BG 029
(Photos courtesy of LA Vintage Gear, out of Burbank, CA.) 

This Billy Gibbons “Pearly Gates” Les Paul VOS is 1 of only 250 ever built in 2009, this is #BG 029, barely played and in Mint Condition.

Guitar Overview:
“If there’s just one Gibbons Gibson that’s become folklore, it’s his 1959 Les Paul Standard, whom he calls “Miss Pearly Gates. “The first time I saw a ‘Burst was seeing Eric Clapton with his famed combination of Gibson’s Les Paul and the little 18 watt Marshall. It was during his place with the Bluesbreakers. I knew I had to try out that cool combination. Gibbons’ yarn about acquiring Pearly when he was 18 – involving a wannabe actress called Renee Thomas, a ‘39 Packard borrowed from Billy and Co, an audition trip to Hollywood where she scored a role newly named as Pearly Gates, a $250 check for the Packard eventually funding a ‘59 Burst Billy found under a rancher’s bed! – The importance is that the LP, promptly named Pearly Gates in tribute, became a legend of its own.

“Divine, simply divine,” says Gibbons of his favorite ever guitar. “Pearly was fabricated on one of those fateful days when just everything fell into place. The wood was toneful and balanced, the right application of lacquer, and the electronics correct. Waiting in silence for years, BFG was lucky to latch onto such a find.

“Pearly is the reason for this guitar mania… I’ve played a lot of great instruments, but none could match the sound and performance of Pearly Gates. Pearly can be heard on each and every recording with ZZ Top.”

Gibson Custom built a limited run of Pearly Gates replicas in 2009, which immediately sold out: #003 of the replicas was recently re-sold by Chicago Music Exchange for $55,500.

Gibson Pearly Gates Features:
• FINISH – VOS
• WEIGHT – 8.24 lbs
• Nut Width – 1.69″
• Neck Depth @1st Fret – .93″
• Neck Depth @12th Fret – 1.01″