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Early 70's Les Paul custom? (Updated w/more pics)


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Luke,

 

Quite a mystery, that guitar.

 

The serial number would indicate that it was made in Gibson's factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1963.

 

The overall hardware condition looks old and corroded, much like 1980's vintage.

 

The pickup covers are new and shiny, and the two microswitches are aftermarket.

 

The truss rod cover that displays 'Les Paul Custom' looks new, but the screws holding it on are old and rusty.

 

The Gibson logo and pearl inlays on the head-stock look hinky to me.

I can't tell if that's because they are old, or if they are indicative of a counterfeit guitar.

 

(My gut tells me it's quite possibly a fake, or a cobbled-together Franken-paul.)

 

I don't know.

I haven't had enough coffee yet this morning.

 

Anybody else have any thoughts?

:mellow:

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This is true, Luke.

 

Early Gibson serial numbers can be a bit of a mess.

I used the Guitar Dater Project, by the way, and used their 'vintage discriminators/filters to narrow down the date to 1963 and Kalamazoo.

 

My concern about the headstock 'Gibson' icon and pearl inlays is how rough around the edges they are.

I don't know, man.

I haven't handled or bought many vintage instruments.

(With the exception of my early 1970's Gibson Les Paul Deluxe gold-top, and that was MANY years ago..)

 

 

I do hope it's genuine, for your sake.

Very cool old guitar.

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Hi,

 

New to the forum and am looking to get some info on this guitar. It appears to be an early '70s Les Paul custom that someone put two mini toggle switches into. Doesnt appear to have a whole lot of original hardware on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1552/26273636051_a8f5589e8c_k.jpg

 

 

From the provided pics looks legit to me, seen lots of headstock logos looking like that on older LPs. Pick up covers are newer and thus I suspect the pick ups replaced. Toggles indicate 4 wire pick ups for split or such, which is a common mod particularly before push/pull pots came along. Only thing standing out to me is the nibs (but hard to see in the pic) but this could have been refretted and losing nibs with a refret isnt uncommon either.

 

Johnny

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I'm pretty sure it's had a refret. I've got some 10-20 year old guitars with more fret wear than this. The pickups were definitely replaced as was most of the hardware on it.

 

Real or not, it sounds great, plays great, and didn't cost me anything (given to me by a family member).

 

I should mention that the serial number and made in USA are stamped on the headstock (not sure if that's clear in the pics)

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From the provided pics looks legit to me, seen lots of headstock logos looking like that on older LPs. Pick up covers are newer and thus I suspect the pick ups replaced. Toggles indicate 4 wire pick ups for split or such, which is a common mod particularly before push/pull pots came along. Only thing standing out to me is the nibs (but hard to see in the pic) but this could have been refretted and losing nibs with a refret isnt uncommon either.

 

Johnny

All correct, and expected.

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I added a couple more pictures of some suspicious spots on this guitar

 

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1444/25749945093_e9124699fc_h.jpg

 

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1683/26260309582_4927deeff9_h.jpg

 

I know this supposedly a pancake style body but I'm not sure if there's supposed to be this many pieces on each half. Also there's some paint on the binding...

 

The mystery unfolds...

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Been refretted for sure, but I still say 100% legit, I think its a great looker too, hope you enjoy many years of putting your own wear and tear on it.

 

edit: dont think its later than '74, but if you wanted to post opics of the pots (so long as they are original we could probably narrow it done a bit more)

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Pots are not original... Story of this guitar... It belonged to my father in law who was letting me play it. He's more into fixing them. Last night he decided to give it to me as an early birthday present. When he got it originally, it had Seymour Duncan pickups, brass or gold hardware (knobs, tuners, truss rod cover, etc) and non original pots. He's had it for several years and has been slowly trying to find period correct parts to put back on it. He had a pair of '80s era Original Bill Lawrence pickups he put in, as he thought they'd be better than what was in there (they sound amazing btw). So since it's now mine, I'm trying to find out a bit more about it. It plays great, sounds great, and I think looks great too. Since it's a gift, I'll probably never sell it but am just trying to get some more info about it. Thanks everyone for all your help

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Pots are not original... Story of this guitar... It belonged to my father in law who was letting me play it (he's not much of a player). He's more into fixing them. Last night he decided to give it to me as an early birthday present. When he got it originally, it had Seymour Duncan pickups, brass or gold hardware (knobs, tuners, truss rod cover, etc) and non original pots. He's had it for several years and has been slowly trying to find period correct parts to put back on it. He had a pair of '80s era Original Bill Lawrence pickups he put in, as he thought they'd be better than what was in there (they sound amazing btw). So since it's now mine, I'm trying to find out a bit more about it. It plays great, sounds great, and I think looks great too. Since it's a gift, I'll probably never sell it but am just trying to get some more info about it. Thanks everyone for all your help

 

 

 

cool story! with that additional info, you'll probably never be able to date it much more accurately than early 70s

 

 

enjoy!

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