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Untouched since 1964 les paul 1959 burst find. in near mint conditioin.

cr75

New member
Joined
May 27, 2021
Messages
3
My father sometimes spoke of a les paul he recieved for his 18th birthday, and as a high school graduation present. He wanted to learn to pIay the guitar but gave on it without much effort. So he said. 1965 he joined the army, and always said he loaned the guitar to a friend and lost touch, He was never concerned about it. Such is life was his attitude. My grandparents passed away in the 80's when I was young. My father passed away almost 6 years now. His younger sister lived in my grandmothers house, and she passed away last month. So this week the removal of things left behind has begun. While removing things from the shelves in the attic I saw a large object wrapped in thick black trash bags. As soon as I picked it up I knew it was a guitar case. I almost had a heart attack when I opened it up. As soon as I saw the brown 50's Gibson era case I knew what it was. Judging from the amount of dust it has been sitting there untouched for almost 55 years. The case shows a little wear. Mostly from being in an un climate controlled attic. When I opened the case I was shocked. The guitar is in near perfect condition. The nickel plated hardware has tarnished a bit. Seems mostly from case wear. There is a good bit of case candy, truss rod tool, and unopened pack of gibson strings, the hang price tag, and a receipt for $385 from what looks like Yeagers Music store in baltimore from october 1964. I called gibson and from the serial number it was produced from 1959-1960. The store is long gone so I don't know if it was new old stock, or used. It has a beautiful curly maple finish. Lemon drop from what I can tell. All this aside, I don't really know what to do with it. I play, and I love les pauls, but I don't need such a possibly valuable instrument. I could sell it and get custom shop true historic in the same finish. I don't really know where to take it or who to trust. It could be worth 100,000 or possibly much more. I have a few guitar centers in my area, but I really don't trust their opinion.
I'm in maryland. Does anyone have any advice where I'd get a fair deal. I'm willing to travel. I can post some pictures tomorrow. I don't know if I should reveal the serial number just yet though. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 

cr75

New member
Joined
May 27, 2021
Messages
3
This is not the actual guitar, but it very closely looks like this. It has a grain pattern that i've never really seen on a modern les paul with the typical tiger stripes. The rosewood fretboard also looks like nothing I've seen on the wall at guitar center. It's very dark and rich looking even after sitting for so many years. I can only imagine how it will look when the fret board is oiled. I don't want to disturb anything until i have it looked at by an expert. I'm even a bit worried the effect that being in a stable climate now will have on it, if anything. Thats why i want to get it looked at as soon as possible.
 

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MikeSlub

Administrator
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
15,166
Show us some photos of the actual guitar please. As you can imagine, we get stories like this often, and some are legitimate and some aren't. And okay at this stage if you don't want to disclose serial number. We can direct you to people who can appraise the instrument and won't try to rip you off.
 
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corpse

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
4,876
Good for you. That is a dream. Keep it for a while, Be really carful- always put it in the case- Always- never set it on a couch or lean it against anything. Very few people get to have one of these- I did from a generous friend for six months and I absolutely treasure that time.
When you are ready Joe Bonamassa will buy it.
Like Mike said- please post pictures.
 

Dr. Green

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2018
Messages
683
I am betting its legit

here is what that music store looked like at the time the guitar would have been sold

if so he has a small fortune on his hands and should sell it immedialty for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

put it back in the case - dont play it and chance messing it up .... and sell it to Joe Bonamassa

then with a tiny portion of the money buy a Murphy lab les paul historic

and keep every single paper - dont get rid of anything

Yeagers300dpi.jpg
 
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Aloha_Ark

Active member
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
154
To the current owner: hold on to the guitar until you consult with a tax attorney. Best possible outcome is for the guitar to be left in a will to your father's heirs. You get a step-up in basis, which can be an enormous tax saver. The less you post here about how you actually came to be in possession of the guitar, the less likely you will be flagged for an audit. I realize the IRS is backlogged with tax returns over a year old, but don't raise their curiosity unnecessarily.
I see the music store is located in the state of Maryland. Yuck. That state taxes everything. Get your guitar appraised by Gilvis. He should be near enough that he can visit you, or vice versa.
 
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Triplet

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
1,675
Why post a photo of a guitar that looks like the guitar and not a photo of the actual guitar itself. I'm suspicious.
You go through all the trouble to register here but not be able to post a pic? Did they have "thick black trash bags" in the 60's? He recognized the the case type but had to call in the serial number?
 

EpiLP1985

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Messages
113
You guys are brutal.

Keep in mind that OP might not be prepared or aware of the immediate response this would illicit.

Everyone breathe.
 

EpiLP1985

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2017
Messages
113
On the contrary.

The OP doesn't give me that impression at all. His narrative and it's placement here demonstrates very keen awareness.

All I'm saying is that not everyone is tuned into "forum time". Someone can be keenly aware of a topic and still not understand the immediate online forum response it would generate, i.e. they may not have even looked for responses here yet.

Keep in mind they are cleaning out a house as well.
 
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