Fit To 'Burst

Last month, Jamie Dickson got up close with seven original 'Bursts from '58 to '60 in London. Here's what was learned...

- 

It's not often we get to play with one genuine vintage Les Paul Standard built between 1958 and 1960. However, when Guitarist partnered up with Gibson Garage London in October for an evening event celebrating the 'Burst, we were surprised - and even slightly terrified - that, with the help of friendly owners, we were able to assemble not one but seven of the things for the evening event attended by a packed room of guitar lovers.

On hand to show off how these landmark instruments sounded was stellar bluesman Aynsley Lister, who - like the true gent he is - had just come back off an exhausting European tour at two in the morning the night before, but still turned up to thrill the audience with his playing. And, to be fair, the tools he had to use weren't too shabby. Lined up on stage were two '58s; an ex-Mick Taylor '59; the celebrated and stunning beautiful 'Minnesota' '59 'Burst; the equally well-known 'Grainger' - a 1960 'Burst made to '59 spec; and a Bigsby-equipped 1960. Oh, and we also had a '54 Goldtop on hand for good measure and to compare how the Patent Applied For pickups of the 'Bursts sounded versus the soapbar P-90s they replaced. Finally, we had a very special 'guest' guitar to show off, thanks to Bonhams auction house - Gary Moore's celebrated 'Stripe' '59 'Burst.

As Gibson was our host for the evening, we selected a very nice Mesa Fillmore 50 combo to play the 'Bursts through. Powered by a pair of 6L6s, this amp has a nice clear voice with just enough suppleness and juice to bring guitars to life. And, in very general terms, it isn't a million miles from the Marshall Bluesbreaker combo of the 60s in that it isn't a high-gain amp but really sings when you push it a bit, either with the amp's volume control or with just a touch of drive from a dirt pedal, which is how Aynsley chose to use it.