Who makes the best 59 replica

[Nico.]

If you don't want to post public, no problem shoot me a PM.

Im looking for a non gibson guitar with a monster flame top, with every detail down to the Gibson name on the headstock.

Probably in the 2K-4.5k range tops!

So no Max replicas...

[r9player]

ehm did you see this? You may want to go save some more money :)
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=859139

[Nico.]

ehm did you see this? You may want to go save some more money :)
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=859139

That looks awesome. But I don't have the knowledge, the gift, the tools and the time to make something even remotely similar to that.

[Antelope]

That looks awesome. But I don't have the knowledge, the gift, the tools and the time to make something even remotely similar to that.

I think (s)he meant that the builder in that thread would probably build you one, but it'd cost you more than your stated budget.

[cutaway]

man, in that range you're probably limiting yourself to a Gibson. 2k doesn't really even scratch the surface.

[jamess]

I'd get in touch with Scott Heatley.

[BrentB6]

ehm did you see this? You may want to go save some more money :)
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=859139


Hard to beat. Here's his site. http://www.bartlettguitars.com/Bartlett_Guitars/Bartlett_Guitars.html

[Halowords]

Im looking for a non gibson guitar with a monster flame top, with every detail down to the Gibson name on the headstock.

Not to be a tool, but why specifically get a non-Gibson and get the Gibson name on the headstock? Why not just get the best guitar that meets your criteria and be proud of whatever it is? There just seems to be a bit of a moral & intellectual conflict of interest there.

My standard reply would be custom order a Heritage, but leave the name on the headstock, or have a reputable luthier build you one but put their own label on it since they actually did the work and NOT Gibson so they should get the credit for making said awesome instrument.

-Cheers

[jtm622]

You can probably forget about even locating someone who'll build you a '59 replica in the $2,000 range - much less the "best" '59 replica... :)

[chubbywolf]

Whats the name of that company....I am trying to remember......something like "Nibsen" or "Gibbis" or something like that. Try to find them....I hear they make decent Les Pauls.

[wizard333]

Why not get a used R9? If what you want is something like an R9 but with hide glue, yadda yadda, its going to be outside your stated budget. Either pony up, or live with a used R9, which isn't such a bad thing.

[james...]

You can't afford what you're asking for with that budget...

Get a collings or R9 something.

[Scott Auld]

Why not get a used R9? If what you want is something like an R9 but with hide glue, yadda yadda, its going to be outside your stated budget. Either pony up, or live with a used R9, which isn't such a bad thing.


I don't think he can afford a used R9 either.

Used R8 maybe if he lucks into one.

OP: IMHO, save your pennies until you can afford what you really want. I sold a ton of gear to be able to afford the one I wanted. It was worth it.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5684128285_b89cede731_b.jpg

[wizard333]

Probably in the 2K-4.5k range tops!



You can get a used R9 for well under $4.5k. A hand made, hide glued, braz-board, eastern flamed maple, 1pc honduras mahogany neck/body one.....not so much.

[GuitarTone]

You can get a used R9 for well under $4.5k. A hand made, hide glued, braz-board, eastern flamed maple, 1pc honduras mahogany neck/body one.....not so much.

Hand made, hide glued...what does that mean?

[musicofanatic5]

Hand made, hide glued...what does that mean?
Made by one person's two hands, glued together with glue made from dead animal skins and hooves.

[james...]

the glue is hidden of course...

[musicofanatic5]

Not to be a tool, but why specifically get a non-Gibson and get the Gibson name on the headstock? Why not just get the best guitar that meets your criteria and be proud of whatever it is? There just seems to be a bit of a moral & intellectual conflict of interest there.

My standard reply would be custom order a Heritage, but leave the name on the headstock, or have a reputable luthier build you one but put their own label on it since they actually did the work and NOT Gibson so they should get the credit for making said awesome instrument.

-Cheers
The OP requested for a replica. Heritage doesn't come close enough. The term replica implies dead-nuts eggz-actness, down to the logo. If a private builder will do a dead-nuts replica, why should he put his name on it? A tool might prefer the term "counterfeit" to replica.

I agree that the stated budget will not get this done proper.

[GuitarTone]

Made by one person's two hands, glued together with glue made from dead animal skins and hooves.

Ahaaa, thanks.

[Scott Auld]

You can get a used R9 for well under $4.5k. A hand made, hide glued, braz-board, eastern flamed maple, 1pc honduras mahogany neck/body one.....not so much.

I misunderstood. I thought 2K was his upper limit.

Yes, he can easily get into an R9 for that range.

[anyone]

I don't think he can afford a used R9 either.

Used R8 maybe if he lucks into one.

OP: IMHO, save your pennies until you can afford what you really want. I sold a ton of gear to be able to afford the one I wanted. It was worth it.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5148/5684128285_b89cede731_b.jpg

If it just had a switch tip... that thing would be STUNNING!

If it were me, and I wanted 'Gibson' on the headstock, that's how I would get it.

[Halowords]

The OP requested for a replica. Heritage doesn't come close enough. The term replica implies dead-nuts eggz-actness, down to the logo.

I know. I was just saying . . . Aside from the headstock, less-acute horn cutaway, and the not-long-tennon they have a lot of other stuff going for them. But an R9 seems to be what he's really asking for.

If a private builder will do a dead-nuts replica, why should he put his name on it? A tool might prefer the term "counterfeit" to replica.

Pride? And this is just a value statement, but it just seems deceptive to have a "close as I could get without actually getting what I was looking for" example of anything. I do not expect everybody to care about that, but it just seems weird. You are getting a great ___________ (could be a guitar, Ferrari, painting, etc., etc.). If you WANT a '59 LP, or a Gibson that meets those specs, or a Ferrari, save up and get it. If you want something that meets those specs but done by somebody else, let the builder get some credit.

From the buyer's side, I'm pretty much deceiving people with my fake '59 LP, fake custom-built Ferrari, or copy of the Mona Lisa. If it is really that great, just be up front that it's a great Les Paul style guitar built by whomever, or get an R9 and virtually nobody will ever be able to tell the difference. From the builder/seller's perspective, if you put that much work into something, why would you NOT want to get credit for it somehow? Aside from people paying more for the one that says Gibson, and any lawsuits said self-directed credit might earn you from Gibson's top-flight lawyers, of course.

However, that is just one opinion. I just do not really get the appeal of having somebody build you something JUST LIKE something else and then passing it off as the original when if it is really that good I could just be proud of what it actually was. I'm genuinely not sure if people do this to pretend they actually have a '59 LP (or whatever), or something else.

-Cheers

[tbonesullivan]

what I always find funny is that everyone wants a MONSTER FLAME top, when in reality I don't think they even bookmatched the tops back then. You could get one half with great flame, and another with very little. Also things like mineral streaks, inclusions, etc.

[Nico.]

what I always find funny is that everyone wants a MONSTER FLAME top, when in reality I don't think they even bookmatched the tops back then. You could get one half with great flame, and another with very little. Also things like mineral streaks, inclusions, etc.

Yes thats true. I don't care if the top is perfectly matched. But I want it to be a monster flame.

Thanks to all the guys for the answers as well...

By the way I asked for a price from the builder in Canada, from this thread:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/sho...d.php?t=859139 (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=859139)
Those guitars look amazing but go for just shy of 8K which is out of my price range by a lot (I'd like to spend 4.5K tops)

Nico.

[Scott Auld]

If it just had a switch tip... that thing would be STUNNING!

If it were me, and I wanted 'Gibson' on the headstock, that's how I would get it.

Thanks man

http://www.oldschoolguitar.com/board/showthread.php?t=2576

And don't worry, I have the switch tip ;)

[musicofanatic5]

what I always find funny is that everyone wants a MONSTER FLAME top, when in reality I don't think they even bookmatched the tops back then. You could get one half with great flame, and another with very little. Also things like mineral streaks, inclusions, etc.
Having viewed many original fifties (is that what you mean by "back thien"?) LP's (in person and countless photographs) I must disagree with your contention. Most I have seen are matched and the mismatched halves you refer to would have to do with the angle viewed from. I see many with mineral streaks and enjoy this feature. Very few were "monster flame", most were matched.

[dspellman]

Pride? And this is just a value statement, but it just seems deceptive to have a "close as I could get without actually getting what I was looking for" example of anything. I do not expect everybody to care about that, but it just seems weird. You are getting a great ___________ (could be a guitar, Ferrari, painting, etc., etc.). If you WANT a '59 LP, or a Gibson that meets those specs, or a Ferrari, save up and get it. If you want something that meets those specs but done by somebody else, let the builder get some credit.

Sorry, but I don't agree. A good replica can probably be had for between 6500 and 10K, and I'd pay that and ask that the replica be complete to the Gibson logo (I've got no problems identifying who built it). The real thing ranges from $200K to $400K, but beyond the actual cash involved, it's really more of a museum piece than a working guitar. You can haul it around and play it every night, of course, but once it's gone, it's gone, and a piece of history with it.

I want a '59 Ferrari 250 California Spyder with covered headlights, too. But at well over a million bucks, it's questionable that you'd want to put it out there on the road subject to a 16 year old girl with no insurance illegally driving her daddy's '95 Honda Civic while yakking on her cell. There was a company in New Zealand that would take your Ferrari 250E (not-particularly-attractive body on essentially the same engine and chassis) and, for $200K, hand beat the panels and build you an exact replica of the CS. The experience of the car would be the same, but the loss of one of those wouldn't mean anything near what the loss of one of the originals would.

There's little intent to deceive in these replicas, even if the original Ferrari and Gibson badges are in place. Neither Gibson nor Ferrari makes a bang-on replica. Experts can spot the small differences that give the replicas away, but in terms of an experience of the original for the owner, these provide that in spot-on fashion without the worry associated with the artificially high price caused by vintage collectibility.

[bcanini]

Gil Yaron

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/194271-1959-les-paul-build.html

[MikeVB]

Hard to beat. Here's his site. http://www.bartlettguitars.com/Bartlett_Guitars/Bartlett_Guitars.html

$6,500?? How is that saving money? I mean those pics are amazing, but $6,500 is a ton of money in my book for a fake, old guitar.

[rabbuhl]

The 59 used by Slash was built by Kris Derrig.
http://www.slashsworld.com/equipment/guitars/59-les-paul-replica-built-by-kris-derrig/

[Luke V]

An r9 is nothing even close to a real '59. I tried them side by side plugged directly in to an old Marshall. The '59 was fat,sweet, and warm. The r9 was trebly, thin, cold and annoying by comparison, it actually hurt my ears. I couldn't plug the real '59 back fast enough.

Tom's guitars look great and if they sound anything like they look, WOW.

[DamianP]

The rules prevent me from saying.

[dspellman]

$6,500?? How is that saving money? I mean those pics are amazing, but $6,500 is a ton of money in my book for a fake, old guitar.

I'm sorry, but you're not allowed to make sense on TGP. Heresy, doncha know.


The original '58's, '59's and '60's were mid-range guitars built of cheap or mid-range materials including plastic bits for inlays and tuning keys and rosewood (never considered the premium fretboard material by Gibson) fretboards. In a production environment, the original guitars can be generally duplicated and even significantly upgraded for maybe a $500 pricetag to the purchaser. But the pickier you get and the more carefully you want the original to be duplicated (to the point of requiring an expert to spot the differences), the higher the price goes. Generally the people picky enough to do it are building the guitars by hand and scrounging for or even recreating by hand the closest possible match to the original components. All of this pickiness and hand fartingaroundwithage takes time and these people expect their time to be compensated, at least partially.

On TGP, this kind of work is venerated. Nevermind that you can get an amazing guitar hand built that will sound better, play better and be built of better materials from a craftsman that will charge you half that price <G>.

[anyone]

Thanks man

http://www.oldschoolguitar.com/board/showthread.php?t=2576

And don't worry, I have the switch tip ;)
Pretty darn cool backstory on that one!
(Still no tele?!?)

[Guitarzandstuff]

non Gibson guitar, a monster flame top, with every detail down to the Gibson name on the headstock.

Probably in the 2K-4.5k range tops!



Not sure that exists... :cool:

[Guitarzandstuff]

You can get a used R9 for well under $4.5k. A hand made, hide glued, braz-board, eastern flamed maple, 1pc honduras mahogany neck/body one.....not so much.

Yep!!

[DamianP]

You can get a used R9 for well under $4.5k. A hand made, hide glued, braz-board, eastern flamed maple, 1pc honduras mahogany neck/body one.....not so much.


I must politely disagree.

[anyone]

This is a thing of beauty, but it ain't (and shouldn't be) under 4.5k...
http://www.destroyallguitars.com/images/ProbettReplicaSeries-1.jpg

[DamianP]

This is a thing of beauty, but it ain't (and shouldn't be) under 4.5k...
http://www.destroyallguitars.com/images/ProbettReplicaSeries-1.jpg

Thank you very much for the kind words. I do my best.

My prices have increased a little recently but that one was actually well under $4.5k. Admittedly it doesn`t have all the "correct details". (It does have the correct performance though)

I agree that it should be more expensive but, guitar pricing is never only based on the quality of the instrument itself.

[anyone]

Thank you very much for the kind words. I do my best.

My prices have increased a little recently but that one was actually well under $4.5k. Admittedly it doesn`t have all the "correct details". (It does have the correct performance though)

I agree that it should be more expensive but, guitar pricing is never only based on the quality of the instrument itself.
Yeah. The top's too pretty, the burst too aesthetically (if not nostalgically) pleasing, and the bridge pup ring sports a hideousness that should induce at least a 1k drop in price... Aside from the pup ring, that thing seriously tops the lp lust list for me.

Pricing and quality... there's an abysmal topic for discussion...

Cheers!