Bring back the '59 Les Paul Standard!

[acmeweapons]

Howdy, folks! First post here.

 

I have an open request to the guys at Epiphone. Bring back the 1959 Les Paul Standard! And not as a limited edition like last time. Base it on the 1960 Tribute but with the thicker 50's style neck. Use the old style tuners and controls with the blood-sucking pointers. Use a full thickness maple cap on a mahogany body with as few pieces as is possible and still be affordable. Make it in a few different sunburst finishes with a historically accurate flame patterned veneer. If Gibson pickups would drive the price up too high, then use the new Probuckers that you're bragging about on your website; this would be a perfect showcase for them.

 

Do all of this and keep it in the same price range as the 1960 Tribute, and you'll have a license to print money. Or so I suspect.

 

Sincerely,

 

John

[Bluemans335]

Yes, it's a great guitar! It really should have Gibson BB 1 and 2 in it. The finishes should be like '59 Bursts look now (with the red mostly faded), not like they were when they were originally made in the 1950's, which is kind of harsh. That's the 'Beauty of the Burst' the rich amber color. The two drawbacks to the 1960's Tributes are the thin necks and the '57 Classics.

 

They could make a line of 1959's that included a few signatures, like Peter Green's and Jimmy Page's LP's.

[DavidRamey]

I hate the 50's neck. It feel to me like a baseball bat.

[deeman]

I hate the 50's neck. It feel to me like a baseball bat.

 

Way to add to the discussion.

 

And to me, the 50's neck feels much more comfortable than the slimmer 60's style. For whatever reason I find it easier to stretch out my fingers and form chords with the larger neck.

 

I guess thats why they make both.

[vomer]

Welcome acmeweapons, heck of a first post! Yes to that, but not too much flame. The Plus Tops put me off. And as Bluemans335 said, faded bursts please. And can we have an inbetween 50's/60's neck thickness?

[acmeweapons]

Welcome acmeweapons, heck of a first post! Yes to that, but not too much flame. The Plus Tops put me off. And as Bluemans335 said, faded bursts please. And can we have an inbetween 50's/60's neck thickness?

 

Thanks!

 

I agree about "too much flame". It doesn't look like the pictures I see of originals. The upside would be that the veneer wood wouldn't be as expensive. Authentic look is what I was after, with faded bursts being among the color options. I'd love to have a Paul Kossoff clone (minus the more modern Grover tuners).

 

It's my understanding that the '59 necks were an in-between of thicker ones from earlier in that decade, but not as skinny as the 60's slim neck. Or so I've read, never actually having held one in my hands. Maybe one day. And the neck needs to have the deep tenon joint, too. I would have thought that the way the limited release sold out so quickly and is now made of unobtainium would have been seen as a clue to the Epiphone marketing guys. LOL!

[vomer]

What you've described is basically like my buddy's old Burny. I'm sure Epiphone could do it, not sure about the long tenon though, that would probably mean some change in production methods. Everything else is just a variation on the Epi LP theme though. I don't want the moon on a stick.

[Bluemans335]

And to me, the 50's neck feels much more comfortable than the slimmer 60's style. For whatever reason I find it easier to stretch out my fingers and form chords with the larger neck.

 

+1. A '59 neck feels great. Plus, in a conversation I had with PU maker Lindy Fralin, thick necks give a guitar a fuller, richer tone. Thin necks detrect from tone. He said he had worked with Paul Reed Smith (the person) on a guitar design, and it sounded lousy, no matter what PU's they put in it. They both came to the conclusion that it was the thin neck, especially where it joins the body. PRS has never made a guitar with a neck that thin since.

[Pin]

Howdy, folks! First post here.

 

I have an open request to the guys at Epiphone. Bring back the 1959 Les Paul Standard! And not as a limited edition like last time. Base it on the 1960 Tribute but with the thicker 50's style neck. Use the old style tuners and controls with the blood-sucking pointers. Use a full thickness maple cap on a mahogany body with as few pieces as is possible and still be affordable. Make it in a few different sunburst finishes with a historically accurate flame patterned veneer. If Gibson pickups would drive the price up too high, then use the new Probuckers that you're bragging about on your website; this would be a perfect showcase for them.

 

Do all of this and keep it in the same price range as the 1960 Tribute, and you'll have a license to print money. Or so I suspect.

 

Sincerely,

 

John

 

Completely agree except I would like to see it with the Gibson pickups as per 1960 Tribute Plus.

[Bluemans335]

Completely agree except I would like to see it with the Gibson pickups as per 1960 Tribute Plus.

 

'57 Classics are nothing to get excited about. I've sold two sets of them (one set was in my 1960 Tribute LP). Burstbuckers (not BPP's) are better-sounding PU's.