1985 Gibson Pre-Historic ‘59 Les Paul Reissue R9 Owned by Jon Levin of Dokken

1985 Gibson Pre-Historic '59 Les Paul Reissue R9 Owned by Jon Levin of Dokken

In 1985 the Gibson musical instrument company made three very special guitars to celebrate the opening of the Guitar Center in Hollywood store on Sunset Blvd in their new location, where it is currently located today. These limited edition guitars were made to approximate the Gibson Les Paul Standards produced from 1958 to 1960. The wood was carefully selected and these were not built on the production line but by individual Gibson’s top luthiers, along the lines of Gibson Custom Shop instruments built today. The guitar that is being offered( serial number # 50303) is one of the 3 instruments from this limited edition run. This was originally sold to guitarist J.J. French, of Twisted Sister during that year. He would later sell it to Jon Levin of Dokken in the late 2000s. The guitar is has had some changes done by Jon-changed tuners and pickups- but all the original parts were kept and are included with this instrument. The guitar has a Bourbon Burst shading to the gorgeous flamed maple top. The instrument has also had a professional refret, helping it play wonderfully up and down the fretboard, with all the notes sounding even and full.

The guitar includes it’s original hardshell Gibson case. Many players and collectors feel that this era of Gibson Les Paul guitars were made with a care and quality much better than the late ‘70s and early ‘80s because of their choice of materials and the general method of construction used during this period of their history.