Gibson’s homage to Kossoff’s ‘other’ 1959 LP Standard

At the 2012 Winter NAMM Show, Gibson unveiled its tribute to Paul Kossoff with a replica model of the faded, battle-scarred Les Paul Standard that was acquired by Paul’s old friend, guitarist Arthur Ramm, following Kossoff’s untimely death in 1976. Although the serial number was lost to a neck break repair, this guitar is believed to be a ’59 and is one of three ’Bursts used extensively by the late, great man himself.

Made in limited numbers, including 100 Murphy-aged and 250 VOS instruments, the Gibson Paul Kossoff 1959 Les Paul Standards are now highly sought-after collector’s items. As both versions recently surfaced at Vintage ‘n’ Rare Guitars in Bath, vintage expert and co-owner Steve Hove walks us through a Murphy-aged replica for a taste of the real thing...

LOOK: “[Gibson] scanned the original guitar and measured it and tested it, so it’s got more of a period-correct neck profile and dish carve in the top. The ageing looks really cool. Tom Murphy did the first aged stuff for Gibson and became their go-to guy. The top has a slight chevron and is very well matched in terms of flame on either side. If you get it in the right light it will pop but it’s not too blingy in terms of flame; it’s nicely understated and it ties in with the finish. There’s an ever so slight gradient in the finish where it’s darker around the edges. Gibson called it Green Lemon ’Burst.”

SOUND: “One of the first things I noticed was that the pickups are really dynamic and responsive. [Gibson] have tried to recreate the sound of the original guitar using Alnico 3 magnets and plain enamel 42 [AWG] wire. That treble pickup has got loads of bite to it: if you dig in, it will really push the front-end of the amp. The neck pickup has a creamy, sumptuous, bluesy tone. It’s very cool. It nails the sound of the solo in All Right Now. That’s the first thing you need to do when you pick this guitar up, surely!”

FEEL: “Generally speaking, ’58 necks are the bigger of the three [’Burst years], ’60s are slimmer and ’59s sit somewhere in the middle. Based on my experience, I would place the feel of this one around early ’59. It feels really good. With the ageing on the neck I think they get pretty close to the feel of an old ’Burst. It feels like an old instrument even though it’s not been played much since it left the factory.” [RB] www.vintageandrareguitars.com