# NGD: Gil Yaron '59 Bone Black / Bone H



## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I picked up a Gil Yaron ’59 Bone Black with specs listed below. My first contact with Yaron was about 10 years ago when i was looking for a custom built Strat style guitar. I recall that he was very detailed oriented and the specs needed to be exact. For example, I wanted a ’65 Strat in seafoam green but he would not do that because the colour was not available on ’65 Strats way back then. In the end, I wasn’t too comfortable sending a large deposit to a builder in Israel so I went with a Simon Law build S style guitar which I still have.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, a new website was unveiled for Yaron guitars, now based in Scottsdale AZ, and a Bone Black ’59 caught my attention. Always a sucker for a Black LP style, I had to pursue this…. and glad I did.

As soon as you pick up the guitar, it rings “fantastic”. The guitar is well balanced and doesn’t feel like 8.5lbs. The black finish is stunning and simply looks awesome with the nickel covered pups and volume and tone knobs. Very thin nitro finish for “old school” tone as Yaron states. Chocolate BRAZ board and a ’59 neck carve that is superb. The dark finish on the back was described as a ZERO finish - it is not a satin finish but feels smooth and adds to the playability factor, which is stellar as expected.

The pickups are the special ingredient - The PAF inspired set are apparently identical to a set made for Pete Thorn’s Les Paul replica . The DC readings are; 8.3K, 7.3K. The tone has a single coil vibe to it and just sounds fantastic.

Price wise….The law of diminishing returns will apply depending on your perspective. I was recently asked by a GC member my thoughts on a Tyler guitar and if they were twice as better than an Anderson or Suhr. The answer was of course “Yes”…..no, not really. To paraphrase a chat I had with a long time gear fiend; it’s about finding an instrument that has that extra 5% when comparing to another instrument in its league. That 5% will vary from player to player which can complicate things when trying to describe an instrument.

In short, I am pretty blown away by this Yaron. It is a special instrument and I’m sure it will get even better over time.


Specs

* Solid lightweight old growth Mahogany

* pre 1970 CITES certified BRRW board

* 100% exact 50's PAF pu's

* Correct ’59 LP circuit with custom tapered CTS pots and 0.022MFD PIO caps

* Trapezoid Celluloid Nitrate inlays

* Nu-Bone nut

* Single ply body binding

* Single ply neck binding

* Private stock reclaimed maple

* ’59 LP hardware

* Thin Nitrocellulose finish

* weight 8.5 lbs

* neck carve '59: 0.88" - 0.98"


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## bluehugh2 (Mar 10, 2006)

Gorgeous! I’d be interested to hear your description after you’ve spent a few weeks with it...


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Congrats! Very nice


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

bluehugh2 said:


> Gorgeous! I’d be interested to hear your description after you’ve spent a few weeks with it...


will do. I have been instructed to leave the set up as is for a few days in order to acclimate the guitar to Toronto weather. I will raise the action and I’m sure it will be even more stellar.

I forgot to mention that there is no truss rod cavity as the double action truss rod is accessed via the neck pickup gap. 

if anyone wants to go down the rabbit hole of Yaron’s builds, check this out. There are many techniques that were used for the Bone ‘59.

New Design Proto Build - Lyra


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

That's a nice one.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Wow, just wow!

I am not worthy of such an instrument, beautiful.

Thanks for sharing.


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## Rozz (Aug 1, 2018)

Wow! Nice score.


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

Beauty!!


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Cool guitar--enjoy!


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## bluehugh2 (Mar 10, 2006)

So I guess you have to pull the neck pickup to adjust the truss rod...


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

bluehugh2 said:


> So I guess you have to pull the neck pickup to adjust the truss rod...


From what I can tell, the tool is pretty small/thin and it can fit without pulling anything to make adjustments.


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## Davidian (Sep 8, 2008)

That is gorgeous, congrats!


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

Alex said:


> will do. I have been instructed to leave the set up as is for a few days in order to acclimate the guitar to Toronto weather. I will raise the action and I’m sure it will be even more stellar.
> 
> I forgot to mention that there is no truss rod cavity as the double action truss rod is accessed via the neck pickup gap.
> 
> ...


When you see a build process like that, it certainly justifies the monetary compensation. Just incredible. Interesting to note that, even though the process is very well thought out, he still relies on his intuitive nature and "feel" to add that little extra mojo.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Thanks for posting Alex. that is a beautiful guitar.
I just got through that build thread that you posted. Man, this dude has his shit together.
I've had one of his Les Paul builds and it was ....CRAZY good. always wanted to try the Bone model. I have a set of his PAF's but haven't found a home for them yet. Hopefully this craziness with end before you sell it hahahahaha
congrats


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## Cardamonfrost (Dec 12, 2018)

Yaron LP. Not sure it gets better. Not that I have ever had the opportunity to play one, but that's the general consensus. Some day I hope to have one in my hands.

C


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I put this quick clip together. Cycling through the pickup configurations, starting with a clean tone and increasing to low/medium gain and then medium/high gain. Starts on the neck pup and changes to the pickup configurations start with a couple chord strums. I didn't touch the EQ which I should especially when the gain increases. I really like the clean tones on this recording.


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-704234903%2Fyaron-59-bone-black


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## Rozz (Aug 1, 2018)

Alex said:


> I put this quick clip together. Cycling through the pickup configurations, starting with a clean tone and increasing to low/medium gain and then medium/high gain. Starts on the neck pup and changes to the pickup configurations start with a couple chord strums. I didn't touch the EQ which I should especially when the gain increases. I really like the clean tones on this recording.
> 
> 
> __
> https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-704234903%2Fyaron-59-bone-black


Great tone...I want one. lol


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## fogdart (Mar 22, 2017)

Yeah that’s one stunning guitar, Alex. Congrats!


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

Nice guitar. Ugly headstock.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Alex said:


> I put this quick clip together. Cycling through the pickup configurations, starting with a clean tone and increasing to low/medium gain and then medium/high gain. Starts on the neck pup and changes to the pickup configurations start with a couple chord strums. I didn't touch the EQ which I should especially when the gain increases. I really like the clean tones on this recording.
> 
> 
> __
> https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fuser-704234903%2Fyaron-59-bone-black


You had me right off the start with a Steve Howe run, I'm sure you missed a tone, I just can't put my finger on it!lol

What a wide variety of tones.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Hammertone said:


> Nice guitar. Ugly headstock.


this pic might give it a better chance. It does have a bit of a Gumby vibe......


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

yeah.....to each his own. I like the headstock. .....or maybe because it's an improvement on....


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I am a fan of Tyler and must suffer from Headstock blindness.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

Pete: I say go big or go home. Hey, I'll suffer through with the Yaron headstock if it ever comes to that.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

is that a sad frog at the top ?


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

faracaster said:


> is that a sad frog at the top ?


Octupus?


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Well, after getting acquainted over the last few days with my new Yaron, I remain very impressed and this ranks with some of the finest instruments I have owned. The tone knobs are very useful and summed up below by Gil Yaron.

_with large PIO caps that turn microphonic in high volume and are also very musical when rolled off unlike the modern stuff .. _

Just an Incredible guitar.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I sold the Black Bone that started this thread and the intent was to fund a Yaron Bone with P90’s with a Black Beauty LP vibe .

After discussing the specs with Yaron, I went with a ABR bridge style as opposed to my original idea of going with a wraparound. Yaron’s view is that esthetically, the wraparound looks great but he believes that the wraparound bridge sound good in a heavier solid body guitar and not as good in a lighter package compared to an ABR fitted guitar.

I recently had a Gibson 1952 LP that sounded stellar that was under 8lbs and wanted to match some of that Gibson bliss. Yaron’s recommendation was to go with a Bone H model and the ABR-1 which I did. I always go with builder recommendations and simply let them
do their magic....

I think this is the first Yaron with gold hardware. Gil was reluctant at first but then gave it a shot. He is so detail oriented and precise that he won’t veer off the “tried and true”. Yaron did the gold hardware old school - gold plated nickel hardware just like they did way back. He is quite happy with the results (as am I).

Received the guitar last week and it is very consistent with the original Bone but with P90’s and lighter @ 7.5 lbs. Yaron’s neck carves are stellar and playability and tones are off the charts.


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

Congratulations on a real beauty!!!


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## bluehugh2 (Mar 10, 2006)

I believe the Bone H would have a Pawlonia insert rather than being hollow... my Bone H weighs 7.5lbs ... same as yours...
And congrats on another winner!


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

bluehugh2 said:


> I believe the Bone H would have a Pawlonia insert rather than being hollow... my Bone H weighs 7.5lbs ... same as yours...
> And congrats on another winner!


yep, you are correct. The"H" fooled me. Do you know what STP means (in relation to the Paulownia centre and the mahogany body).


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## bluehugh2 (Mar 10, 2006)

Stop Tail Piece??? Just a guess!


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Alex said:


> I recall that he was very detailed oriented and the specs needed to be exact. For example, I wanted a ’65 Strat in seafoam green but he would not do that because the colour was not available on ’65 Strats way back then.


Does someone want to break it to Gil that Les Paul Standards weren’t available in Black in 1959?


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

faracaster said:


> is that a sad frog at the top ?


Flying Spaghetti Monster.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

2manyGuitars said:


> Does someone want to break it to Gil that Les Paul Standards weren’t available in Black in 1959?


that applied to his replicas which he doesn’t do anymore. It’s all fair game with his name on the headstock.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

That guitar looks amazing. Total swoon from me.


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## bluehugh2 (Mar 10, 2006)

2manyGuitars said:


> Does someone want to break it to Gil that Les Paul Standards weren’t available in Black in 1959?


Actually, there was at least one black Les Paul “Standard” (only later so named) in 1959... and Bonamassa owns it now (of course, he owns EVERYTHING!  )


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

All guitar tracks with the Yaron. Bridge and middle position (double tracked) for rhythm. bridge pup for solo. The Yaron has a nice single tonality but a bit more aggressive. Really enjoyed relearning this gem of a solo by Neil Geraldo. Rehearsals at the end of the month...


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https://soundcloud.com/user-704234903%2Fhit-me-with-your-best-shot-cover


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

@Alex , just curious, what brand of bridge/tailpiece does he go with?
Great looking guitar!


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

zztomato said:


> @Alex , just curious, what brand of bridge/tailpiece does he go with?
> Great looking guitar!


Hey Jerome,

Here is the response from Yaron:
"Sub assemblies by Larry Davies and Marc Rutters to my specs. Identical materials to 50's original parts.
Assembled and fitted in house."


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