❌SOLD❌ Gibson Les Paul TV Special, 1958

The Gibson  Les Paul TV Special was introduced in 1955 as a midway point between the also newly introduced Les Paul Junior and the Les Paul itself. Like the Junior, the Special used Honduran Mahogany for the body – no carved Maple cap like the Les Paul – and the neck, and Rosewood for the fingerboard. The Special, however, had two P-90 pickups and a bound fingerboard; at the time, ‘Rosewood’ meant Brazilian Rosewood. The TV finish was specific to this model and was created to allow the guitar to be better seen on black & white televisions. That finish wasn’t necessary for the Les Paul, which until 1958 was available only with a Gold Top or Black for the Les Paul Custom.

This Gibson Les Paul TV Special is in original condition except for the strings. It was built during 1958 at Gibson’s historic Parsons Street plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It has definitely been used as intended, given the fret wear which ranges from significant in for the first fret under the B string to light and moderate for other areas. The fingerboard shows similar wear patterns. The finish, however, shows that the owners tried to take good care of it. There is light buckle rash to the back, and a few small dents and chips around the edge – perfectly normal for an instrument this age. There is a small chip in the back of the headstock, at the upper bass side corner, visible in the rear photo. The Kluson Deluxe strip tuners are original, and the G tuner has a bent shaft, also not uncommon. If this guitar were to be used professionally, drop-in exact replacement tuners are available and would resolve any issues with the tuners.

The electronics are original to this Gibson Les Paul TV Special, including the rubber switch washer also used on some of Gibson’s higher end archtops. This washer helps prevent the pickups from detecting the sound of the switch being operated – though that is more of an issue on a hollow guitar.

This wonderful guitar is sold with a non-original, newer Gibson hard shell case. The original case may well have been a standard fibre (cardboard) faux-gator model, and those did not wear well over the decades.