Gibson has just announced a super limited edition Custom Shop replica release of Billy Gibbons’ iconic 1959 Les Paul Standard, the guitar more commonly known as Pearly Gates.
For many a collector this is a bona fide holy grail hiding in a unicorn inside the belly of the white whale – it simply does not get any better.
We have seen some stunning Pearly Gates replicas over the years. In 2009, there was a run of Custom Shop VOS versions, some aged by Tom Murphy, now of the Murphy Lab, some aged and played and signed by the ZZ Top frontman himself. And ever since they have commanded serious money on the vintage market. This might take the cake, and was recreated using 3D scans of the original.
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Pearly Gates is one of the most legendary electric guitars of all time, with one of the greatest tones of all time, and with one of the greatest back stories of all time.
This is the guitar that the ZZ Top frontman picked up in 1968 from a rancher who’d swapped country music for cattle. Gibbons make the short trip out to the ranch, just outside Houston, met a guy who was like Big Jake and bought his Les Paul for the princely sum of $250.
But there was some kind of divine kismet at play. John Wilson of Houston-based psych-rockers The Magic Ring had tipped Gibbons off that the rancher might be willing to trade.
“He said, ‘There’s a cowboy, got a ranch outside of town. He just may have what you were looking for,’” says Gibbons, speaking to GibsonTV.
(Image credit: Gibson)
How he came into the money for the deal is how the guitar got its name. “We had a girlfriend named Renee Thomas. She said, ‘I’ve got an invitation to go audition for a part in a movie. But I have to get back to California.’” explains Gibbons, who has told this story more times than he’d care to remember but it’s one of those stories that’s never old, not in the telling, not in hearing it again.
Gibbons said they decided to let her take the car down to LA.
“We decided that she should have this 1936 Packard automobile. Next thing you know, the phone rang,” he continues . “She said, ‘I got the part! I blame it on Pearly Gates.’ I said, ‘What’s Pearly Gates?’ She goes, ‘Oh, that’s the name I gave the car.’”
Now then, this is 1968. Just how was Gibbons going to retrieve his car and take it back to Texas? Thomas couldn’t leave. He told her to sell it and wire them the money. It was all good.
“$250 landed in my pocket the very day that we were heading off to this ranch,” says Gibbons, and it was true. The rancher had the goods. “He opened the case. He said, ‘Can you give me 250?’ And I whipped out the check. [Laughs] That, then and there. The word got back to Renee, and she goes, ‘It’s gonna make divine music. We’re gonna call it Pearly Gates.’”
And that’s how this 1959 Les Paul Standard got its name.
Gibson’s launch is a big deal. No prices have been listed but we will be talking tens of thousands of dollars for this one. But it’s a special event.
Make your enquiries at the Gibson Garage Nashville, and those who purchase one of the guitars will be invited with a plus-one to an evening with Gibbons, where he will hold court, with a moderated Q&A, a performance by the man himself, and the chance to get your picture taken with him.
Gibbons will hand-sign each of these Collector’s Editions and there will be all kinds of things celebrating the guitar that has graced ZZ Top’s finest moments on record.
Now, that is worth selling your car for. Here’s hoping you’ve got something a little more valuable parked up than a ’36 Packard.
Price TBC. October 16 is the date. Note: the event is exclusively for those who have bought one of the guitars and their plus one. For more details, head over to Gibson.
