Gibson Les Paul Standard Burst 1960
"La Parisienne"

1960, Somewhere in Paris...

In his small tayloring workshop, Monsieur Victor has a client who wants a suit but can't afford it. He offers to trade the suit with a gorgeous guitar that he has recently bought.
Monsieur Victor, who had never played the guitar before, gets into it, strums in his family's parisian living room and plugs the instrument in their record player. In 1968, the family decides to leave Paris and move to the suburbs. The taylor now has a workshop in the basement of their house. He is struggling to find the time to play so the guitar remains in its case tucked away in a closet.

Domont, 2022...

Monsieur Victor has sadly passed on, and his 65-year old son is cleaning his dad's house. He finds the guitar, and a few childhood memories come back to mind. He doesn't know much about guitars but the Gibson name rings a bell. He decides to speak to a guitarist friend who recommends our store Guitare Village, and mentions the expertise of store owner Laurent Murelli. The two friends enjoy a nice afternoon together and pay us a visit.

At first glance, Laurent recognizes the old Lifton case (the reissues are not completely identical). With his heart pouding in his chest and a tremblind hand he opens the case and voilà... The Holy Grail ! Laurent is in shock. In front of him is a Gibson Les Paul Standard, a Burst. And not just any Burst : 100% original, with the red hue fully intact, an absolute rarity even for Laurent who has been selling guitars for 40 years.
Still weary that this might not be what it seems to be, the serial number comes to the rescue : 02185, early 1960. Everything is what it should be : Bell Knobs and not Reflector knobs, slim taper neck, and that red color... The frets show some oxydation, the tuners are crumbling, which are signs of age that can't be faked. It only had three strings left : that guitar had not been played or even seen the light of day since 1968, which is lucky for us since avoiding sunlight has allowed it to keep all the beauty of its original color.
Starting in 1958, the Cherry Sunburst finish was made with a red aniline dye that would quickly disapear when exposed to sunlight, which created the Ice Tea or Lemon Burst shades on most vintage Les Pauls. Mid-1960, the formula for the red color has been changed, so the last Bursts have usually kept their original color but the red is not exactly the same as our Parisienne. The warm glow of the original red aniline dye has been fully preserved on 02185, which makes it an absolute unicorn. Laurent then gathers a team of vintage guitar experts, luthier and known expert Jonathan Berg and Julien Landat, who builds the Hepcat pickups.
Then comes the verdict : it is indeed a 100% original 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard Burst. No mods, no excuses.

No Grover tuners, no repaired neck, no finish touch-ups (they would have appeared with the UV light), even the pickup covers have never been taken off ! Laurent tells Monsieur Victor's son what those instruments usually go for. The son is baffled, and he has to talk to his siblings to make a decision.
54 years after being tucked in a closet, that beautiful Burst is finally for sale.

La Parisienne goes to California!

And not just to anyone! ! You have probably followed the incredible adventure of the Parisienne, this superb Les Paul Standard from the early 1960s, one of the very few Bursts to have resurfaced in France, which arrived at Guitare Village in May 2022. This Burst was all the more rare and precious as it had been sitting in a tailor's wardrobe since 1968, retaining all the red colour of its sunburst.

We had several customers interested in acquiring this impressive collector's item, and among them was a guitarist living in California, Saul Hudson. You may know him as Slash, the legendary guitarist of Guns n' Roses and a big fan of Burst. In fact, it was largely thanks to him that the model came back into fashion at the end of the 80s, and he acquired some very nice pieces over the course of his career, including the first Les Paul Sunburst from 1958.

It was therefore quite logical that he should be interested in an exceptional guitar like the Parisienne. Laurent, Enzo and two of Slash's friends went to Munich with the Burst in the trunk to try it out on the guitar hero, who didn't resist its charms for long.

So Guitare Village sold Slash a Burst! Of course we also sell more affordable guitars for the everyday guitar hero, so see you soon :)