This
gorgeous 1960 Gibson Les
Paul Standard was stored
under a bed for about 40
years.
The 1960 Gibson
GA-14 Titan 1x10 combo
was purchased at the same
time as the Les Paul.
In the early 1950s, the Gibson
Company noticed the
impressive sales of Leo Fender’s
solidbody guitar, the Telecaster,
and decided to design one of
their own to stay competitive.
Maurice Berlin (head of CMI,
Gibson’s parent company) and
Gibson president Ted McCarty
approached popular recording
artist Les Paul (who had also
been experimenting on a solidbody
guitar design for a number
of years), and with his input
designed the Les Paul Model
solidbody guitar, which Gibson
introduced in 1952. The model
evolved through the 1950s as
practical improvements were
made in its design. By 1958,
after receiving a Tune-o-matic
bridge (1956) and humbucking
pickups (1957), the Les Paul
had its finish changed from an
opaque metallic gold to a beautiful
transparent cherry-red sunburst.
This was the final major
change before the model was
discontinued after 1960.
The 1960 Les Paul Standard
featured this month is a very
clean example that was literally
stored under a bed, away from
daylight, for the last 40 or so
years. This lack of light has kept
the guitar’s sunburst as bright
and vibrant as it was when new.
This guitar has features typical
of an early 1960 Standard. These
include a big, full neck shape
(as in ’59), two PAF pickups
(double-white neck and double-black
bridge), Astron capacitors
(replacing the Sprague “Bumble
Bee” caps used in ’58 and ’59),
and gold plastic bonnet knobs
(replaced by reflector knobs later
that year). This rare instrument
is one of only 635 Les Paul
Standards produced that year.
A Gibson GA-14 Titan
combo—also dating to 1960—was purchased at the same time
as the Les Paul. With two 6V6
power tubes and a 10" speaker,
the GA-14 is very much like a
Fender Harvard of the same era.
More information on Les Paul
Standards can be found in
The
Gibson ’Burst: 1958-1960 by Jay
Scott and Vic DaPra,
The Modern
Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968-
2009 by Robb Lawrence, and
Gibson Electrics – The Classic Years by
A.R. Duchossoir. You can find information
on
Gibson amps in Gibson
Amplifiers 1933-2008: 75 Years of the
Gold Tone by Wallace Marx Jr.
Having not been
exposed to light for four
decades, the sunburst finish
on this Les Paul is almost as
bright and vibrant as when
the guitar left the factory.
LEFT: This month’s
1960 Les Paul sports a pair
of original PAF humbuckers
that measure 8.09 kΩ
(neck)
and 9.15 kΩ (bridge).
RIGHT: Rated at
14 watts, the GA-14 Titan
has two channels (each
with a pair of
inputs), a
single shared Tone control,
and a 10" Jensen P10R
alnico speaker.
Dave ’s Guitar Shop
Dave Rogers’ collection is tended
by Laun Braithwaite and Tim Mullally
and is on display at:
Dave’s Guitar Shop
1227 Third Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601
davesguitar.com
Photos by Mullally and text
by Braithwaite.