BODY, TOP & WEIGHT

“The guitar weighs 8.74lb [3.96kg]. They were selecting lightweight woods. Good Les Pauls from that period are around about 8.5lb and they were fairly consistent. You’ll maybe get the odd one just peaking closer to 9lb but I’ve probably picked up about 15 or 16 original [1958 to 1960] Les Pauls and I’ve found them to be fairly consistently in the 8lb range. That’s where Gibson wanted them to be because they were aware of the weight being a selling point. By comparison, the 70s ones started to get backbreaking: they were way over 9lb, some of those things. That was because the mahogany that Gibson was getting at that time, under Norlin ownership, was getting quite dense. They couldn’t get the really lightweight mahogany they’d previously used any more.

“The guitar originally had a sunburst finish, as you’d expect. The inside of the guitar still has clearly visible traces of red in the control and switch cavities. At some point before Kossoff bought the guitar the top was stripped. Mike Gooch bought the guitar in 1974 and he had the top sanded back again and refinished by [renowned repairer and luthier] Dick Knight in 1975, though it was left natural. This guitar has got a particularly good flame on its top and that, along with the other features, helps date it to around 1959. Some people have suggested that it’s a ’58 or a Goldtop. But pretty much all the ’58s that I’ve looked at are quite plain Janes in terms of the tops. There’s a certain colour about those ’58 guitars – a very different red in the lacquer – and they tend to be slightly plainer in terms of the tops.

“I particularly like the top on this guitar. It looks so different from different angles. You can look at it from a few feet away and only pick up a bit of the flame. But turn it just slightly to the left or right and it really does go three dimensional.”