1984 Gibson Les Paul Std. “Guitar Trader Bootleg” ’59 Reissue

Okay y’all throw out any reason to believe there were any other 1958-9 Les Paul Reissues that were the most accurate & earliest type…let me introduce this 1984 Gibson Les Paul ’59 Reissue by “The Guitar Trader” known as the “Bootleg” made for their shop in Red Bank New Jersey. There were 4 shops making these special ordered Flame Top “Burst” Reissues: The Guitar Trader from New Jersey, Leo’s Guitar Shop from Oakland, California, Strings & Things Guitars in Memphis, Tennessee & Jimmy Wallace in Dallas, Texas. This is one made by a luthier for The Guitar Trader after their orders for their 1st batch was sold out & Gibson took over making decisions on their own & made it a standard catalog item for any dealer to order. At that time in 1984-5 Gibson gave a “cease and desist” order to Guitar Trader to stop making them. Estimates are that no more than a few dozen were made. The Dark Sunburst finished maple top has 1 of the most realistic tops ever with an unusual combo of deep vertical grain along w/some nice Flames all over. Its cherry stain finished back, sides & neck utilized some choice Mahogany. Its a very early example having a fat 1 piece neck a la ’59 w/a very small accurate inked on serial #’s. Loaded w/a set of Tim Shaw PAF Reissue pickups along w/Pot Codes dating to 1984. It also has single ring Kluson Deluxe tuners, all nickel hardware including its no-wire ABR-1 Tun-a-Matic bridge, Gold speed knobs & correct cream parts. Sporting a very cool serial # 90909, it’s 100% original as these Bootleg’s were made. This was bought new by a very early Guitar Broker friend, Mark Teed, who got it new in 1988 at the Guitar Trader. She’s near mint & comes w/an original Guitar Trader 1st sales brochure where Mark saw it for sale in a nice original Brown Tolex/Pink Lined case. From what I understand, in the early 80’s Guitar Trader in New Jersey and Gibson partnered to start producing the first burst reissues which were in high demand, and selling well. When the Gibson factory stopped doing these, Guitar Trader still had people wanting them so they had a private luthier start building them. They were more true to the originals than the ones Gibson had built, had a long neck tenon and the only give away is the Gibson logo isn’t quite right. I’m told about 12 were made before gibson sent the cease and desist. I’m curious if anyone knows who the builder of the bootlegs was ?   From the internet from Mike Slubowski: Okay, the pot codes triggered my memory – now I know EXACTLY what it is. I refer to it as a “Guitar Trader Special”. It was one of a small run of “bootleg” Les Pauls made in the 1984/85 timeframe by Guitar Trader, Red Bank NJ, after Gibson stopped making their Guitar Trader limited run guitars for Guitar Trader. When Gibson found out that Guitar Trader was making these bootlegs afterward, they gave a “cease and desist” order to Guitar Trader to stop making them. Estimates are that no more than a few dozen were made. The poorly formed Gibson logo, very white binding, long neck tenon, control cavity, and serial number format give it away. I have 9-1017 in my collection from that same small run. Timm Kummer worked at Guitar Trader in the early 80’s and authenticated mine for me. They are well built guitars, even though not a Gibson. Mine even has a no-wire ABR-1. Here is the article in which I cover this guitar along with other pre-reissues: http://www.lespaulforum.com/slubarticle/59reissues/59reissuearticle.html Congratulations on having a very rare piece of Guitar Trader “Gibson” history, albeit not a Gibson! Peace, Mike Slubowski