Brett’s ’55 Gibson Les Paul Jr. is an original rock & roll machine! This guitar is in amazing condition, especially when considering it’s 70+ years of existence. The substantially girth neck fills my hand comfortably and offers that ringing presence and volume that comes with a chonkier neck.

The original Gibson P90 had all the rip and grit Junior’s are loved for. Junior’s remain an amazing case study proving that the well engineered, stripped down economy of a simple execution continues to provide a very sonically effective and useful pallet still relevant today. This is verified by Gibson continuing to offer several Les Paul Junior models available at different price points and the vintage models still command top dollar.

The original frets are what one expects to find on a mid 50s Gibson and function very well, especially after performing a leveling, dressing, polish and setup. Playing this guitar did make me aware of my internal conflict of whether I’d leave the original frets or replace the frets with my preferred medium-jumbo type; if the guitar were mine. Being that a vintage guitar like this LPJ arguably retains higher value with the original frets, I knew that I would play it a lot more if I installed my preferred frets. So yeah, what to do…?

The good thing is that I don’t have to make such a decision since it’s not my guitar and Brett is happy with the stock frets! But it did make me think of what I’d do if faced with that choice. Fact is that I’m not in the 50s Gibson LPJ market (much to my chagrin!) but if I were I’d would probably be looking for the guitars that have already had a fret job and/or a reissue. This would be more practical for my needs and certainly be easier on the budget, which is always a concern for my instrument purchases.

I’ve owned several Les Paul Juniors over the years and this guitar really made me miss them. I still keep my eye out for Gibson Juniors and hopefully the right deal and time will present its self. Recently I purchased a used Gibson Tony Iommi Monkey SG Special which has done a great job of scratching my itch for a guitar featuring P90s and just being a very cool ubiquidous guitar that I’ve been pining for since its release. So, I’m good for now but you know, I’m always in the hunt!