NeoConMan Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 My idea of the Holy Grail of electric guitar? Without a doubt, that would have to be the 1959 Les Paul with a Bigsby. I've never been able to determine exactly how many were actually made by Gibson - no more than a handful. Randy Bachman of BTO and the Guess Who still has his to this day. Not 100% sure the Bigsby was on it from the factory, but still.... Then there's the one Keith Richards played in the early days of the Stones. Bigsby was reportedly added after it was built, then the guitar went on to change hands several times. Check out these pics. Keith Richards; Eric Clapton; Mick Taylor; Here's Jimmy Page in the studio with it - his own Bigsby LP was black; Lots more pics and a brief narrative here; http://www.richardhenryguitars.com/keith.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermionik Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 . . Oh boy - that works for me on so many levels, man, that is guitar heaven from where I am sitting..... .....behind an Epi Sheraton with a 60's Bigsby B7. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Very cool.... Works for me too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Man, if that guitar could talk. Thanks Neo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 There are more than you think Neo, the best example I can think of is the one that is pictured on the book Encyclopedia of Electric Guitars. Believe it or not there was one for sale on eBay like 6 years ago in great condition, the starting bid was $160,000 and there were no takers. Some players have actually taken the bigsby off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yew Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 My Favorite les paul would have to be paul kossofs natural top (he stripped it himslef iirc, like malcolm young did to his gretsch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slashadler Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 the thing i dont like about bigsbys is that it has a huge "patent number" on it.... i dunno, kinda ruins the look for me i guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 According to the book "American Guitars", by Tom Wheeler, there were 643 Les Paul "Standards" (Goldtop and Sunburst) shipped in 1959. There is no mention of factory installed Bigsbys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 See what I mean? Elusive as hell. I've been assured by several guys in the know that Gibson built a few. Then there's nothing conclusive to back it up, so then what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Im sorry, Bigsbys are like big warts on a beautiful hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Suh-weet! Looks like Mick takes his with no pickguard, eh? I think the Bigsby looks awesome on that particular guitar. Many times I feel they would look better with regular stop tail config. And after all... it IS all about looks, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Here you go Neo. You can have the next best thing. '59 RI w/Bigsby Sometimes a picture will do just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverbursted Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I'm mixed about that. If I could have that guitar, that would be very cool. Otherwise I'd never put that monstrosity on a Les Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You know what's stupid about this "holy grail" bulls hit? It's the fact that none of the people who consider the '59 LP as the holy grail drool over the guitar, itself. They drool over the guys who played them. Page, Richards, Clapton, Gibbons, Perry, Bloomfield, whoever...all could have played a '57 Les Paul, a '58 Les Paul, a '60 Les Paul, '61 SG, heck...Nocaster, Stratocaster, etc., and you'd all be drooling over that specific guitar, not the '59 Les Paul. My holy grail is sitting in my basement and it wasn't made in 1959. It's my holy grail because it sounds great, not because some guy wearing an upbuttoned shirt played one similar 30 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruznolfart Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You know what's stupid about this "holy grail" bulls hit? It's the fact that none of the people who consider the '59 LP as the holy grail drool over the guitar' date=' itself. They drool over the guys who played them. Page, Richards, Clapton, Gibbons, Perry, Bloomfield, whoever...all could have played a '57 Les Paul, a '58 Les Paul, a '60 Les Paul, '61 SG, heck...Nocaster, Stratocaster, etc., and you'd all be drooling over that specific guitar, not the '59 Les Paul. My holy grail is sitting in my basement and it wasn't made in 1959. It's my holy grail because it sounds great, not because some guy wearing an upbuttoned shirt played one similar 30 years ago.[/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myspace.com/jessenoah Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 It's my holy grail because it sounds great' date=' not because some guy [b']wearing an upbuttoned shirt played one similar 30 years ago[/b]. My next les paul after my next 4 will be a bigsby'd burst! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You know what's stupid about this "holy grail" bulls hit? It's the fact that none of the people who consider the '59 LP as the holy grail drool over the guitar' date=' itself. They drool over the guys who played them. Page, Richards, Clapton, Gibbons, Perry, Bloomfield, whoever...all could have played a '57 Les Paul, a '58 Les Paul, a '60 Les Paul, '61 SG, heck...Nocaster, Stratocaster, etc., and you'd all be drooling over that specific guitar, not the '59 Les Paul. My holy grail is sitting in my basement and it wasn't made in 1959. It's my holy grail because it sounds great, not because some guy wearing an upbuttoned shirt played one similar 30 years ago.[/quote'] I agree with your perspective. Hey, Oliver Leiber owns 4 bursts and his favorite guitar is an early 60's SG. Personally, I look at all old guitars with almost like a Museum mentallity, I look athe them in books, pics and museums and I realize their place in history but I don't really care for any guitar that I do not own or I will not buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Curse you neo! Grrr must control gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Curse you neo! Grrr must control gas. Lol I don't think you really have a choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slashadler Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You know what's stupid about this "holy grail" bulls hit? It's the fact that none of the people who consider the '59 LP as the holy grail drool over the guitar' date=' itself. They drool over the guys who played them. Page, Richards, Clapton, Gibbons, Perry, Bloomfield, whoever...all could have played a '57 Les Paul, a '58 Les Paul, a '60 Les Paul, '61 SG, heck...Nocaster, Stratocaster, etc., and you'd all be drooling over that specific guitar, not the '59 Les Paul. My holy grail is sitting in my basement and it wasn't made in 1959. It's my holy grail because it sounds great, not because some guy wearing an upbuttoned shirt played one similar 30 years ago.[/quote'] beautifully worded. nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Walrus Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You know what's stupid about this "holy grail" bulls hit? It's the fact that none of the people who consider the '59 LP as the holy grail drool over the guitar' date=' itself. They drool over the guys who played them. Page, Richards, Clapton, Gibbons, Perry, Bloomfield, whoever...all could have played a '57 Les Paul, a '58 Les Paul, a '60 Les Paul, '61 SG, heck...Nocaster, Stratocaster, etc., and you'd all be drooling over that specific guitar, not the '59 Les Paul. My holy grail is sitting in my basement and it wasn't made in 1959. It's my holy grail because it sounds great, not because some guy wearing an upbuttoned shirt played one similar 30 years ago.[/quote'] Ok. I'll try to make myself clear. I agree partially with what you say. But you can't say you love that tone just because someday you suddenly woke up and said: "Man, I love that LP tone and stuff". The reason we all love tube amps, the reason we all love those guitars has everything to do with those guys. And I don't think you are an exception to this rule. We grew up hearing those records that featured people playing those guitars, amps, pedals and stuff and then, throughout the years we learned/decided what a good guitar tone means. Based on our experience with listening, playing, looking at them playing live, watching them videos and etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Walrus Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Or maybe I'm just wrong. My holy grail guitars were actually picken out of nowhere. The first guitar i ever fell in love with was the Tele. How did that happen? Well I was starting to get interested in elecrtic guitars and then I went searching for the different models in major companies and the 52 Tele was it. At that time I really didn't knew someone who played it, as it was just the looks of the guitar. Today my holy grails if I may call them that are my PRS Starla (no cool guy I know plays that model) and my SG 61 with maestro. They are the coolest and most baddass sounding guitars I've ever owned. But anyway I built my concept of tone hearing all those classic records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Wally, I woke up one day and realized I love that LP tone. Actually, I walked into the store to buy a pack of strings for my SG Special (my then one and only guitar) and saw a Silverburst Les Paul Custom hanging on the wall. That was two years ago and I've been hooked on them ever since. I love Les Pauls - more specifically, historic Les Pauls - because I love the guitars, themselves. I really don't care who played or didn't play Les Pauls in the past. The only guitar that's iconic to me is the white SG in Black Sabbath's Paranoid video. You don't see a white SG Custom in my house, though...and never will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Walrus Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 But you have been hearing that tone for long before you saw that silverburst, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 You can say that about every guitar that's been around for 50 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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