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Why Would a Guitar Leave Gibson with No Finish?


AnubisXII

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Hey, fellow Gibsonsabeeches. A while back (about 20 years ago or so), I found an odd looking Gibson Explorer at a pawn shop. It's funny because I actually went there that day to buy an Epiphone Explorer that I saw there two weeks earlier for $250 bucks. But it was gone. Somebody snagged it before I could.

But I was totally cool with that. Because that day, I walked out of the very same pawn shop with a 1980 Gibson E-2 for ten dollars more. Yay! Two hunnah an siddy dorrah! For an E-2.

A couple days later, I brought my new gitfiddle up to Longhorn Guitars in Fort Worth to see if they could shed some light on this strange looking creature. Longhorn is (or was, if it's no longer around)the most respected Gibson place in Texas. People who eat, sleep, and dream Gibson. I believe the owners name was Youngblood. Well, Youngblood couldn't take his eyes off that E-2. He seemed quite perplexed. I asked him what was up, and he pulled the rear cover off and just kinda looked up in there and looked up and down the entire guitar like it was a nude version of that black-haired girl from That Seventies Show. Finally, he made a sound, "Hmmm... This is the first Gibson I've ever seen that has left the factory without a drop of finish on it.

And there isn't a drop of finish on that bad boy. Anywhere. With all the inspections and stuff, I don't see how one could slip by. And if it was intentional, I don't understand why Gibson would do such a thing. Without a protective coat of something- anything- to keep the funk out. You can still see where the pawn shop price tag was. And it sure does soak up the handsweat.

But seriously... My curiosity is peaking. For some reason I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Does ANYone have some insight? Can someone please tell me why it would leave the factory unfinished? Me no comprenday.

 

Thanks!

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Don't know about the E-2 mate, but it's not the first time I've heard of it. The Tom Scholz LP has no finish on the front. Way back just before Boston started up, Tom took his (I believe) '68, sanded all the finish off the front, and put a P90 in the neck and a DP100SD in the bridge. Did some kind of fussin' with the pots too. He's still got it.

 

 

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Collectors-Choice-10-Tom-Scholz-1968-Les-Paul.aspx

 

link to the guitar.

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Don't know about the E-2 mate, but it's not the first time I've heard of it. The Tom Scholz LP has no finish on the front. Way back just before Boston started up, Tom took his (I believe) '68, sanded all the finish off the front, and put a P90 in the neck and a DP100SD in the bridge. Did some kind of fussin' with the pots too. He's still got it.

 

 

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Collectors-Choice-10-Tom-Scholz-1968-Les-Paul.aspx

 

link to the guitar.

Yes, Mick Ronson also sanded the finish of the top of his Les Paul Custom. I'm not sure, but I think Marc Bolan may have done this as well. I think I'll leave mine alone.

 

Ian

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Yes, Mick Ronson also sanded the finish of the top of his Les Paul Custom. I'm not sure, but I think Marc Bolan may have done this as well. I think I'll leave mine alone.

 

Ian

 

They probably did that in the 70s, right? When finishes were evil and unnatural and many a Fiesta Red Strat or Pelham Blue Melody Maker got stripped. Because we all know how important it is to allow a solid body to breathe. [rolleyes]

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There's no way a guitar made it through inspection without somebody noticing there was no finish on it. Those were the days that they were still selling factory seconds with almost invisible finish flaws. They were definitely looking at the finish.

 

Like the other forum members above, your E2 must have been stripped or made that way. Gibson was making The Paul and The SG and the Firebrand SG's and LP's back then with no gloss finish. But, I've never seen an E2 or V2 without a finish on them.

 

BTW, we are talking about the E2 with the multi-piece maple and mahogany body and neck, right? Is it marked as a second or have a 2 below the serial number?

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I've seen Gibson semi-hollow guitars (want to say 335 but memory is not that good) advertised without finish a couple of times. Maybe on eBay but I'm not sure.

The story was that the guitar was sent out to various artists (paint type not musicians) to have fanciful paint scheme then to be returned to Gibson for final finish.The guitar being advertised had supposedly not been painted or returned and had been setting for a few years. Never bought or followed up on them so don't really know much more.

Does anybody else remember these?

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  • 2 weeks later...

<BTW, we are talking about the E2 with the multi-piece maple and mahogany body and neck, right? Is it marked as a second or have a 2 below the serial number? >

 

Yes. The guitar in question is the multi-piece maple and mahogany body and neck. And I even got out a magnifying glass to look for that 2 you were asking about. There isn't one.

And as with most of my Gibsons, it's a 79, not 80. I don't know why I was thinking it was an 80.

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Yes. The guitar in question is the multi-piece maple and mahogany body and neck. And I even got out a magnifying glass to look for that 2 you were asking about. There isn't one.

And as with most of my Gibsons, it's a 79, not 80. I don't know why I was thinking it was an 80.

Then, it's not a factory second. My guess is that somebody stripped the original clear finish off. That would be easy to do with a good solvent and you might be able to do that without leaving any finish anywhere.

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Stripping wouldn't necessarily remove the finish inside the control cavity... unless it was very professionally done.

 

If it was totally unfinished it might have been ordered that way... could've been intended for outdoor or cold weather playing.

 

Or maybe it's the "Phoenix Dust-Storm" model. [biggrin]:rolleyes:

 

Perchance, might we see some pics? Hmmm?!

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post-70324-027422200 1424651980_thumb.jpg

post-70324-029169400 1424652018_thumb.jpg

Here's a couple pics. Trying to add a couple more. And I had to black out (or red out) a couple digits in the serial number just to keep myself from wondering why I posted a photo of the serial number. But that one is to show that it isn't a second.

Man. It was nice to have it out of its case again. Its got such a good feel. And its amazing how a Gibson hangs just like a Gibson when you strap one on. This is shaped nothing like my LP Custom or SG, but it's balanced perfectly to hang just like them. The right hand naturally positions itself where it does on all my beloved Gibsons. Well... Except for the EDS 1275 for obvious reasons. Oh.. My acoustic and EB-O hang differently too. Well, maybe not the EB-O. I'm gonna have to check. It is short-scale, but I don't use a pic on bass, so I never really thought too much about that one.

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... The right hand naturally positions itself where it does on all my beloved Gibsons.

...

Basically my right hand positions itself nicely on all of my guitars, but my right forearm finds the by far most comfortable position on my Explorer.

 

Perhaps Eric Clapton did that "elbow cut" on his one because he wanted her to feel like any other guitar? ;)

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Here's a couple more pics. You can see where the guitar has absorbed my drool and sweat. That's what really makes me wonder why anyone would not have anything protecting it. Without finish, it's just not finished. And you can kinda see where the pawn shop price tag was when I got the thing over 20 years ago.

And the other pic is of the cavity. Man. If this guitar had finish on it when it left the factory, someone was crazy anti-finish. You'd have to be really really psycho to not want finish on there to go through whatever this guy did to get rid of it all. Like it was UFO spy finish or something.post-70324-064857800 1424653914_thumb.jpg post-70324-080888600 1424654004_thumb.jpg

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