1956 Gibson Les Paul Special TV Yellow

Offered for sale:

Vintage 1956 Gibson Les Paul Special TV Yellow serial number 64911.

This guitar is in very good condition, neck and frets are fine. Featuring its original TV Yellow nitro lacquer Limed Mahogany finish with a quintessential mid '50s neck profile carve. Cosmetically this Holy Grail of Specials is showing commensurate playing wear for an instrument of this pedigree. There are marks, nicks and chips about the body, finish checking and fading, playing wear on the back of the neck, a true visual relic of rock.

Both original P-90 pickups are present with original winds, and original covers. However, this guitar was born with the neck pickup out of phase with the bridge. I’ve never heard of that with P-90s so I’m assuming it was an anomaly at the factory.

Many humbuckers were wired out of phase, usually intentionally; my ‘59 ES-345 as well as the early Hamers to name a few. That would give an additional useful tone and just backing off the volume on either pickup would fatten things up like in-phase humbuckers.

Not these P-90s. Out of phase on this guitar, in my opinion, was useless. I couldn’t get it to sound musical no matter what I did. So, I did the unthinkable. I carefully put the neck pickup in-phase with the bridge. It is a very simple procedure. You can see a dab of non-virgin solder on the ground braid and a new piece of masking tape. I left the original tape in the pickup cavity. (See photo) Now it sounds like the legend it is.

It appears that the plastic tuner buttons have been replaced. The hardware includes the original lightweight aluminum wraparound bridge and stoptail posts, and all of the original plastic parts are intact, including the dished top black bonnet knobs, pickguard, jack plate, back plates, amber switch tip, and switch surround.

Between both tailpiece anchors and the bridge there are 2 irregular lines in the finish (see photo). I have seen, particularly on Floyd Rose bridges, the wood in this area being compromised and the anchors no longer are secure. This is not the case here.

After very close inspection of the pickup cavity and both anchor holes there is no sign of the body being compromised, fatigued or repaired and the anchors are as snug as new. Those lines are on the surface.

Notice the lacquer wear on the back of the neck showing a bit of the “whiteness” of the Limed Mahogany from when the guitar was new.

Beauty in originality.

Non-original Gibson hard-shell case included.

We carefully inspect every instrument when we buy it and bring it up to our standards before we offer it for sale.
We also do a full set up before we ship.

If you decide to purchase this guitar, please let us know what gauge strings you prefer.

GUITAR SPECS:

Year: 1956

Serial number: 64911

Finish: TV Yellow nitrocellulose lacquer

Body: Honduran Mahogany

Neck: Honduran Mahogany

Fingerboard: Brazilian rosewood, dot inlay

Scale Length: 24.75”

Number of Frets: 22

Pickguard: Four-ply B/W

Bridge: Wraparound tailpiece

Nut: Nylon

Tuners: Kluson Deluxe single line strip

Pickups: Gibson P-90 x 2

Controls: Volume x 2, Tone x 2, Three-way pickup selector

Width at Nut: 1 11/16”

Radius: 12”

Neck profile @ 1st fret: .890”

Neck profile @ 12tht fret: 1.010”

Weight: 8.0 lbs.

*Please note: we do our best giving descriptions of used pieces. We have found it impossible to describe every mark on an instrument or amp that is not in the "mint" category. Also, what's important to you may not be important to someone else. For example, you may say, "I don't care what it looks like as long as it plays or sounds well." Another person may say, "Body cosmetics are very important to me so tell me about every scratch, nick and blemish." So, please ask the questions that are most important to you. If you ask they will be answered. They are free and there's no limit. Additional photos can also be made available.

This is a specific item that is also being offered for sale in our brick & mortar location. It is possible that it has just been sold. Please ask if it is still available before purchasing.

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