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1955 Gibson Les Paul Junior Vintage Electric Guitar Sunburst w/ Case

$13,299.99

+ shipping

Up for sale, a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Junior in excellent condition and in perfect working order, 100% original save for new tuner buttons and 1" bridge inserts. The solid Honduran mahogany construction delivers an acoustic voice that is extremely authoritative and clear, with inherent midrange warmth faithfully captured by the P-90 pickup.

Metering at 7.7k ohms, this pickup has exceptional dynamic range and pick sensitivity, with a liveliness and smooth, muscly growl. Equal parts glassy clarity and churning guttural chunk, the tonal colors available via the single P-90 are particularly broad. This Les Paul Junior weighs 7lbs 7oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings and easy-playing action.

The one-piece Honduran mahogany neck has a profile carve that presents almost as a soft V at the nut, less shoulder-y than most in the lower registers, with more roundness further up the neck, measuring .910” deep at the 1st fret and .985” at the 12th. The Brazilian rosewood fretboard is a dark, tight-grained cut, and the original slender banjo fretwire has been leveled and crowned, showing no wear. This guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod, and the original nylon nut measures 1 11/16” in width. The headstock face retains the silkscreen Gibson logo and “Les Paul Junior” script text, and the original Kluson Deluxe "no-line" strip tuning machines turn smoothly and hold pitch as they should, fitted with new white buttons. The 5-prefix gold inked serial number is intact on the back of the headstock.

The wiring harness retains the original IRC pots and Grey Tiger tone cap, and the pickup has a clean bobbin and original windings. The original lightweight aluminum wraparound tailpiece is intact, and the bridge inserts have been substituted for full 1" deep posts, replacing the original 1/2“ inserts used by Gibson in this era, which were phased out in 1956 due to their propensity to pull out of the mahogany. As such, a couple small splits in the mahogany just forward of the treble-side posts have been professionally addressed.

The gloss Sunburst nitro lacquer finish is 100% original with no touch-up or overspray, and the Sunburst retains exceptional color and vibrancy, with tight “shattered glass” lacquer checking across the body. Cosmetic wear includes a bit of light, expected wear on the edges of the slab body, minor buckle rash on the back, and a few additional minor nicks and finish scratches on the body as a whole. The neck profile retains its smooth nitro lacquer gloss, with a few shallow marks along the profile length.

A vintage (circa 1980s) black tolex hardshell case is included, along with a Polaroid of a previous owner.