her five-year plan, her ten-year plan. Ricky told her: figure out the next one step. Pray about it, do your due diligence, feel peace about it, and take it. Then do the same thing again. Looking back now, I can trace everything in my life to a series of those single steps. That’ s what all these stories have in common.
Life is indeed a series of next things. You have so little control over outcomes, but you do have control over how well you execute your next thing. So, yes, something common emerges in all these stories. They’ re wonderful. Something you and I have in common is our birth year, 1959.
Oh, yeah. And if you want instruments made in that year, you’ re in a little bit of trouble.
That is a very expensive year! Which brings us to your guitars. So, let’ s get right to it: your‘ 59 Les Paul Burst, the one made famous by John Sebastian. The myth versus the reality... Is it true?
The short answer is yes, it’ s true. I had never played a‘ 59 Les Paul until the year 2000. I took my dad to a vintage guitar show, the only one he ever went to, and we were walking around, him pointing at things going,“ I had one of those, I had one of those.” Then a friend came up and told me there was a‘ 59 Les Paul in the building and they wanted me to come play it. I said I’ d look at it, but I was not playing it. I didn’ t want to want it.
But when I stepped up to look at the guitar, a plain top, sitting in its case, these guys put a strap on my shoulders like I’ d pulled into the pit at a NASCAR race. They plugged me in. I played about ten seconds, looked at my dad, and said,“ Well, I get what all the fuss is about.”
I had purposed to go up to Toledo to buy that guitar. Talked to my wife, talked to our bank. I was treating it like an investment. On the way, I stopped by Gary’ s Classic Guitars in Cincinnati, and Gary was kind enough to show me and my friend Bruce Barr guitars from about 11:30 at night until 4:30 in the morning, one after another. We never plugged any of them in.
In the morning, before we walked out the door, I asked Gary if we could plug some in. He had three‘ 59s and two‘ 58s. He started bringing them up one at a time and plugging into a little blackface Deluxe Reverb. When he handed me the“ John Sebastian,” my jaw hit the floor. It was unmistakable, head and shoulders above the others of the same ilk. I bought it.
Over the next couple of years, I handed it to other players just to watch the fireworks. My favorite review came from Jeff Hanna, of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who has a 1960 Burst. He plugged in his guitar, played a bit, sounded beautiful. Then he took mine, plugged it in, played about five seconds, looked at me and said,“ Oh.” That was it. Just“ Oh.”
I don’ t know how to describe what this guitar does, except to say there’ s no other guitar I’ ve played that leaves me with that feeling. I’ ll be walking it back to the case and stop and go,“ What is going on with you?” The best way I can put it: the pickup in a guitar is like a mirror, a reflection of what you’ re doing. It’ s like holding your face over a pond and seeing yourself in the water.
16 | SUMMER 2026