SOLD!! Gibson Collector’s Choice #5 ‘Donna’ 59 Les Paul Standard Burst, 2015

The Gibson Collector’s Choice #5 ‘Donna’ is a meticulous replica of the 1959 Les Paul Standard bearing the serial number 9-1923 and owned by Tom Wittrock, noted collector and owner of The Third Eye guitar shop in Springfield, Missouri. This pristine example is number 138 of 300 built during 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Construction of the Gibson Collector’s Choice #5 ‘Donna’ is based on the classic 1959 Les Paul standard models. The body is a single slab of Honduran Mahogany, capped with carefully selected flamed Maple. The specific Maple for the #5 ‘Donna’ model took some years to locate, with multiple evaluations by Tom Wittrock. The neck is again mostly a single piece of Mahogany (the headstock is built out with smaller pieces for shape), with a Maple spline filling the truss rod slot. The fingerboard material does vary from the originals – it is Indian Rosewood, not Brazilian. Hardware starts with reproduction keystone-button Kluson tuners, a lightweight stop tailpiece and an ABR bridge with thumbwheels. The electronics are Custom Buckers based on an analysis of the pickups in the original guitar. All the hardware, and the nitrocellulose lacquer ‘Donna Burst’ finish is aged to match.

This model has an aged finish and hardware treatment, but is in pristine condition with no fret wear and no non-factory finish wear.

Launched in 2010 and discontinued by the end of the decade, the Collector’s Choice series aimed to reproduce some of the best known of the Burst models from 1958 to 1960. These were intended as a level above the ‘Historic’ models, with painstakingly collected and selected woods – especially the figured Maple for the tops – and aged to match the condition of the original. The hardware is chosen and aged with the same adherence to the originals.

This Gibson Collector’s Choice #5 ‘Donna’ is sold with its original brown Lifton style hard shell arched top case, containing the trifold Certificate of Authenticity, hang tags and warranty card with pre-pack checklist dated to 10/1/15, October 1st 2015.