Author(s): Tony Bacon

Miscellaneous

Exactly how did a batch of about 1,500 guitars produced at the end of the 1950s become for many players and collectors the most desirable electric guitars ever made? Through a series of interviews with players, collectors, guitar-makers, dealers, and others, "Million Dollar Les Paul" attempts to answer this crucial question. The Gibson Les Paul Standard, a solidbody electric guitar with mahogany body, two pickups, and a three-colour sunburst maple top, was made from 1958 to 1960. When players such as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page began to play examples in the 1960s and 1970s, the legend of the 'burst' began. Who are the other musicians who play these hallowed instruments and who are the collectors who seek them?It seems only a matter of time before a 'burst' sells for $1 million. At present, the record hovers around half that, but as one prominent dealer admits: "We no longer say, 'I don't see how prices can go any higher.' When it comes to sunburst Les Pauls, they always do." Leading guitar historian Tony Bacon has written this non-technical new book in which he goes in search of individual examples of a guitar that originally sold for $280 and have now become worth a fortune.