From the Bernie Marsden Collection, this came to him via his good friend Jim Singleton. Jim had been with Danny Gatton to see Les Paul play and asked the great man to sign his pickguard. Les rummaged in his pocket and produced a nail and proceeded to sign his name. He told Danny and Jim that if they ever saw his name scratched in this manner that it was most certainly his signature. Included with the guitar is a letter written by Jim to Bernie outlining the story of the day. 

This guitar is featured on page 21 of Bernie's hardback book 'Tales of Tone and Volume' a copy of which will be included with this sale.

This is a wonderful guitar, retaining its gorgeous luster all over. There are a few dings, knocks and patches of wear though these aren't expensive.. There is no sign of greening to the finish on the body which can happen in some cases. 

The neck shows some signs of wear as you'd expect on the back. The fretboard and frets are in great shape with plenty of life left in both. Correct tuners are present with no sign of any others being fitted. The silk screening is still strong.

The bridge shows no signs of corrosion and the plastics too are well preserved. The Les Paul signature is verified as being by the man himself, but we’ve already told you that!

The electronics are all correct. All the solder joints are unmolested and the pickups are both strong and very evenly balanced.

The guitar comes with a later Lifton 4 latch case in road worn condition.

Sonically this guitar is a joy. Both pickups are well balanced and deliver those 50s tones with aplomb. There’s plenty of scope here, from Hairy Fuzzy neck tones through smoother combined sounds to the bitting snarl of the bridge pickup. It will make you question why you need any other guitar in your life.

This Goldtop will not disappoint, not that we’ve ever come across one that has. Grab it before it gets way…