59GibsiePlayer Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Brand new to this forum. Longtime owner/player of Gibsons, going back to late 60's when my first Les Paul was a mint new cond. 53 Goldtop. Terrible trapeze bridge but sure sounded great through my old Marshall 100W Tremelo amp/Marshall cab. Have owned quite a few since then, but my most recent acquisition of only a week ago is a new cond. 2001 Historic Custom Shop '59 Reissue. S/N is 91 10xx with a beautiful AAAA flametop in what I believe is their Iced Tea finish, or a Honey Burst. The enclosed Gibson Gold Warranty card only shows the color as being "BS". Looks literally unplayed, came with black Historic marked case with plush burgundy interior, the Custom/Historic bag with braided gold tipped cord, polish cloth, Custom picks, all papers, reissue(?) thin leather strap,and Historic Reissue Certificate of Authenticity showing the model as LP'59 & the serial # as inked on back of headstock. I was told & the enclosed Gibson Gold Warranty folding card (addressed from the Gibson Custom, Art, & Historic Division) shows that it was originally purchased at the Wildwood Music Store in nearby Louisville, Colorado, I believe sometime in 2002. I plan to drive it over there soon to get a few things ID'd on it as I'm new to these Custom Shop Reissue '59 LP's. Closest I had to this was a tobacco sunburst mildly tigerstriped Les Paul Heritage 80, which to be honest didn't hold a candle to this newest acquisition! Anyway, this posting is mostly my way of an introduction to this site as I just registered a short time ago. I do have 2 questions, however. I've noticed numerous references to the Historic Reissue '59's as having the bumblebee capacitors. However, mine doesn't have them in it. Were they something that was added AFTER the 2001 R59's were produced? If so, then what was the standard capacitor used during the period mine was produced? Also, what color is the "BS" supposed to stand for? (No B.S. answers for that one, please[-x Thanks in advance for any info. provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59GibsiePlayer Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 P.S. After thumbing thru my 11th. Edition Blue Book of Electric Guitars by Zach Fjestad I finally discovered what the color BS stands for: Butterscotch (bottom of p. 483). So now just have the bumblebee capacitor question remaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59GibsiePlayer Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Thank you Joe for your kind words. Although I can't say the Butterscotch looks like the archtypical '59 Burst in terms of comparisons to most of the original highly flamed cherry sunburst tops, what it does look like is the examples of some of those original models in which fading had taken place. For example, in Tony Bacon's brand new book "Million Dollar Les Paul: In Search of the Most Valuable Guitar In the World" (just printed & released recently) there are some nice color photo's of some of the more famous "Burst" L.P.'s, including Peter Green's reverse pickup Burst. It's colors look very similar to those on my guitar. I'd like to be able to post some photo's of it here, but since I'm new to this website I'll need some detailed instructions on how exactly to do so. I've got some professional training on digital camera use & have had some photo's published in mags, but am somewhat computer illiterate when it comes to doing much more than typing out e-mails & messages. Regarding the capacitors in my 2001 R9, what type should be in it & what exactly do they look like. Although it seems as though there's zero chance that any of it's internals have been tampered with and/or replaced (since the entire guitar looks unused anyway), I would like to be able to confirm that to be the case. The 3-way switch inside the backplate looks typical to me, but I don't have anything similar to compare the inside of the pots & compacitors with. Are there any websites that have detailed photo's of the correct, original inside components for a 2001 R9, or is there anyone here who would be willing to take a few detailed pics of the inside of their R9's electronics & post them here? Again, thanks so much for the kind words & bumblebee capacitor. I REALLY do need to drive the 10 miles or so over to Wildwood Music in Louisville to see the store; lived in this area over 25 years now but have never been there. However, I'm almost certain that there used to be a 2nd. Wildwood store in Longmont, the nearby city from which I retired. Thinking that store's owner was Herb Sparks...a guy I knew from having been a fellow member of the California Hawking Club (i.e. falconry) back in the mid. 70's. Anyone know if that was a 2nd. store of the better known Wildwood Music from Louisville? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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