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THE MIGHTY BURST � Dave Belzer
Why is the ‘ 58- ‘ 60 Gibson Les Paul Standard the single best solid body guitar ever built ? Simple . It was the perfect blend of design , materials , and workmanship all coming together in the right place at the right time .
Of course , no one realized that until the mid 60 ’ s when Mike Bloomfield took hold of one , plugged it into a Fender Twin Reverb and subsequently turned the guitar world upside down , shortly followed up by Clapton plugging one into a Marshall and creating the foundation of rock guitar tone to this day . Inspiring the likes of Allman , Beck , Page , Kossoff , and Gibbons , just to name a few of the many great guitar players that were inspired by a good burst .
Speaking to my long time business partner Drew Berlin the other night , we came to the conclusion that between us , we have seen hundreds of bursts ( Drew counted over 200 he ’ s seen alone ) and in just our Guitar Center days together we sold over 100 of them . During 2006 , at the height of the market , we moved 14 bursts over the span of a month that ranged in price from $ 200k to over $ 400k . Many are still being played today by some of the most famous hands in the biz .
My adventures into the quest of bursts started on a sunny spring day in 1983 when my buddy Ralph and I were perusing the Vintage Guitar Bulletin that Guitar Trader sent to its customers and subscribers for $ 2.00 each . These were written and edited by GT ’ s resident expert , the incomparable Tim Kummer . His detailed descriptions of each guitar noted any changes , mods , condition , and a price . There were also great articles on guitar repair , history , identifying , and collecting . And then we saw it … a 1959 Les Paul Standard at the price of 10k . Ten thousand dollars ! Was that a misprint ?
We wanted , no , we needed to see that 1959 Les Paul ! Ok , we took the bait and we hit the road . We jumped in his Oldsmobile 442 and headed to New Jersey . We were on a pilgrimage to the mecca of east coast vintage guitars .
It was listed :
“ Les Paul Standard , 1959 , cherry-sunburst finish with dramatically striped curly-maple top , strong color remaining , four white coil original PAF ’ s , probably the nicest ( original !) flametop available anywhere . A showpiece . Very good . $ 10,000 ”
I still remember pulling up in front of the store . I am not sure why , but the look of the building from the outside made me think it had possibly been a bank at one time . Red Bank back then was a small , quaint little town with a very country feel to it , quite a contrast from New York City that we had just passed by an hour or so earlier . I seem to remember the store had very high ceilings , and guitars seemed to be hanging from everywhere . I remember wanting to look at everything , but our time was limited and we need to head back to Long Island . We asked about the 10k Les Paul and were pointed to a glass showcase built into one of the counters . There , before our eyes , was the most spectacular 3D figured Les Paul either of us had ever seen ! It was displayed on a bed of purple velvet , like the royalty that it was . I ’ m fairly sure there were other guitars I looked at that day , but I cannot remember any of them , just that Les Paul and how it looked as if it was on fire . I finally understood what they meant by the term “ flametop .”
14 Jul � Aug 2016 CollectibleGuitar . com