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How Hard are you guys looking....

goldtop0

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2003
Messages
8,931
I won't ever be a Burst hunter............wrong part of the globe.
But, I can drool and dribble with the best of 'em.................just watch me with BOTB and any other burst book, I'm really a top line drooler and dreamer.
 

geetarpicker

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2003
Messages
812
I bought my current burst back in '78, and since then have always casually kept an eye out for others...

Over the years leads about "old gibsons" always turned out to be 70s guitars, or at best 60s melody makers and such...

That said back last March I get a call from a relative about another relative who has a friend with an "old Les Paul" for sale who has "heard it is worth a lot of money". Truly about a 3 hand story at best.

Hmmm.... at first I hear it's a 70s guitar, then a 60s, then a 50s maybe?...
I was expecting a Les Paul deluxe, or at best a 50s Junior. I finally got the guys phone # and finally talked to the guy AND he sounded like a real honest to god original burst owner.
The only problem was the owner was a very busy person and I had to just wait for his schedule to clear up before he had the time to "deal" or show the guitar. I was truly shocked about a week later when the owner emailed me pics and it turned out to be an early '59 burst with some nice curl and virtually no fade! It did however have an added Bigsby, circa '62. I flew up and checked it out in person for an entire weekend, but in the end I passed it on to a fellow forum member as I liked the one I already own better. It took weeks for the final transaction to finally go down, and the original owner got current fair market for his guitar. I did have the awesome opportunity to go over the guitar in great detail for the first time in 44 years. The whole deal was quite an experience to say the least.

Truly this has been the ONLY 50s Les Paul I've ever "beatin' out of the bushes" on my own so to speak, in my 25+ years of knowing about these guitars.

Should I also mention this one owner burst came out of MICHIGAN just this year!?!?
 
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sundaypunch

New member
Joined
Nov 23, 2001
Messages
708
Mind if I ask where in Michigan geetarpicker? I was able to play an original owner '59 in Manistee that ended up selling back in the early 90's. I currently know of an uncirculated '60 with spectacular flame in Michigan that the owner has had for 30 + years. If and when it sells it will be for market price.

As someone else mentioned, finding one and affording one are two different things.
 

BostonPops

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2002
Messages
1,422
Your best bets are pawn shops in NYC and LA. Plenty of musicians that go to the big city to "make it" end up pawning their stuff for the money to get a bus ticket back to Iowa.

Just kidding, but it sounds reasonable. :)
 

585960

Active member
Joined
Apr 5, 2002
Messages
1,987
I know of a few unaccounted guitars, but everybody now knows what they possibly can sell for. And another thing is, even though there are a few locals who can afford to buy them, they always seem to just go elsewhere to sell, thinking nobody around here will pay that!
 

BurningSensation

New member
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Messages
74
There are plenty of deals to be had at pawn shops. Yes they now look things up online and in books but that still takes a bit of knowledge. My best scores have come from shops that acted like know-it-alls about their guitars.

In the last five years I've bought at pawn shops: '62 lefty Jazz bass for $219 (they looked up a Mexican Standard Jazz Bass on Ebay)....70 Martin D-12-20 for $129 (looked liked a Hondo...so they priced it like a Hondo).... mint 60's Ampeg B-15 amp for $150 (I sold it for $925)...'56 Tele for $300....'74 Les Paul Deluxe for $79....'62 Fender Jaguar refinished for $129....mint '66 Princeton Reverb for $100 ("nice little practice amp")....the list goes on. These were all from big chain pawn shops, ones that have price guides sitting right there.

My guess is that any shop that takes in a real '59 will price it at $899. You know, the used priced of a $1000 Les Paul Studio.
 

Jim Barth

New member
Joined
Jul 21, 2001
Messages
2,625
In the last 6 months out of pawn shops.....69' P-Bass for $425.

70' P-Bass refin for $325.

Just Sunday G & L L1000 Bass for $200.
 
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