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NEW! • Bloomfield blog • A visit to Bloomers, a bistro dedicated to Michael Bloomfield • A tab of Mike Bloomfield's solo on "East-West" • New photos of Michael Bloomfield • Four-part radio program on Mike Bloomfield |
 Photo courtesy of Elliott Landy |
 "Michael Bloomfield: If You Love These Blues," by Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom Available at Amazon.com |
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Michael Bloomfield's Guitars
Few American guitaRISTS have done more to promote the Gibson Les Paul as the guitar of choice for blues players than Michael Bloomfield. Two questions are often asked by Bloomfield fans: Where is Michael's '59 Les Paul Standard, and when will Gibson issue a signature Michael Bloomfield Les Paul? The answer to the first question is at present incomplete. Michael lost the his famed '59 Sunburst when he abandoned it in Canada, probably during a gig in Vancouver in 1974 or '75. The story goes that Michael left the before completing the date and the club owner kept the guitar as compensation for his losses. The Sunburst was later sold to a private collector who has preferred to remain anonymous. Wherever its present location, fans can be assured that the instrument is in the hands of someone who knows its value, both as a rare Les Paul and as a revered '60s icon. As for the second question, the Michael Bloomfield Estate is happy to announce that a Michael Bloomfield signature 1959 Les Paul Standard Sunburst model is in the process of being created. The company hopes to have a model ready by the NAMM show in January 2009. Watch this site for more news on this wonderful development! Michael's '59 Les Paul originally came from Dan Erlewine, the world renowned guitar technician and repair artist. He traded it to Michael for Michael's 1954 Les Paul Goldtop (and $100). Dan shared the following photos of those guitars with us. |
 Michael demonstrates his fire-breathing trick, a stunt he often performed while playing "East-West" with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1966. Photo courtesy of |
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 Dan Erlewine performing with his blues band, the Prime Movers, in 1966. He's playing the 1959 Les Paul Standard Sunburst guitar that was to become Michael Bloomfield's in the summer of 1967. All photos courtesy of Dan Erlewine |
Visitors since June 19th, 2002 |
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A view of the '59 Sunburst showing the Grover tuning pegs that Erlewine installed as an improvement on the guitar's original Kluson machines. He inadvertently mounted them upside down, a mistake that was later corrected when Michael acquired the guitar. Jack Dawson, the Prime Movers' bassist, is in the background. |
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Dan Erlewine with his collection of Les Pauls. The Sunburst is the one he traded to Bloomfield, and the Goldtop is similar to the one Michael gave him in exchange for it. |
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 Dan performing on the Goldtop in the summer of 1967, not long after he got it from Michael for his Sunburst and $100. Note that the lead pickup tone control knob has been replaced – it had been missing for the better part of a year while Bloomfield had the guitar. |
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