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Beauty of the ‘Burst: Gibson Sunburst Les Pauls from 1958 to 1960: Gibson Sunburst Les Pauls from ’58 to ’60
£30.40
(Book). Finally, the long-awaited English edition of this historic Japanese book is here! The Beauty of the ‘Burst pays tribute to Gibson’s magnificent Sunburst Les Pauls made between 1958 and 1960, the most highly prized solidbody electric guitars ever. The magnitude of their value is directly related to their look (outrageous wood patterns, or “figured” timber), since non-players are paying top dollar for them. The book features lavish full-color photos of these beautiful instruments throughout; the guitars of famous players; a foreword by Ted McCarty; a bio of the author, world renowned collector Yasuhiko Iwanade; and the “Science of the Burst” section with over 30 pages of detailed reference facts on every facet of the guitar, including colors, wood figure, pick-ups, hardware and qualities of “voice.” This may be the closest guitarists will ever be able to get to these incredibly collectible beauties! 216 pages, 8-1/2 x 11 Softcover
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Additional information
| Publisher | Hal Leonard Corporation (31 July 1999) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 224 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0793573742 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0793573745 |
| Dimensions | 20.85 x 1.52 x 28.04 cm |
by john roberts
Nothing bad here only quality
by EarWax
Great book, good photos but going by other people’s reviews I was pleasantly surprised by the written information on everything from pickups to plastics to wood types and how it is split to make the various patterns in the maple tops.
I have been tempted to purchase this many times over the years but it has always been quite expensive, this was on offer on Amazon for about £10 under the lowest prices usually this book is sold at.
So glad I did, if you are into vintage guitars it’s well worth the money.
by Jeff
Book is good if you like photos of Les Paul guitars. Very little text. It appears that a label was removed from the front cover leaving a tacky glue like residue over it. Could not be removed satisfactorily. Disappointing.
by Buzz
Recipient, who studies, plays and loves everything about guitars, loved this book!
by john roberts
Pure, unmitigated guitar porn. Page after page of gratuitous shots of gorgeous guitars in alluring poses, beautifully photographed from several angles. There’s a bit of text about each one but it’s really all about the pictures.
There is a good bit of technical detail in the back, so for a guitar maker like me it’s a useful reference, too.
The book itself has become a bit of a legend, and is pretty much the standard reference for burst enthusiasts. People even build replicas named after the page number the original guitar appears on.
This is a lovely and completely pointless book, which is utterly essential for any Les Paul fan. To everyone else it’s a boring book of identical pictures of the same guitar. If I have to explain, you won’t understand.
by MatPed
My wife calls this the most boring book in the world, page after page of the same guitar, but that is the point of this book. Page after page of photos of 58, 59 & 60’s Les Paul Standards. As this era of Gibson Les Pauls is regarded as the ‘Holy Grail’ of guitars, the book is a visual feast for anyone interested in them. It also has some interesting details about the guitars and various players veiws on them. Very much a niche but if you like old Les Pauls you can’t fail to enjoy this guitar porn of the highest calibre.
by Zippy
An absolute must for Gibson and les Paul’s, loads of pics and info on the worlds most sort after and valuable Les Pauls from 1959 – 1960. Every time I saw this book it was£90+ so this was a bargain and well worth it
by paul elkington
This is a great book, showing guitars I would have never seen. I’m starting to build my own 59 replica and the book is my reference for any question regarding the appearance. The only thing that might be confusing is the usage of the term “rift-sawn” for wood with somehow diagonal end-grain, although a quick search in the internet reveals that rift-sawn is wood that has been cut along a radius of the original log, thus having endgrain similar to quarter sawn wood. On the other hand, this term is used in many guitar forums for wood with diagonal end-grain. I don’t know if it is a common misunderstanding or just because of a different definition in different countries/ continents.