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1984 Les Paul Studio with Tremolo system


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I have a few questions about my Gibson Les Paul Studio model. I bought it used in the summer of 1986 at the great great House of Guitars in Rochester, NY. The serial number is 81154526, which I surmise means it was produced in 1984. The unique feature of my guitar is the tremolo system on the bottom end. Since I can find no record of a 1984 Les Paul Studio being sold with a stock tremolo system, this must have been a custom modification installed by the previous owner.

 

Although the tremolo system was installed when I bought it, I have never had the actual tremolo bar, just the spring system and fine tuning nuts. There is no locking nut on the head, which means that the guitar goes out of tune whenever you bend the spring down.

 

Anyways, after 3 decades of ownership, I am planning on taking my Les Paul into a local guitar shop and getting the electronics fixed up.

 

My questions to the Les Paul community:

1. Has anyone ever seen such a tremolo system on a Les Paul (or on any other guitar) ? I can't find any info about the tremolo bar on the internets and there isn't any identifying info.

2. Should I get the tremolo system removed and replaced with a standard bottom bridge? If the tremolo system adds value to the guitar, I don't want to trash it. On the other hand, after 30 years of retuning it every time I touch the tremolo system, it might be time for a change.

3. Any recommendations for a good guitar shop in La Mesa CA?

 

I am trying to post some pictures, but for now here is a link to a facebook page with a set of pictures.

https://www.facebook.com/tom.shields.5245/media_set?set=a.10100978522974156.1073741827.24506907&type=3

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  • 3 weeks later...

Those pickups might be Shaw pickups, do not trash them. They had that sticker on the pickup ring and are valued by collectors. Check to see if they have the ink stamp date on the baseplate. The vibrato is probably an add on. It seems as if it uses the original stop bar holes. It might be easy to buy a new stop bar and Nashville bridge and drop them in with any luck.

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http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-10216-1984-Gibson-Les-Paul-Studio-W-Gibson-Kahler-Tremolo

This says it has a factory fitted kahler tremelo hardware fforgive if my spellings wrong I just typed 1984 and your guitar description and this was 1 of the searches I will look some more after the dogs have had a walk if its original and rare you may be best leaving guitar as is to keep or sell and buy one that has no trem or one that stays in tune I was thinking of fitting one to my studio the type that fits into my bridge holes so I don't need to drill it

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