Gibson Les Paul Custom 1961

I bought this 1961 Les Paul Custom from J. Geils in the early '60's. He had just bought a new Les Paul and wanted to recoup some cash. I was not a big fan of the Bigsby side bar vibrato and removed it. I don't regret it. If you're a purist and you need a stock original, this baby isn't for you. In those days if we felt a guitar could be improved, we did it. This model was called the 'Fretless Wonder'. The next thing we did was have Eddy Murray at E.U. Wurlitzer replace those with jumbo frets, a great improvement for string bending. Another customization was the done by the brilliant, Jeff Baxter. He rewired the original wiring schematic and added a mini toggle for phasing, splitting and customization of the 3 (original) pickups. Jeff, favorite rocker of the secret service, is still alive and available for consultation should you not be blown away by this unique and versatile addition. Michael Bloomfield loved this guitar. He tried to buy it from me several times. He was so animated when he played it it still makes me smile just to think about it. I remember a jam session in a rehearsal room when both he and Eric borrowed it from me and watching the two of them play together was, needless to say, amazing. Jimi also jammed on it. He was the one responsible for the little cigarette burn in the celluloid binding on the headstock which you can see in picture #3. If you don't believe me, ask Kim King (Lothar and the Hand People.) He was there. He had called me to go over to the Night Owl in the Village one afternoon because Jimi was going to be there and wanted to jam a bit. (Kim... I hope you're still alive and healthy.)(Man... Jimi was an incredibly gracious guy to jam with. Learned a lot from him.) What else? Eddy Murray also did the cream lacquer paint job. (RIP, Eddy... Jeff Beck's favorite guitar tech back in the day... probably because Eddy was also a builder of hot rods.) It's real lacquer and has a bit of checking to prove it. You can see in picture #5 where the assistant guitar tech at Truetone in Santa Monica got a little glue on the lacquer when reglueing a piece of binding, (hey... after 30 years, what do you want?) He apologized profusely but I wouldn't let them attempt any repainting because I lacquer had already been outlawed by then and they would have been using a finish of a different chemical composition. The instrument's 5 digit serial number is how I know it's a '61. I'm reserving that photo for the right buyer. I should also mention that 3 of the 6 bridge saddles needed to be replaced with OEM Gibson saddles. No loss of tone. You'll notice if you look closely in the 1st photo. The case is original. The leather strap was made by Walter Dyer in Cambridge Mass. He used to make moccasins for people. The leather is very comfy and just right for that instrument so it's staying with it. If you think the axe is expensive, one like it sold on eBay for $57k. Mary Ford's was up for sale for $100k but I think the price was dropped to $75k. I've seen others from time to time for as little as $25k but I have no way of attesting to their authenticity. In any case, I need money. I'm an old guy now. My price is based on my belief that this is an exceptional instrument with a colorful history. It's toured Europe, much of the U.S. and been up and down the eastern seabord in its hey day. That and the fact that I really don't want to sell it. If you're a collector and plan to park it on a shelf, I don't want to sell it to you. If you're going to play it, okay. And, if you pay me my asking price, or close to it, and I'll take care of the shipping or bring it to you myself.