Customer Reviews

The Beauty of the 'Burst

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is hands down the best book on 58'-60' 'Bursts there is. Tons of info, gobs of gorgeous photos...you name it...its' all here and then some. Price is also fair, for what you get...quite alot. This book completly documents 50 or so sunbursts with a front shot, back, close-up front and back head stock shot, and an angled shot of the top that best highlights the flame. All specs are recorded on each example (nut width, weight,etc,) If you have any other Burst books (Vic Dapras'and a couple other come to mind)you must get this one. Its' as good as it gets(so far)

This book is a one trick pony, but it nails its subject matter cold. If you know anything about the vintage guitar market you already know that the Gibson Les Pauls made between 1958 and 1960 are some of the most valuable and highly sought after instruments ever made. The people that collect them are absolute freaks when it comes to amassing encyclopedic knowledge of every minute detail that relates in any way to the construction and performance of these guitars. This book is tailor made for those 'Burst-a-holics.

The book is also a terrific coffee table book for any guitar collector, or enthusiast who shares the love and interest of high end collectors for this celebrated model but doesn't have a few million dollars in spare cash kicking around the house to build a collection of 'bursts. The photographs are magnificent and the book on the whole does a marvelous job of entertaining and informing. It's like buying a multi-million dollar guitar collection for the price of the book. You don't get to play them and hold them, but you sure can look at them and learn all there is to know about why they play and sound the way they do.

Functional sculpture . . . that's what a vintage Les Paul really is and this book does both the art and the craft of the historic '58-'60 Les Pauls justice.

What I admire most about this outstanding book is that the author takes a back seat to the guitars themselves; and lets face it, long after we're gone these fantastic instruments will be valued and treasured. This book could only have been created by someone who really loves the old Les Paul, and turning the pages makes me love them too. I only wish the page size was maybe 4 or 5 times as big! This is a very special book, and I appreciate the intelligence of the author in presenting these guitars in the way that he has.

'Beauty of the Burst' is hardly a deserving title. Given the reputation in collector/enthusiast circles this book has, it should be re-titled 'Bible of the Burst'.

A picture tells a thousand words. Importantly, whilst there is significant text examining the technical aspects of the 'Bursts, the real emphasis in BOTB is upon glorious photographs of these mythical guitars. This is an honest representation of these much-debated guitars, as beauty is surely in the eye of the beholder (and the buyer), and BOTB, whilst classifying figure differences, etc. by no means attempts to define 'THE' 'Burst above all others. Indeed, these photgraphs indicate just how varied the guitars from '58-'60 were...

Simply put, the Old Testament and the New Testament of 'Burst documentation rolled into one.

If you have ever stopped dead in your tracks at the sight of a flame top Les Paul, unable to move until you had taken in its breathtaking beauty, prepare to kiss two full days goodbye. Iwanade has succeeded in presenting more mouthwatering photos of these treasures of the fifties than a Les Paul nut can handle. After the first fifty pages you are on Sunburst overload. Your senses are so befuddled that you feel $30,000 isn't that much money, after all.

These guitars vary in condition from scum city (just about all of the guitars from Slash's collection) to so mint that you become convinced that someone has secretly invented the time machine. Another variable is the tops. Iwanade presents Pauls ranging from almost plain to neurotically curled.

To those blind to the overt power and sexuality of a vintage Les Paul, I would suggest a book documenting the development of the Fender Jaguar. But for those who would sell an internal organ for a piece of vintage history like this, there isn't a better book on the market.

If you have a passion for Gibson Les Paul Sunburst's made between 1958-60 then this book is an absolutely essential "must have". It is the definitive book on this rare, much loved and highly sought guitar.
Since owning this book, I've read it over and over with enthusiasm and passion. Hardly a day goes past without picking it up for a quick read and gazing over the fabulous pictures of these exquisite guitars. The photogaphy is superb, capturing many fine features and close-up's. Mr Iwanade has researched every facet from original materials used, design, suppliers and importantly production methods and not forgetting feedback from collectors who cherish their bursts.
Having a vivid passion for these guitars for more than 35 years and read just about every article writen about 58-60burst's, I truely believed that I was highly knowledgable on this topic but the truth is I have learned so much after reading this book.
For me the "Beauty of the 'Burst" is the final word. I'm thinking of buying a second copy in case I wear the first copy out - How many books can you say that about

...or wanna-be collector like me. The photographs are indescribable... lush, color-saturated but detailed enough to serve as authorative historical documentation of each individual instrument. I didn't realize Iwanade had included so much textual discussion in this book! He provides a glossary of terms frequently encountered in the esoteric world of 58-60 Les Paul sunbursts, as well as high-level information on the science of the finishing process, wood patterns (now I can tell birds-eye maple from blister), and the famous Paul tone as derived from the famous PAF pick-ups.

This book is an indispensable tool for the serious collector or the amateur dreamer. All it's missing is a centerfold.

Very Technical - very good. This book is close to perfection. Other than that I can't add anymore to what is said about this other than why don't you own a copy?

I am a guitar player. I wanted to get a Les Paul Historic model. They make them now identical to the originals made in 57-60. I bought the book so I could pick out a guitar as close to an original as I could find. The book gave me the knowledge of what the originals looked like and I picked out a guitar that I wouldn't have picked out unless I had the book to work with.

Greg Hough

I couldn't put it down until I read it all.