See One of the Gibson Les Paul Standard Guitars That Started It All at Chicago Music Exchange!

Chicago Music Exchange is one of the only places in the world where gear lovers can have the opportunity to play any current Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab ’59 Les Paul Standard right alongside one of the original vintage models that inspired it!

Behold—the real deal: a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard "Burst"! “This 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard #9 0830 has been known to us for almost 20 years,” said Chicago Music Exchange CEO Andrew Yonke, “And it has been used on dozens of famous recordings under the stewardship of its previous three owners.”

A Bit About the Bursts

An evolution out of Gibson's first solid-body guitar models introduced in 1952, which featured a gold top and soapbar P-90 pickups, the Les Paul Standard got a new look in late 1958 when Gibson introduced a new model with a sunburst finish.

Boasting maple tops with sunburst finishes and solid Honduran mahogany bodies covered with aniline dye, Gibson's original Les Paul Standard Burst models came with a vibrant finish and deep red hue that, over time, would react to ultraviolet light and other environmental conditions to bleed, fade, and otherwise change.

“Bucking the Hum”

While the debut of the Les Paul Standard in 1958 marks the most significant visual change to the legendary model, the model had only just been granted its definitive sonic signature the year before (in 1957) with the introduction of the humbucker.

Designed to "buck the hum" of Gibson’s earlier P-90 single-coil electric guitar pickups—which Gibson installed on all Les Paul models before 1957—Seth Lover's "PAF" humbucking pickups ditched the noise altogether, boasting a full-bodied, high-output tone that is now generally agreed to be the essence of the Les Paul sound.

Historic Vintage Originals—Plus, New Reissues of Historic Instruments—@ CME

Replaced in 1961 by the body shape we now know as the SG, it wasn’t until about five years later that a few British blues guitarists gravitated to the famous single-cutaway Les Paul Standard burst models that the Gibson factory produced from 1958-1960, eventually putting the 1,700-or-so original burst Les Pauls among some of the highest-grossing vintage guitars on the planet!

By its reintroduction in 1968, the Gibson Les Paul Standard had already made its mark. From Jimmy Page to Mike Bloomfield, the Les Paul Standard Burst helped define the rock music genre and has become an invaluable part of our cultural history—plus, a centerpiece of our Gibson inventory selection here at Chicago Music Exchange!

CME House Amps: 1970's Park 2x12 50w Combo Video Demo

To try any of the Gibson Les Paul Standard models we have in store, including Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab editions modeled after original 1959 "Burst" models like the one you see here, call us, chat us online, or come into our Lincoln Avenue showroom today!

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