Custom Master Build By Mr. Ichiroh Shimano Japan MIJ Gpoint Les Paul Flamed Chery Sunburst guitar, Burst 59 replica, #197 out of 350

Up for sale is a very special guitar - Gpoints Love Beam Les Paul 59 Copy. Here's the information about it, that was kindly provided by another owner of Gpoint #172 guitar, who contacted me on FB:

"No they are almost impossible to research. I have been on contact with the builder directly and can confirm all my info is correct....they are really quite special.

They were were made by Mr iciroh Shimano who is the pioneer of Mapex drums. He has been in semi retirement for quite some time due to age and has a small domestic very high end custom snare drum company called "beyond Shimano" he collaborates with Mapex regularly also. Beyond Shimano was asked to provide 350 units of a 59 les Paul replica for a small music shop that was set up from an ex director of shimamura music who ichiroh Shimano knows personally. They were meant to be standard range but unique replicas with a street price of around 50000 yen. Mr Shimano had the bodies and necks made by kawai and he did the final conpleteion. They are all hand painted with Nitro (the ones he uses for his drums). He used Wilkinson/Taiwanese hardware and electronics to keep the price down. Each guitar was supplied with era correct Gibson style hardcase and warranty card. Ichiroh Shimano has himself the number one prototype in his collection."

The guitar looks and feels like a very high quality instrument: 2 pieces thick solid maple top with gorgeous 3D looking flame, 3 pieces mahogany back, mahogany neck with a long tenon, rosewood fretboard, full sized tone and volume pots. The guitar also have a true thick 50s neck, which is not easy to find, especially in this price range.

As for the condition, the guitar has very light wear and tear, but nothing terrible - overall looks not far away from mint. The guitar has a drop of finish residue on the back, which explains the hand painter nitro finish. The guitar was fully cleaned and set up with Rotosound 9-46 strings + the fretboards was treated with lemon oil, so it is fully ready to be loved and played. The string actions are about 2mm on low E and about 1.6mm on high E. It plays and sounds absolutely beautifully!