Gibson

As is true of anything collectible, there are various strata within a given market.  At the top, there are rare items, there are exceptionally rare items, and then there are singular items.  Within the vintage electric guitar market, there are few guitars that can compete with a 1958-1960 Gibson Les Paul “burst” in terms of desirability, and therefore price.  (As there is exhaustive discourse available elsewhere relating to the topic of Les Pauls of this era, we will not endeavor to expand on it much here!) Of these top collectible model years, the 1958 “plain tops” would be ranked 3^rd and the ’59 and ’60 “flame tops” would be ranked 2^nd.  Meanwhile, those at the top of the list would be the storied, singular Les Pauls that have reached legendary status due to their celebrity ownership.  Some of these would include: “Number 1” (Jimmy Page), “Beano” (Eric Clapton), “Greeny” (Peter Green, Kirk Hammet), “Redeye” (Ed King, Jason Isbell), and, as it pertains here, “Pearly Gates,” owned by Billy Gibbons. 

The value of such instruments as these is difficult to calculate.  In terms of money, any one of them would almost certainly command several million dollars in today’s market.  Yet, from a more romantic standpoint, these guitars are actually priceless, given their role in shaping music history. The romance circulating around these instruments is, in large part, fueled by their individual stories, as well as the Red-Violin-esque notion that these guitars will one day hopefully pass to their next stewards (rather than be vaulted or relegated to permanent display).  Who will own them? What new music will flow through them?  Only time will tell…. 

“Pearly Gates” is an exemplar of just such legendary status.  “Pearly Gates” was actually the namesake of a collectively-owned jalopy in the form of a 1939 Packard. The run-down Packard car bore the name as, against all odds and speculation, it miraculously succeeded in transporting an aspiring actress friend from Texas to Hollywood for an audition.  When she got the part, the suspected inherent luckiness of the Packard was elevated from anecdotal to divine, and thus the name “Pearly Gates” was accordingly ascribed. When the actress eventually sold the car (which had been loaned to her), Billy Gibbons used his share of the proceeds to purchase this now legendary 1959 Gibson Les Paul (for $250) from a Texas rancher, who had retired the guitar when he hung up his country music spurs to put on, well…, real spurs. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history. 

Needless to say, any guitar lover, and certainly any die-hard fan of a given celebrity owner, would give their eye teeth for a chance to own one of these mythic Les Pauls!  Yet, sadly, the vast majority of us lack the connections and are otherwise a little short in terms of capital to be in the running.  With this in mind, and in an effort to mine their own history, manufacturers like Gibson have a long practice of producing various levels of vintage reproductions and celebrity-inspired models that the mere mortal can afford.  Once again, these instruments fall into a variety of strata. For example, on the low end might be a fairly generic, overseas-made signature model. In contrast, on the top end, there are very exacting replicas—for instance, Gibson recently produced replicas of “Greeny” where they actually break the neck and repair it in production, all because the original has a repaired neck break (this, in our opinion, is where things start getting a little ridiculous!).  In the case of the top tier replicas or recreations, the manufacturer’s investments in terms of money and personnel are such that these guitars are undoubtedly some of the finest that the company is capable of producing.  This, coupled with the fan base circulating around the original, has resulted in a whole different (and very robust!) market of collectible guitars that continues to grow today.

Though we do not typically deal in this sort of collectible artist model, we were absolutely floored by the arrival of this stunning 2009 VOS “Pearly Gates” at our store. (More surprising still, this guitar was also accompanied by a comparable Jimmy Page Custom, modeled after his famous long-lost 1960 modded 3-pickup Bigsby-equipped Les Paul Custom, which we are also representing.)   Of the 350 total “Pearly Gates” replicas Gibson produced, 250 were VOS (Vintage Original Spec), 50 were aged by Tom Murphy, and 50 were aged and signed by Billy Gibbons.  Those aged by Murphy and Gibbons respectively are obviously the rarest, and almost never surface for sale (though a few recent examples have sold near $50,000).  While less rare in terms of production numbers, this VOS example is an exceedingly rare time capsule find—frankly, we’ve never seen its equal.  Not only is it in a remarkably preserved, dare we say unused, state, but it is accompanied by every bit of its original case candy, including the original shipping box.  More impressive still, this guitar is the second instrument made in the run (serial number BG 002), which is pretty damn cool!  Simply put, as collectibles go, it doesn’t get any better than this, short of finding some mythic sealed, unshipped box hidden in a dark corner of Gibson’s factory (and, these days, that doesn’t happen!).  As such, this gorgeous replica of one of rock history’s most famous and iconic guitars is an exceptionally rare opportunity for any serious Gibson collector or ZZ Top fan. 

Condition

As stated above, this “Pearly Gates” VOS model appears to have been stored in an unused state since it was originally unboxed and admired.  We do note some areas of minor oxidation on the pickup covers around the pickup poles—this is particularly on the neck pickup near the low E string poles—as well as on some of the hardware, where we see only infinitesimal specs.  It is unclear as to whether some of this was part of the original VOS aged patina, but it is likely the effect of long term case storage in combination with the aging that made these parts a little more susceptible to oxidation.  Apart from whatever unintended aging we might be seeing here, this guitar is as clean as they come! On a related note, in light of this guitar’s ultra rare seemingly untouched state, we have elected to leave it in an as-is state.  However, we did perform an electronics check.  The toggle switch was stiff, but had thankfully had no connectivity issues.  The pots were likewise a little stiff, but had no scratchiness.  We did lubricate and clean the switch with a sprayed electronics cleaner from the outside and worked it to free up its motion to a more acceptable norm.  Otherwise, please note that we will only be performing our customary setup work and restringing at the behest of the next owner.  EXCEPTIONALLY FINE Condition  

• Single Cutaway Solid Body
• Flamed Maple Top
• Mahogany Body
• VOS Heritage Cherry Sunburst Top Finish
• Brown Body and Neck Stain
• Single-Ply Crème Top Binding
• Mahogany Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard
• Mother of Pearl Trapezoid Inlays
• Inlaid Mother of Pearl “Gibson" Peghead Logo
• No Double Line Single Ring Kluson Tuners With Tulip Buttons
• Two Custom Voiced P.A.F. Humbucking Pickups with Aged Nickel Covers
• Two Master Volume and Two Master Tone Controls
• Amber Barrel Knobs
• 3-Way Pickup Selector
• Nickel ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic Bridge and Stop Tailpiece
• Single-Ply Crème Pickguard
• Catalin Switch Tip
• Crème Jack Plate
• 1 11/16^th” Nut Width
• 24 ¾” Scale Length
• Bone Nut
• 8.8 lbs
• Original Hardshell Case