Everyone wants a Les Paul Junior, but right here is the slightly left of field choice…
Introduced in 1959 as an entry level guitar with a price tag of $120, the world finally seems to be waking up to how great these guitars are. Even Gibson are relaunching USA made Epiphone Coronets!
This particular example has the ubiquitous cherry finish, albeit pretty well faded, and is loaded with its original and extremely sweet sounding P90 pickup and is a straight pipe tailpiece model and does not have that useless early Maestro trem they used for a very short period.
The neck is slim although not to the extent of some early 60s Gibson necks, and is extremely comfortable in the hand. All of us who have played this at the shop have felt instantly at home on this guitar.
The hardware and electrics are all correct with the exception of the tailpiece which is from a couple of years later, the tuners are a little stiff but still work well. There are a couple of extra screw holes in the pickguard and body (now filled) that was used to keep the plastic from warping too much.
Its fair to say this guitar has been used! Plenty of wear abounds, the most extreme bit being where the finish has been completely chipped on the underside of the lower cutaway. None of this detracts from how great this guitar is to play and how good it sounds.
Sadly we can’t keep them all… But you can, and you should before someone else gets there first…