Gibson '59 Les Paul Junior

standard 1959 junior...although it says "TV MODEL" on the headstock, it is a cherry. Maybe a long-time-ago refin, or just a freak.

Has a great deal of wear and tear, and has seen a lot of life!
Replaced bridge. Nicks, cracks, and more.

This one has a pronounced "vee" neck which I haven't found on other Juniors. Again, maybe a long-time-ago mod?

This is the best sounding Gibson I own (including other 50's LPs)
and is a total rock-and roll animal.

I haven't heard another Junior sound as good.

I have a 57 Junior that comes close.

You can really use a Junior for almost anything, but you have to
be discretionary with tone. vol, and how you play them.

But not many other guitars have the rock animal in them like this one.

I find mine easy to play, but like all Juniors, the tempering, etc, isn't too precise, so your playing style has to compensate.

In many ways they are not a beginners guitar, but the reverse.

This one is VERY heavy...my '57 is very light....

I think you could use them as an industrial tool.
robust!

A good Junior is truly one of the best guitars you can own.
The standard new "reissues" are really poor, and nothing like the originals BUT the Custom Shop versions are actually pretty close.

I don't think that the timbers from the 50's are easily replicated, but if you can't find an old one, a new Custom Shop is a good second best. A great P90 is still one of the best pickups around.

I am very fond of the raw, basic one vol one tone one pickup...and minimal adjustments, means YOU get to do most of the work, but a Junior can cover Fender tones and Gibson tones (roll off the tops for a more humbucking tone)

The body is,,,,,, mahogany,. What else?? Faded Cherry finish. Tortise type pick guard,, which I removed years ago because it was warping and the screws were rusting. Stop-bar type bridge (original) with the least amount of adjustment which is two allen type screws at a right angle to the bridge posts. Mahogany set-neck. Speed frets. Original bone nut. Original Volume and Tone controls. Body is SG style or Double-Cutaway. Single passive custom pickup. Fingerboard is rosewood. Pretty much a typical Les Paul Junior Double-Cutaway like Leslie West's or Steve Marriot etc.

I have owned this Guitar for 34 Years and it doesn't quite firt my playing style anymore. It truly is a ROCK Guitar and though I still play some Rock, Blues is now more my style than Rock. It has no noise to speak of partially because I replaced the P-90 on it with a custom made Humbucker some years ago I wanted two pickup sounds and because of the was the neck is attached to the body, I was advised that I should not install another pickup> So, I had a custom split-coil made and installed. In those days it was called a "clean/dirty? set up. This Guitar absolutely SCREAMS, GROWLS, and RIPS YOUR HEAD OFF!

No flaws when I got it other than the aforementioned pickup and the tuners. I replaced the original tuners with a set of Schaller Silver Banjo tuners. The same tuners that were on Johnny Winter's Firebird. They are very heavy. If you let go of the neck while wearing the Guitar, the Head will sink downward. This is uncomfortable for anyone who want's to experience this instrument,,, except me. I'm quite used to it. Bottom line regarding the tuners,,,, This Guitar stays in tune for years at a time,,, and without an adjustable bridge!!

I have beaten the snot out of this Guitar over the years. The frets are close to needing replacement. If the finish hasn't proven itself by now,,,,, I can and do depend on this Guitar and I can and do use it without backup

Let's see, 47 year-old Guitar,,,,,, I think the extended warrranty expired 2 years ago or so,,,,, I have dealt with the company but, not about this Guitar. They were friendly and not arrogant as you might think they would be.

I've been playing Guitar 41 or so years. I own 30 plus Guitars and Basses, several tube and transistor amps. I like to change my sound(s) now and then just to keep things fresh and interesting. I received this instrument in a trade for an old Maestro Phase Shifter and $115.00. That was in 1972. This thing will be with me in my grave. How many of you would say that????

This is an update of my earlier review. Allparts replacement Klusons have longer screws than the originals, so use the original screws. Schaller makes metal Kluson replacement tuners with 16:1 ratios, so that's probably your best bet for tuning without modifying the guitar. The Schaller 458 bridge I had been using did not fit the guitar properly. On the higher frets, the low E would slip off the fretboard. I took the stop tailpiece from another Paul and put it on. This is the same exact piece as the original hollow wraparound piece, except it's solid chrome. Problem solved! A Jr. with sustain!

This P90 pickup is loud. It is louder than my roommate's T-Top pickup which is high gain. Through a Mesa, sounds like Clash City Rockers, spot on. Through my Magnatone 260A, it gives up convincing jazzy cleans. Tons of harmonics.

This is a 1959 Les Paul Junior 3/4. The scale length is 22 3/4 inches. It has 19 frets, one P-90 pickup, one volume and one tone, and a one-piece wraparound bridge/tailpiece. It has Kluson strip tuners. The body is a mahogany slab, double cutaway, painted cherry, with the wood grain showing through. Inside the control cavity is a "bumble bee" capacitor. The Kluson tuners turned unevenly and did not hold string tension well, so I replaced them with Allparts tuners. They hold the strings in pitch better now. The one-piece bridge is hollow aluminum. It was so cheap I could hardly believe it was an original part, but it was. The bridge gave the guitar zero sustain, so I replaced it with a Schaller one-piece bridge with fine tuners. (It's similar to a TP6). Now the sustain is much improved. The rounded '59 neck fits perfectly in my hand. Very comfortable. The top hat knobs can come off in your hand, so I have to watch it.

I play raunchy rock'n'roll, so it works great for me. This P-90 is LOUD. It has a full sound, rich in harmonics, with lots of bottom. I use it with a Mesa Boogie V-Twin preamp pedal through a '65 Fender Twin Reverb. That's a very nice sound. Good sustain with my new Schaller bridge.

This is a 45 year old guitar. The seller I bought it from did not disclose that the input jack sleeve was dented. It still works, though. The headstock face is a little scratched up. Apparently, a previous owner used a metal strap with it, because the paint is scraped away around the strap buttons. There is some rust on the pickguard screws. The wood on the guitar began to shine after I put some Gibson guitar polish on it. My Schaller bridge is a little wide for it. A Badass bridge would work better. Loose top hat knobs.

The guitar is simple, sounds great, and is sturdy. I think it will be fine live. It has lasted almost fifty years, so I think it will be around for a while longer. You always want to have a backup guitar in case you break a string, or you screw up the action by crowning a heckler with it, like I saw Johnny Thunders do.

Warranty? On a '59?

I have been playing guitar for 20 years. I also own a Les Paul 25/50 Anniversary, a Firebird V, Strat, G&L ASAT, '60 Gretsch Double Anniversary, DeArmond M-75 T, Rickenbacker 381V-69 12, Guild Jumbo Acoustic. I love the vintage P-90 sound on a solid body guitar. I paid too much for it, but it was still over $1000 less than what one would pay for a full-size Junior of that era. It's a great guitar for playing blues, punk, or straight ahead rock'n'roll.