£20k to splurge, what’s the closest I can get to a ‘59 Burst

rze99

 EET designerseye88 said:

Conversions are a pretty good option. Here's my 52/57 

lovely. 

designerseye88

rze99 said:

 EET designerseye88 said:

Conversions are a pretty good option. Here's my 52/57 

lovely. 

Thanks @rze99 ;

Evo

Don't buy a 335.

They're great guitars, and certainly have more room to appreciate in value than a lot of Les Pauls...but they're not a Les Paul. 

Some folks may think they're better than Les Pauls and that may be true for some aspects, but they're definitely not close to a '59 burst. 

My advice, if you want a Les Paul and you've got a budget of 20k then you need to designate a few hundred of that 20k as travel money and start driving around the country playing some very nice and very expensive instruments. Anything you like the look of from reissues up to conversions and higher. I guarantee you that you'll start ruling out years, models, and variations a lot quicker than online. 

mark123

Evo said:

Don't buy a 335.

They're great guitars, and certainly have more room to appreciate in value than a lot of Les Pauls...but they're not a Les Paul. 

Some folks may think they're better than Les Pauls and that may be true for some aspects, but they're definitely not close to a '59 burst. 

My advice, if you want a Les Paul and you've got a budget of 20k then you need to designate a few hundred of that 20k as travel money and start driving around the country playing some very nice and very expensive instruments. Anything you like the look of from reissues up to conversions and higher. I guarantee you that you'll start ruling out years, models, and variations a lot quicker than online. 

This ^^^^ 1000%

TDubs

As other say, go and try some stuff out. No point blowing £20k on something that matches the title of what you want but plays like it dog or you don’t bond with it. You won’t to enjoy the investment.

A visit to ATB, Phil’s Vintage, No.Tom, David Pym would give you a chance to try loads of stuff out and see what you want. When you decide exactly what you want, it would also be worth letting the above know, as well as guys like CCGX, Richard Henry and the general TFB community, as they may well know of someone who has one that isn’t on the market yet!

Enjoy the hunt. It can be a bit of a slog with the vintage stuff as it can be few and far between but it’s the part I really enjoy!

CloudNine

Depends how much you are set on an LP. 

I would personally be calling @jumping@shadows  to find out more about his:  ‘ early ‘65, wide neck/nickel part Cherry ES335 with Bigsby’

He is incredibly knowledgeable and truly a top man to deal with.

prlgmnr

CloudNine said:

Depends how much you are set on an LP. 

I would personally be calling @jumping@shadows  to find out more about his:  ‘ early ‘65, wide neck/nickel part Cherry ES335 with Bigsby’

He is incredibly knowledgeable and truly a top man to deal with.

twenty thousand pounds to spend and ending up with a Bigsby, can you imagine

TDubs

CloudNine said:

Depends how much you are set on an LP. 

I would personally be calling @jumping@shadows  to find out more about his:  ‘ early ‘65, wide neck/nickel part Cherry ES335 with Bigsby’

He is incredibly knowledgeable and truly a top man to deal with.

I want to see pictures of it on this thread regardless!

CloudNine

prlgmnr said:

CloudNine said:

Depends how much you are set on an LP. 

I would personally be calling @jumping@shadows  to find out more about his:  ‘ early ‘65, wide neck/nickel part Cherry ES335 with Bigsby’

He is incredibly knowledgeable and truly a top man to deal with.

twenty thousand pounds to spend and ending up with a Bigsby, can you imagine

If the vintage guitar market takes a massive downturn in the future, at least you will have scrap value.

Allo

The 68 goldtop on reverb that bgmartinsbridge linked .
The fellow says its UNCIRCULATED...........I  can't fit enough lols in this space.



.

Allo

17 k 
Lololololololollolol
Wouldn't pay 5

roberty

prlgmnr said:

CloudNine said:

Depends how much you are set on an LP. 

I would personally be calling @jumping@shadows  to find out more about his:  ‘ early ‘65, wide neck/nickel part Cherry ES335 with Bigsby’

He is incredibly knowledgeable and truly a top man to deal with.

twenty thousand pounds to spend and ending up with a Bigsby, can you imagine

Saves you destroying its value by adding your own

Petepassion

Regarding the Bigsby, I didn’t want one when I was looking for a 335, but ended up with one(impatient sod).
   But since having one for the first time, I’m so glad I bought it. Totally awesome, even JD Simo put his back on.
   I’d even consider a guitar with a professionally repaired neck break. You will get a lot more guitar for your money and if you should ever break the neck in the future it will not devalue 50%

mark123

no affiliation but for sale in the classifieds

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/239504/fs-2013-gibson-custom-les-paul-duane-allman-2021-collings-i35lc-vintage

Evo

Now THAT is close to a ‘59 burst. 

7k gives you a ridiculous amount of change and I can see the values only going up on those named reissues. Particularly Allman, who likes Les Pauls but doesn’t like Duane Allman’s tone??

Barnezy

Just a thought, but isn’t it the case that during a recession a lot of these collectibles lose lots of value? I appreciate they pick up again when money starts to flow more freely and typically out stripe their previous values. 

Is it not a good time to wait a bit? Feels more like the boat is coming in at the moment, than leaving the dock. 

jumping@shadows

As someone who’s been housing, clothing and feeding himself, then a family of 4 for about 25 years solely on the ‘illiquid Ponzi scheme’ of vintage guitars, and has a shortlist of people chasing every guitar I can lay my hands on (now including several TFB members on the ones I’ve mentioned above..), I cannot think of a more vibrant and stable market to invest in, let alone as fun! 

I stay firmly in my lane however- ‘50s Les Paul’s, early ‘60s SG’s, ‘50s/‘60s ES 335/345/330/225 etc, the odd Tele and Strat and cool vintage amps. 

As ever, for those who don’t ‘get’ vintage, and think it’s some kind of scam, they should revel in the limitless choice of modern guitars and run carefree, unfettered and free from the weight us vintage bods must be writhing under, but for me they’re just some of the coolest guitars in existence, played by the shining icons of rock and pop history, on the most culturally significant, era defining music, and I still get butterflies when I open an old Lifton case ;-)

TDubs

jumping@shadows said:

As someone who’s been housing, clothing and feeding himself, then a family of 4 for about 25 years solely on the ‘illiquid Ponzi scheme’ of vintage guitars, and has a shortlist of people chasing every guitar I can lay my hands on (now including several TFB members on the ones I’ve mentioned above..), I cannot think of a more vibrant and stable market to invest in, let alone as fun! 

I stay firmly in my lane however- ‘50s Les Paul’s, early ‘60s SG’s, ‘50s/‘60s ES 335/345/330/225 etc, the odd Tele and Strat and cool vintage amps. 

As ever, for those who don’t ‘get’ vintage, and think it’s some kind of scam, they should revel in the limitless choice of modern guitars and run carefree, unfettered and free from the weight us vintage bods must be writhing under, but for me they’re just some of the coolest guitars in existence, played by the shining icons of rock and pop history, on the most culturally significant, era defining music, and I still get butterflies when I open an old Lifton case ;-)

Amen!

TDubs

This looks exceptionally clean. Slightly over your budget but you never know what wiggle room there is

https://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/collections/electric-guitars/products/1968-gibson-les-paul-goldtop

richie

Yeah has to be the goldtop surely