad reasons.

I own three Historics: 1998 R8 (not very historically accurate), a 2010 B7 Black Beauty (a bit closer) and finally a 2019 R7 Goldtop. I drank the Kool-Aid. They are all great guitars, but there is something extra special about the 2019 R7. It’s the closest I will ever get to a 50s LP. I think Gibson has done an admirable job.

IdTn9oY.jpg


Gpk2krP.jpg
 

Trans-Am

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
4,686
Cool collections mate similarly! :hmm

Gibson can do it if they wanted to really! Only Gibson is good enough here.:headbange
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
Gibson didn't make those other parts, so what's your point. :wah

In 1959, other than the imported wood, pretty much every single part of a LP, or any other Gibson, was actually made in the USA. Every screw, the tuners, output jack, braided wire, pots, etc.

This point makes no sense.
Gibson did not make those parts, just as Gil did not either.
So, the fact that Gil did not make those parts is pointless. :hmm
 

djcmusician

Active member
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
263
This point makes no sense.
Gibson did not make those parts, just as Gil did not either.
So, the fact that Gil did not make those parts is pointless. :hmm
Those parts are not made the same as they were back then. Its entirely the point.
 

preeb

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
50
Yes! but only if you wait till 2059. Only then it will be a real 59 again :dude:
 

P.A.F

Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
78
i think this thread could fit any valuable thing on earth ,and the answer is always no....can we make a 100% perfect, molecular level identical stradivari? or maybe can Ferrari make a 250GTO clone with molecular accurate plastic and metals? can Marshall make a 100% accurate JTM45 with every resistor,wire, transformer with the same amount of parasitic capacitance and inductance, or maybe tubes with the same materials ecc?
there are way too many variables... to me the main fact are 1: materials used back then were toxic or had lead in it ecc... 2: as has already been said builders didn't build everything in house but they had suppliers who had suppliers who had suppliers and so on... so you can't recreate those products anymore... i'm no burst expert but i think this can fit anything
 

Victory Pete

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2009
Messages
254
I have never played nor been in the same room with an original. I have seen many of them on YouTube recently and can say that my 2 2018 ROs come close if not right on from what I am hearing in those videos. I am not concerned with them being exact replicas down to every insignificant detail. I often wonder about Brazilian Rosewood but after giving myself goosebumps every time I play either of them I am glad and proud to own these fine contemporary Les Pauls.
 

sws1

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Messages
2,846
I have never played nor been in the same room with an original. I have seen many of them on YouTube recently and can say that my 2 2018 ROs come close if not right on from what I am hearing in those videos. I am not concerned with them being exact replicas down to every insignificant detail. I often wonder about Brazilian Rosewood but after giving myself goosebumps every time I play either of them I am glad and proud to own these fine contemporary Les Pauls.

You owe it to yourself to hear one in person. Even with experienced studio engineers and the best mics, something gets lost in the recording process. I've done this, and while the recorded results are audible, the in-person sound difference was significantly greater. For whatever reason, mics don't "hear" the same way humans do.
 
Top