Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

My new 1990 Orville Les Paul Custom


Gibson Artist

Recommended Posts

Technically this isnt new, a used 1990 Orville Les Paul Custom in creme colour. Traded in that esp with the active pickups for this and when i got it home and cleaned it up a little i was floored when i plugged it in. My tiny 2 watt amp was screaming and rattling the windows, holy moly the pups in this bad boy are hot hot hot! Ive owned Gibson Studios and this is hotter than both. Anyone know what these pups exactly are? Also, is this a 1990? The serial says K 007725, if i am correct that is 1990 right? Got to love New Guitar Day [biggrin]

 

001_zpsfdea5953.jpg004_zpsa58551af.jpg00s0s_iSqzCiDphKE_600x450_zps2030644d.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So you won't be changing the p/ups then? [biggrin]

Very nice too, a beaut - I've seen black ones but not that colour.

And it may not have nibs or ebony board but it is still a Les Paul Custom.

Congrats!

What is nibs? No. i love these pups, gotta say gibson did these models right they rock. The guy who owned it previously did one minor mod, he added a bone nut. The only bummer was he didnt have the gold pickup covers, im tempted to buy them but otherwise its perfect. The case has seen better days but at least its a gibson.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats, GA, super nice catch, HNGD! [thumbup]

 

Frets without nibs aka nubs offer more usable fretboard width, an advantage when it's about playability.

Thanks, now i got a steve jones/r rhoads looking git, which is pretty sweet. Will decide later if i want to re add the gold covers and pickguard. Nothing like buying a git thats already got new strings and in tune tho.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, alpine white, just faded. It probably started life with a very subtle blue tint, like mine (and like Randy's - how many people really think his guitar was always yellow, failing to notice that it got progressively less yellow as the photos got older?). Mine was a FujiGen example made in 1998. I swapped the pickups for a 490/498 pair, but saved them for another project. They are somewhat treble heavy, which I like. The nice thing about Orvilles is that standard Gibson hardware fits, which made replacing King Buzzo with a Nashville a fairly painless process.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is nibs?

 

 

Oh no.. Don't go there. :unsure:

 

Let's just suffice to say this is the new current configuration of Gibson bound necks too... They no longer come with nibs/nubs either.

 

So it's the same as current production Gibsons...

 

msp_blink.gifmsp_laugh.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's just suffice to say this is the new current configuration of Gibson bound necks too... They no longer come with nibs/nubs either.

 

So it's the same as current production Gibsons...

 

msp_blink.gifmsp_laugh.gif

I dont quite understand but that's ok, all i know is my new custom kicks serious butt. Even when i play it unplugged it projects loud. Its a heavy beast tho lol [biggrin]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, i always thought no nibs meant the guitar was a fake, i have much to learn.

 

Well, up until recently, "no nibs" meant one of two things: The guitar has had a refret done (it's very difficult to maintain the nibs when refretting, since the binding goes Over the end of the fret), or it's a fake (for the longest time, the Chinese fakes never had nibs, since it takes more time than they can afford). Now (2014) most Gibson models have no nibs (except the Traditional and Reissues), so neither of those instances are really valid anymore.

 

-Ryan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, up until recently, "no nibs" meant one of two things: The guitar has had a refret done (it's very difficult to maintain the nibs when refretting, since the binding goes Over the end of the fret), or it's a fake (for the longest time, the Chinese fakes never had nibs, since it takes more time than they can afford). Now (2014) most Gibson models have no nibs (except the Traditional and Reissues), so neither of those instances are really valid anymore.

 

-Ryan

 

And Gibson now claims it's about extended/expanded/improved playing surface of the fret giving you more room for bending or vibrato on the outer strings...

 

But frankly that's a little intellectually-dishonest because it always was... Or was never an issue before... So what, did Gibson just discover this?!? Clearly no, it's a cost saving issue in production. Nibs in the binding takes more time, effort, and material and increases the production cost. No nibs simply makes production times less and profits more. Is there a little more playing surface? Yes but the increase is marginal at best and it's not like it's some new discovery of theirs...

 

I get it's an aesthetic thing. But it seemed like it was always a hallmark of a higher-end guitar. Like you stepped up in quality when you got a Gibson with a binding with nibs. But they do come with there own idiosyncrasies. My 2004 Gibson Les Paul Standard Limited Edition has an issue where something was either dropped onto the binding or the guitar was dropped/knocked-over and first contact with something solid was on the binding. It pulled the 7th fret nib out just the tiniest bit and that minuscule gap now catches the high E string in just the right circumstances in bending and heavy-handed playing... Sure this is a unique issue and doesn't happen often, and it is correctable if I take it to a luthier or think I can have a steady enough hand myself to perform a super-glue repair and fill the gap, but I'm not quite sure of my confidence enough to try it for myself...

 

It has become a bit of a pain and it wouldn't be an issue if it didn't have nibs...

 

It can be a double-edged sword I guess, but I do like a binding with nibs...

 

Many of us are a little disappointed that Gibson has decided to do away with nibs in large part...

 


In other words; it really doesn't have much bearing on your guitar at all because that is now how Gibson is making them too...

 

That is a fine guitar!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh no.. Don't go there. :unsure:

I thought the plain Orvilles were MIK like the early Epi's were.

Only the headstock that says Oriville by Gibson is true Gibson spec..

I don't know that nibs matter on this because I am pretty sure this is basically an Asian Epi..

Nice guitar and its cherry but its not an Orville by Gibson. That makes all the difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought the plain Orvilles were MIK like the early Epi's were.

Only the headstock that says Oriville by Gibson is true Gibson spec..

I don't know that nibs matter on this because I am pretty sure this is basically an Asian Epi..

Nice guitar and its cherry but its not an Orville by Gibson. That makes all the difference.

Well, im just going by this website http://www.guitarsjapan.com/orvillegibsoninfopage.html

and my serial which is k 007725 and if i am reading this correctly says it was made in july of 1990 at the Terada plant?

 

Maybe orville by gibson had better specs, ive been told by some my fretboard has rosewood not ebony i dunno, all i do know is the pickups are smoking hot and the guitar kicks the crap out of my gibson lp studio. Pickups just sound better, not saying studios are bad, just that this git is made very well. Ive heard the pots in orvilles are higher than gibsons of that time but the Gibsons had more clarity? This is only heresay tho..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, im just going by this website http://www.guitarsjapan.com/orvillegibsoninfopage.html

and my serial which is k 007725 and if i am reading this correctly says it was made in july of 1990 at the Terada plant?

 

Maybe orville by gibson had better specs, ive been told by some my fretboard has rosewood not ebony i dunno, all i do know is the pickups are smoking hot and the guitar kicks the crap out of my gibson lp studio. Pickups just sound better, not saying studios are bad, just that this git is made very well. Ive heard the pots in orvilles are higher than gibsons of that time but the Gibsons had more clarity? This is only heresay tho..

Terada is a good plant, they make a lot of Epis,Gretsch and others. The Orville by Gibson were made at FujiGen and Orvilles were made elsewhere, Orville never stated that.

I have always assumed that Terada made the other half of the Orvilles because in 98 they took over as Epiphone Japan until Samick started building Epis in Korea. I think that some of the higher end Epis like the Ultras and some tributes are made in Terada.

Either way you have a quality guitar. I have never had a poor quality guitar from Japan.

Terada operates on a smaller scale today, about 1/6th of what it used to be from what I researched. FujiGen Matsumoku has always been the best Japanese factory

for guitars but like I said they all put out good guitars. I work for the Japs and they are insane about quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terada is a good plant, they make a lot of Epis,Gretsch and others. The Orville by Gibson were made at FujiGen and Orvilles were made elsewhere, Orville never stated that.

I have always assumed that Terada made the other half of the Orvilles because in 98 they took over as Epiphone Japan until Samick started building Epis in Korea. I think that some of the higher end Epis like the Ultras and some tributes are made in Terada.

Either way you have a quality guitar. I have never had a poor quality guitar from Japan.

Terada operates on a smaller scale today, about 1/6th of what it used to be from what I researched. FujiGen Matsumoku has always been the best Japanese factory

for guitars but like I said they all put out good guitars. I work for the Japs and they are insane about quality.

Ive always been a fan of ibanez guitars, had several thru the years and got my daughter one because she insisted on a black acoustic. Never tried a tokai, or greco but ive heard them on Youtube and they sounded pretty sweet. I noticed on craigslist theres a lot of no name japanese gibson clones and i wonder how you tell which company made them? I can see why the lawsuits came about because some looked exactly like an original hummingbird.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive always been a fan of ibanez guitars, had several thru the years and got my daughter one because she insisted on a black acoustic. Never tried a tokai, or greco but ive heard them on Youtube and they sounded pretty sweet. I noticed on craigslist theres a lot of no name japanese gibson clones and i wonder how you tell which company made them? I can see why the lawsuits came about because some looked exactly like an original hummingbird.

I agree totally! I had an old Electra from the 70's, it played good. I think FujiGen made a ton of the lawsuit guitars.

I had a RG 1550 Prestige Team J Craft for a while. It was an awesome built guitar but I never bonded with Basswood.

I'm and Alder and a Mahogany guy. I never liked how that Ibanez sounded no matter what I put in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought the plain Orvilles were MIK like the early Epi's were.

Only the headstock that says Oriville by Gibson is true Gibson spec..

I don't know that nibs matter on this because I am pretty sure this is basically an Asian Epi..

Nice guitar and its cherry but its not an Orville by Gibson. That makes all the difference.

None of that is remotely correct. My 1998 Orville was very definitely made at FujiGen. Some were made at Terada. Neither plant is in Korea. Both, however, are in Japan. The sole difference is that Orville by Gibson guitars came with Gibson USA electronics. I don't know what 'true Gibson spec' is supposed to mean in a technical sense, the only logical meaning I can muster is that 'true Gibson spec' means standard Gibson SAE (non-metric) parts will fit. This is true of both Orville and Orville by Gibson guitars. If it weren't, my Orville would have needed some modification to have a standard Nashville bridge fitted.

 

The source of your confusion is probably the re-branding of current Japanese Gibsons under the 'Epiphone Japan' moniker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

None of that is remotely correct. My 1998 Orville was very definitely made at FujiGen. Some were made at Terada. Neither plant is in Korea. Both, however, are in Japan. The sole difference is that Orville by Gibson guitars came with Gibson USA electronics. I don't know what 'true Gibson spec' is supposed to mean in a technical sense, the only logical meaning I can muster is that 'true Gibson spec' means standard Gibson SAE (non-metric) parts will fit. This is true of both Orville and Orville by Gibson guitars. If it weren't, my Orville would have needed some modification to have a standard Nashville bridge fitted.

 

The source of your confusion is probably the re-branding of current Japanese Gibsons under the 'Epiphone Japan' moniker.

 

That was pretty much my take. One moment the statement seemed to have clarity and then next it seemed to go off the reservation...

 

I suspect he simply mis-spoke/mis-wrote/mis-typed...

 

MIJ for sure...

 

But he did seem to hit the mark with the high-end Epi (tribute/ultra) connection...

 

And that definition of "true Gibson spec" makes sense to me and put it in perspective...

 

Orville's are fantastic guitars and I think they are from the same factory as my old Memphis Brand Les Paul that was a lawsuit era guitar that was my first ever electric guitar in the early 1980's and I believe was from right around a 1980 or so vintage...

 

It may have been Matsumoku, is the statement I saw earlier; "Fujigen Matsumoku" meaning it is the same factory? This I think is another of the simple mis-statements that is leading to some of the confusion in here... I thought they were completely different factories...

 

But my ignorance of MIJ guitar history is a simple fact.

 

I think we're all basically on the same page, but sometimes the communications is just a touch hurried...

 

It's a great guitar!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...