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1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior

Introduced in 1954, the Les Paul Jr. was a stripped-down version of Gibson's Les Paul model. Featuring a single "dog ear" P-90 pickup, unbound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, slab mahogany body and a wrap-around tailpiece, what was originally intended as a budget-level instrument has become one of the most sought-after solidbody guitars from Gibson’s golden electric era.

This example, built in 1956, is in excellent condition and is all original but for replacement tuner buttons and reproduction strap buttons. The wide-edged sunburst finish typical of the era presents beautifully and shows very little playwear. The original frets have lots of life left, showing only light wear the first three frets. The wiring harness is untouched and is built around an incredible-sounding P-90 pickup that measures 7.75K. Incredible neck carve with a deep and round C that has a depth of .916" at the 1st fret and .976" at the 12th. Weighing in at a feathery 6.75 lbs, this is one of the lightest and most acoustically-alive Juniors that we have encountered.

The only flaw to note on this guitar is a small crack between the pickup cavity and treble bridge post, which is very common on Les Paul Juniors built between 1954 and late 1956. The Juniors in this era were drilled with a 1" deep stud-mount hole but fitted with 1/2" bushings, which allowed the bridge post to lean forward under string tension, and push into the pickup cavity on the treble side. This area has been glued, the post lean has been corrected, and the tailpiece posts have been replaced with period-correct nickel plated 1" studs.

A near-perfect example of this model, with original chipboard case
1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior

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Folkway Music in Guelph, Ontario Canada

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