The Beauty of the 'Burst: Gibson Sunburst Les Pauls from '58 to '60

This has to be the most detailed reference Book for the 1958/59/60 Gibson Les Paul. Excellent data and great pictures. Very well researched and written! My only complaint is the omission of the Frehley Burst. Please do a revission and update some of the recent found burst Les Pauls.

If you are a guitar lover, especially vintage Les Paul's, get this. Its packed with multiple views and descriptions of each guitar. It's a great addition to the coffee table or studio.

Tells you what you need to know and had great pics

The Les Pauls that Gibson manufactured between 1958 and 1960 are simply the best electric guitars ever made. Like a stradivarius violin these hallowed guitars maintain a mystical build and posses a sonic quality and alluring beauty that has defied attempts to equal it or explain it. Gibson only made about 1700 of these guitars between '58 to '60 and they are the most sought after electrics in all guitardom. This wonderful book by Yasuhiko Iwanade chronicles these magic 3 years with amazing photographs of these fascinating instruments. Like a fine wine these sunburst beauties have aged into perfection over the last 50 years. Most of these guitars were hand sprayed in Cherry sunburst-dyed nitrocellulose lacquer finish but have all aged differently--according to their exposure to the elements and sunlight. This book allows an amazing gander at these beauties, but also contains some nice interviews of 'burst players and excellent articles concerning the design of this anachronistic instrument. To think in the early 60's the Les Paul was considered as "staid and old-fashioned". Ha! What you could fetch for $280 in 1960 will now cost you close to a million to own.I couldn't help but wonder as I leafed through this excellent book...Who were the bigger fools?...the one's who wouldn't dish out $280.00 for a Standard back in the day...or the ones who will dish out $500,000.00 + for them now? I think both. It's a sad fact that many of these amazing instruments are not able to cry and sing as they were intended, but are now locked into vaults as part of an investment portfolio.Ted McCarty, The chief designer of this guitar (as well as the tune-o'-matic bridge later on) gives a nice foreword. This is a book that I can't just glance at. I'm compelled to pick it up and read it whenever it catches my eye.

The photographs and bullet point details on the ‘58-‘59 bursts are great, but I’ve found the writing at the back most interesting and super informative about how these guitars came to be.I was expecting a lower production quality and was very satisfied with the quality of the paper, design and printing as well. Sometimes with poor design and printing, and even which guitars are reproduced, I find this category of books can get hoaky but that isn’t the case here. What a great book on the subject. Probably would make a cool gift for bookish guitarists interested in Les Pauls.

If you're a guitar collector or just really interested in the original run of Gibson Les Paul signature guitars (aka "bursts"), this is the best resource. The book is so famous, some people simply refer to it online as "BOTB". It wonderfully documents Les Pauls of historical significance as well as some exquisite examples. I found the classification guides at the end very informative, particularly the types of maple cap flame and the various shades of cherry burst.The thing I found most intriguing was that many of the bursts don't have what we would now call AA+ flamed maple tops. It gave me a better perspective on what an original Les Paul looked like and was surprisingly more informative than all the Youtube videos I've watched on the subject. Highly recommend!

Beautiful photography documenting dozens of late 50s and 1960 Les Paul guitars.Mostly photographs, some descriptive text. Good "coffee table" book

I got this book basically because I love Micheal Bloomfield and his 59 Les Paul. I wanted to know more about the amazing tone he had. I really had no idea that the 59 Bursts were so diverse. Not like these days where you can see a rack of ten matching guitars at the store. Each one of these has its own distinct personality, its own face and no doubt, its own voice. This book captures the uniqueness that is the 59 Burst, explains them in great, but not overwhelming detail. Excellent detail and explaination of the construction process. The photography is amazing. I meant to buy this in hard cover, and after seeing the photos, I will. I know that my friends (who aren't into music and guitars like I am) will pick up this book and look through it just as they would any art book on my coffee table. Well worth the money.One problem - It makes me want a 59 so much more now!