Hal Leonard The Beauty Of The Burst

A must-have for any Gibson Les Paul player, enthusiast, scholar or collector.

It is the first and most notable compilation of 1958-1960 Les Paul (aka Bursts) photos and technical specs, in which not only will you find a lot of eye-candy, but also a lot of useful info on the evolution of 50's Les Pauls, hardware, wood, acoustics, finish and, of course, the PAF's.
It is somewhat a crossover between a holy scripture and a nudie magazine, featuring stars of the time.

Even though some of the content can nowadays be found online, there is a special appeal to browsing the printed version: it still has the power to take you places.
I go through BotB on weekend mornings, sipping coffee, and find myself either overcome by the need to play my Les Paul, or fantasizing about being a luthier, going through wild maple tops, shooting awesome sunburst finishes or, as many might, picturing myself playing a Burst.

So, if you're an ehtusiast, go for it.
PS: Thomann, looking forward to the "Burst Believers" series, by Vic DaPra ;)

"The Beauty of the Burst" is a book about the Vintage Gibson sunburst Les Pauls of the late 50s.
The book contains of detailed pictures of many old Les Pauls. To every guitar there is some short text about the look and the history of this particular guitar.
on the first look, the most guitars look quite similar, but everyone has it's unique details.
In the end of the book there's an part about the parts of a les paul, which explains the woods and the hardware of these guitars.

I can recommend this book to every vintage Les Paul fan, who likes the small and sometimes big differences of the guitars of this era.

My personal favourite is on page 58 ;)

This book is the Bible of Vintage Bursts, the holy grails of guitar, Gibson Les Pauls made in the Year 1958, 1959 and 1960.

That being said, most of us will never get a chance to see, feel and experience one of these fabled guitars personally and up close. Simply because in these three years only a few thousand were made, and they are as rare as highly sought after.

And even if you would be so lucky as to stumble across a burst, and even luckier yet to discover that it is for sale, you'd better be prepared to part ways with at least a 6 figure sum of hard earned money.

Enter: "Beauty of the Burst"
The author took it upon himself to research as much bursts as he could, and presents his findings in painstaking detail, with breathtaking photographs and an amazing array of background information.

In short, in this book each of these grandiose instruments gets the recognition it deserves, and what's more for the rest of us, who will probably never play such an instrument, to enjoy.