COLLECTORS’ ICONIC GIBSON GUITAR WITH A STORY TO TELL

The upper showroom at Vectran Vintage in Perth offers a fascinating range of early guitars. I know this. In a moment of nostalgic waywardness, I treated myself to a 1959 Hofner Club 60. The Club 60 was the top-of-the-range model played by the likes of John Lennon, Paul Mccartney, Eric Clapton and Dave Gilmour in their early days.

It has laminated spruce and maple flamed timbers, an ebony fingerboard and wonderful mother of pearl inlay.

I can’t do it justice in words – or by playing it!

On March 16, Dore & Rees Auctions of Frome, Somerset will offer another 1959 guitar – a Gibson Les Paul sunburst, one of the most iconic guitars ever made.

It comes from a collection of historic guitars once owned by the late James Morgan, formerly of the George Hatcher Band and Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack.

In the early 1970s, Morgan visited Denmark Street in London in search of a good guitar.

There he found the maple-topped ‘59 Les Paul. Reputedly, it cost a whopping £450 and his credit card bore the burden!

Many other guitars came and went, but the ’59 became Morgan’s constant companion. Although hugely valuable and much revered, he gigged with it throughout his career.

I could not prise an estimate out of Dore & Rees, but this is the holy grail of guitars, played by rock heroes and made in Gibson’s golden era between 1958 and 1960.

It is one of the most sought-after guitars in the world, and usually fetches six-figure sums – large six-figure sums.

And, along the way, it inspired Hofner to bring out their own ‘59 special.

1959 Gibson Les Paul sunburst.