$59,000 Reward for Missing Gibson Shipping Ledger

Got this email today:

Gibson Gazette. Volume 1. Number 45.

$59,000 Reward

We would like your assistance in recovering our missing shipping ledger book from 1959-1960, which documents an important period in our 126-year-old history and the pinnacle of the Gibson Golden Era.

The 1959-1960 Gibson shipping ledger has been missing from Gibson’s archives for at least thirty years. It may not have made the move with the company from Kalamazoo, MI to Nashville, TN.

The party who safely returns the missing 1959-1960 shipping ledger book will receive a $59,000 CASH REWARD. If you believe you have it, please click the link below for more details.

More Details on Gibson.com

This offer is open to one and all and is "no questions asked," although we reserve the right to validate information and authenticate materials as genuine articles prior to issuing rewards.

We are also offering rewards for the recovery of other pre-1970 Gibson documents, ledger books, blueprints, and unique Gibson assets which are historically important and relevant.

Our mailing address is:
Gibson Brands, Inc
209 10th Ave S STE 460
Nashville, TN 37203

I'm pulling up a chair for this one. :popcorn:

Interesting...................

Certainly would contain info people would find interesting, but............

why is it worth $59K to a company that supposedly is broke........?

Just a guess, if a certain Les Paul was ordered by Les Paul, then somehow ended up in with Keith Richards or Eric Clapton, then $59K might provide provenance for a $million dollar sale, I'm guessing............maybe more (the "Bullitt" Mustang just sold for 3.4 million and it was beat to crap.......)

Or, better yet, a Les Paul ordered by Buddy Holly, but never delivered..........

I'm guessing Joe Bonnamassa might be involved......

You get the idea. Museums are CHEAP! Nobody spends $59K to display a ledger in a museum.........gotta be more to it than that, IMHO.

The shipping ledger is probably the most accurate record of what models were shipped and when so it would be a gold mine for the trademark lawyers.

It will probably show up on eBay one of these days along with a bunch of unfinished F5 necks.

Prior to the lawyer/provenance comments, my first thought was to be impressed that Gibson might care about their own history!

What was that Meghan Trainor pop song a few years back? "All about that 'burst, bout that 'burst, no f-hole"

It's in the privy, I'll see if there are any pages left.

Wonder how the numerical amount of $59000 was decided. Odd amount to just make an offer. I envision an executive board meeting held one late evening. The object of discussion was opened, along with the passing around of an empty cigar box, all attendees were told to empty wallets, remove any precious metal on body, and after all was said and done,and after next day the $ from the pawn shop was placed in the tally, there was $59023.
Of course, I could be wrong.
And where'd the $23 go?

Maybe they'll get George Gruhn to verify. (He once figured out a fake flying V as the router bits used weren't made until after the instrument was supposedly built.)

Wonder if this is related to the Les Paul Custom that was recently returned to Jimmy Page after being stolen nearly 50 years ago?

I wonder if they'd go up to $60,000.00?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by darylcrisp

Wonder how the numerical amount of $59000 was decided. Odd amount to just make an offer. I envision an executive board meeting held one late evening. The object of discussion was opened, along with the passing around of an empty cigar box, all attendees were told to empty wallets, remove any precious metal on body, and after all was said and done,and after next day the $ from the pawn shop was placed in the tally, there was $59023.
Of course, I could be wrong.
And where'd the $23 go?

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I am thinking since it was the shipping ledger from 1959, it may have had some play with their decision. Then again, I could be wrong too (and it would not be the first time or last).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GeoMandoAlex

I am thinking since it was the shipping ledger from 1959, it may have had some play with their decision. Then again, I could be wrong too (and it would not be the first time or last).

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59k for the 59 ledger seems about right to me as well.

Once the document is validated and Gibson has photocopied the info, do they need to actually pay out the 59,000 to buy the document?

Unfortunately I'm not rich enough to offer considerably more just to keep the "gold mine" out of the hands of their "trademark lawyers"...

I saw that in the Gibson news feed yesterday!
I thought it was kind of a weird amount too.

you all know when obscure things get talked about in a thread..........within a day or two............check the classifieds.

For sale, good condition 1959 ledger from Gibson instrument company. Appears to have all pages, some use marks, creases in corners, otherwise really nice condition.
kept in nonsmoking environment and has been stored in my humidity controlled instrument room. Found in a garage sale years ago that a little old lady was clearing out-said she rarely looked at it, just every now and then on sundays after church.

not interested in trades-I have plenty of other ledgers, thinning the herd, shipping/paypal included along with requisite 2% donation to the café.
$75000

Why 75?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon DS

Why 75?

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Bidding war? :whistling:

Given big G's current obsession prioritizing lawsuits over making nice guitars, I would guess it is calculated.

Among vintage 1958-1960 "burst" nerds, there are approximately 1900 in documented existence....BUT...Big G claims that they only made around 1350 of them back in the day. Having the official records to verify with would keep their lawyers busy for another couple of years bullying the forgery owners...

It was kindling for the Norlin "Get To Know You" barbecue.

$59K? yeah, that's up there for some obscure paper work. How many pages? 59? That's $1000 per page. Also noted they were offering rewards for "any" original documents pre 1970. Now that could open a can of $$$$$ worms. What if someone has (and I have heard about several old timers having had these documents) some of Loar's shipping ledgers? Wouldn't they be worth more than $59K? I think if they offered $10K they would shake loose the guy who has this ledger. No questions asked, I would make some copies and let them have them back for $10K. For $59K, I would hand deliver them.

Wasn't 59 a pivotal period for Gibson? IIRC it's the 59 Les Paul that's held up as the holy grail so I can see those records being of value beyond the legal. The company is over 100 years old, so there is legacy there.

With the new management I'm seeing more Gibson "Brands" in their documents so they are clearly leaning towards a "brand" company. Unless you're deep in that obscure legal world much of this doesn't make much sense. With the internet and commerce moving online, it's becoming more important for companies to own the brand "IP" (trademarks, copyright and patents) than it is to actually make something. With a registered trademark a company can shut down any "infringer" with an email to their internet service provider under the US notice-and-takedown system. It also allows them to "license" other makers so they avoid charges of "abandonment" without actually making anything. I'm not a fan but it is the current reality.