1964 Gibson ES-335 Red

There's collector grade and then, on a rare occasion, a guitar comes along that is beyond that. Call it museum grade. How can something this old look this good? This is probably the cleanest 64 I've had (and I've had around a hundred of them). The 64 neck profile is one of the best necks Gibson ever made starting at just under .82 with some shoulder and getting relatively chunky by the 12th fret, measuring .96". It is a fact that the 64 is considered one of the two best years for 335's (59 is the other) especially in terms of resale. A red 64 is a very popular guitar. This is mint. Seriously. All original down to the frets and ready to be the center of your serious collection. Patent number pickups (same as late PAFs) and nickel hardware so clean and bright it almost looks like chrome. In this softened vintage market (admit it...you aren't selling so many, are you?), the mint stuff is holding on while everything else seems to be meandering downward toward some semblance of sanity. Sure, this is top dollar for a 64 ES-335 but it's priced only a few percentage points above an average one. a guitar is only mint from the day it is built until it's not and mint is gone forever. Mint Lifton case (and not the one with the plastic handle that always breaks).