uglycustoomer Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hey guys - i purchased a used gibson custom les paul from 2006 and i am pretty sure it's real but would like you guys take on it. The old owner did not have the certificate of authenticity but said he will send me over a sales receipt. On the picture of the nut, there is a line fracture that no one can tell me why it's there. Any ideas? For a custom shop guitar i would assume the best craftsmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderhorse71 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Pop off the covers to the control cavity and post a few pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglycustoomer Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 sure. here is a picture of the cavity. cavity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderhorse71 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Looks very authentic to me. The Chinese knockoffs don't have anywhere near this ornate of cavity work. I sure could be wrong but it looks pretty real down to the red polishing compound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglycustoomer Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Looks very authentic to me. The Chinese knockoffs don't have anywhere near this ornate of cavity work. I sure could be wrong but it looks pretty real down to the red polishing compound. Thanks for your reply, i really appreciate it!. I sent a few pictures and the serial number to gibson and the serial number was verified. But i brought my guitar to a repair guy recently and he found it very odd that the serial number was stamped on and initially thought it was a fake because of that. He did mention however that he has not worked on a lot of customs. Around the body of the guitar are very weird fractures but that can be because of the how the old owner treated the guitar... not well at all it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 The Custom Shop serial numbers are stamped, not embossed like the USA serial numbers since the late 1970s. I can't tell for sure if pots and caps are the original ones, but to my eyes everything else looks genuine without any doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uglycustoomer Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 The Custom Shop serial numbers are stamped, not embossed like the USA serial numbers since the late 1970s. I can't tell for sure if pots and caps are the original ones, but to my eyes everything else looks genuine without any doubt. The repair guy i brought the guitar to did a little bit of re-wiring and i am pretty sure the old owner of the guitar did some weird electronic changes to it, but it has been all fixed and sounds amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 The repair guy i brought the guitar to did a little bit of re-wiring and i am pretty sure the old owner of the guitar did some weird electronic changes to it, but it has been all fixed and sounds amazing! Thanks for your reply. It confirms at least that I still can trust my eyes... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JO'C Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks for your reply, i really appreciate it!. I sent a few pictures and the serial number to gibson and the serial number was verified. But i brought my guitar to a repair guy recently and he found it very odd that the serial number was stamped on and initially thought it was a fake because of that. He did mention however that he has not worked on a lot of customs. Around the body of the guitar are very weird fractures but that can be because of the how the old owner treated the guitar... not well at all it seems. I'm sure all is well with the stamped S/N. Here is a pic of the back of the headstock of my 2000 CS LP. Things look the same except my S/N is a CS and it looks like yours is C8. I think this would indicate a 1968 reissue Custom. As for your tiny crack near the nut, welcome to the club. I think it's the nature of the beast with white Customs. I got mine in 2011 from a Collector's auction and it had never been played. The guitar was flawless besides the tiny crack, about 1/8" in the finish at the nut. Now nearly 3 years later the crack has grown to nearly 3/4". The guitar is kept in its case and I only play it about once a year. When I got it, the finish was perfectly white. Now it is starting to yellow significantly. I've seen this with a lot of older white customs but this one has never been out in the sunlight or in a smoky bar, the reasons most give for yellowing. I think its just the lacquer aging. In the last year another finish crack happened near the low E tuner. It looks like it started right at the screw hole. This guitar is nearly 14 years old and has been taken care of extremely well. I have 4 other LP's and 5 other Custom Shop Gibson's that are darker colored and none have any finish cracks at all. Maybe Gibson puts on a thicker layer of lacquer on White guitars and it's a thermal expansion or humidity problem. The cracks always seem to start at an edge where the finish ends. So don't be surprised if the crack grows and others develop. I was really bummed out at first but now I've accepted it and chalk it up to the character of aging. You still have a magnificent guitar and as long as the cracks stay on the back, no one but you will notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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