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I DON"T KNOW WHAT I HAVE!!!! please help!


slvrbrst

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My fiance (now wife) bought me a LP while I was overseas last year, and I've been struggling to find out exactly what it is ever since. The guitar center employee told her it was a Custom Silverburst, one of only 500 made--I think he said it was a 2007 "reissue" of the original silverburst LP.

 

Thing is, there are apparently multiple versions of a silverburst that gibson has made, and I don't know which (if any) mine is, or exactly what year it was made, or exactly what it's specs are.

 

It has the "newer" style of silverburst (not teardrop shaped like the originals). The headstock has the "vase-like" inlay (I don't know what it's actually called), not the more common trapeziod-shaped inlay. "Made in USA" is stamped on the back of the headstock, right below a painted (or printed?) serial number: GC 437. That doesn't match any of the info I've been able to track down on LP serial numbers. The truss rod cover appears to be legit--two screws only, and "Les Paul" in a cursive script on it.

 

I've been told it's a Custom Shop guitar, I've been told it's a Classic Custom, and I've been told it's a Limited Edition. I can't be sure, but I think that those three are mutually exclusive.

 

Can anyone help me out? I am nonplussed. I would just send my reciept to gibson, but right now I really don't wanna just send off my only proof (god forbid) that GC sold me a fake Les Paul. It's the first LP I've ever owned or even played, and it's waaay nicer than any other guitar I've ever played.....but how would I know if it's legit?

 

Thanks for any help!

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Hey man, welcome, what you need to do is create a photobucket.com account and then upload your pics there... then copy the "img code" and paste here.

 

 

The guitar center employee told her it was a Custom Silverburst.

 

Let me guess.... the guitar is purple.=D> (really... dont trust those GC idiots... most of the time they dont know what they are talking about).

 

 

 

It has the "newer" style of silverburst (not teardrop shaped like the originals). The headstock has the "vase-like" inlay (I don't know what it's actually called)' date=' not the more common trapeziod-shaped inlay. "Made in USA" is stamped on the back of the headstock, right below a painted (or printed?) serial number: GC 437. That doesn't match any of the info I've been able to track down on LP serial numbers. The truss rod cover appears to be legit--two screws only, and "Les Paul" in a cursive script on it.

[/quote']

 

Sadly 2 screw TRCs are noo longer proof of authenticity.

 

Sounds like you have one of the special eds sold by GC, a standard silverbust (customs came with the "teardrop" finish didnt they? any of you silverbursted guys can help me here?)

 

 

 

I've been told it's a Custom Shop guitar' date=' I've been told it's a Classic Custom, and I've been told it's a Limited Edition.

[/quote']

 

Not a custom shop model, that's for sure.

Dont know if the classic custom came in silverburst finish... :-k

As I said before, maybe one of those GC special editions...

 

 

Post some pics so some of the guys can tell you what model it is.

 

If you bought it NEW at GC chances are it is a real gibson.

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Ok, let's see if I do this right =D>

 

DSCN0356.jpg

 

DSCN0359.jpg

 

DSCN0361.jpg

 

DSCN0358.jpg

 

DSCN0355.jpg

 

DSCN0354.jpg

 

Lol, looks like some of them are upside-down..... hope you can still see what you need to. Oh yeah, in the pic of the back of the headstock, you can just barely make out the "made in usa" stamp. I know the lighting is wrong to really read it, but trust me, it's stamped there, below the serial number.

 

Another "oh yeah...." It came with an owners manual--I guesss....it's a non-specific les paul info booklet about the size of a 3x5 card, with 30-some pages. It also came with a gibson hardcase, which is what you see in the pics.

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Sorry to ask this (and its just out of curiosity) what did the manual say?

 

 

Anyway, I think its a GC special ed silverbust standard (S/N starts with GC anyway...), it looks legit, as far as the pics show it is a gibson les paul, the only thing that bothers me is the tuners... but that's just me.

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Sorry to ask this (and its just out of curiosity) what did the manual say?

 

 

Anyway' date=' I think its a GC special ed silverbust standard (S/N starts with GC anyway...), it looks legit, as far as the pics show it is a gibson les paul, the only thing that bothers me is the tuners... but that's just me.[/quote']

 

 

The manual wasn't really a manual...it was more like a "hey congrats on your gibson: here's some non-specific info on what a gibson is and how to take care of it."

 

That was one of the things that bugged me about it.

 

Also, I don't even know what GC means....?

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Relax, you're OK. You have the same model that I do. It's a Gibson Les Paul Standard Limited Edition Silverburst. As Thundergod said, it is a Les Paul made by Gibson only for Guitar Center. Mine has the same tuners, serial number type, inlays, etc. It comes without a pickguard. It's a great guitar. Be happy. Mine plays and sounds like a dream. Here are a couple of pics.

 

LP009.jpg

LP026.jpg

 

I didn't have any pics of my headstock (they all came out blurry), but it's just like yours. You have BB Pro pickups on there as well. BTW, your wife did you a great service. She didn't get taken.

 

SilverLesterStd

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You know what' date=' I just noticed... there are 2 members that I remember have guitars like yours... I'll ask them and see what they say... [/quote']

 

I know that Silverbursted used to have one of these, but I think he sold it to fund the RIs he aquired. Oh BTW, I don't think these guitars were "limited" to 500. My axe has GC 54X.

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another case solved by the detectives at gibson forums. bravo and surfinalien i wish my wife bought me a les paul!

 

Hey, thanks for all the input, guys. You've set my mind at ease! And yes, I'm redonkulously lucky. I came home on leave for a couple weeks, and took my fiance to best buy to get her a wii--for some reason, BB had one of the 58 reissues on display right at the front door. She said she saw the look on my face when I saw it and knew she had to get me a real nice guitar as a wedding/welcome home/engagement present, and started asking my friends what to get me. Fortunately, one of my buddies said she should either get me a real nice ibanez (JS1000) or a les paul. She took his advice and went to GC, pointed at the most expensive LP they had on display, and said "I want that. I like the color!"

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Great guitar. Ive got a 2004 les paul limited edition and I love it , dare I say its just a little more than a standard with the ebony neck,white binding , nickle jacksocket ,nice les paul truss rod cover, photes never do these guitars justice.=D>

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Thing is' date=' there are apparently multiple versions of a silverburst that gibson has made, and I don't know which (if any) mine is, or exactly what year it was made, or exactly what it's specs are.

 

I've been told it's a Custom Shop guitar, I've been told it's a Classic Custom, and I've been told it's a Limited Edition. I can't be sure, but I think that those three are mutually exclusive.

 

It's the first LP I've ever owned or even played, and it's waaay nicer than any other guitar I've ever played.....but how would I know if it's legit?

 

Thanks for any help![/quote']

 

Well, I don't agree with SilverLesterStd. Your Silverburst Les Paul is a 'Classic Custom' made for GC, NOT A STANDARD. My first thought was: 'Classic Custom' (watch the headstock inlay and ebony fretboard!). Here you can read about yours: http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/graphics/landingpage/gibsonoftheweek/sub514156.jpg&imgrefurl=http://les-paul-guitar.blogspot.com/2007/05/gibson-les-paul-silverburst-classic.html&usg=__BZrAk1hZrAy6vfnQb7vcTfr-qYs=&h=195&w=195&sz=8&hl=nl&start=16&um=1&tbnid=Vba7uP903ejNkM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsilverburst%2Bgibson%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dnl

 

It's a beautiful guitar and beautiful gift for sure; hang on to it bro. Without the ebony fretboard a Silverburst wouldn't look right. The ebony fretboard also gives the Silverburst its unmistakable 'Les Paul Custom' tone.

 

Gibson didn't make many 'official' Silverbursts; all of them are rare and not produced in large numbers. Most of them are LIMITED REISSUES made for GC.

 

The original Silverburst Les Paul is the Custom Silverburst from the 70's and 80's. I own a Custom Shop Silverburst Les Paul Standard (Showcase Edition) from 1988 (with ebony fretboard); 200 of these Showcase Edition guitars were produced and only about 20 (or even less) of them in the Silverburst color (month June). The back is all black with the original Silverburst paint on the top of the guitar; it also turned green over time.

 

Silverburst Les Pauls (made for GC or not) are still somewhat more valuable than others and all of them are made only in limited numbers.

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SilverLesterStd and Surfinalien:

 

You both have the 'Classic Custom'.

 

There were 5 limited RI's of the Silverburst Les Paul:

 

1) Classic Custom Silverburst (ebony fretboard/57 Classic pups)

 

ClassicCustomSilverburst.gif

 

2) Limited Edition LP Standard Silverburst (rosewood fretboard/BB Pro pups)

 

SilverburstLimitedEdition.jpg

 

3) Custom Shop LP Custom Silverburst (ebony fretboard/490R, 498T pickups)

 

CustomShopLPCustomSilverburst.jpg

 

4) Custom Shop LP Custom Silverburst All Mahogany, Triple Pickup (ebony fretboard BB2 bridge/middle, BB1 neck)

 

TripleSilverburstChustomSHop.jpg

 

5) Custom Shop LP Standard Silverburst (rosewood fretboard/Burstbucker Pro pups)

 

CustomShopLPStandardSilverburst.jpg

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Sorry Bram, but I'm going to have to stay with my belief that both mine and Surfinalien's guitars are Gibson Les Paul Standard Limited Edition models offered exclusively by Guitar Center. The main visual reason for my thinking is the tuner type. The Custom Classic has keystone tuners. Our guitars have the smaller oval shaped vintage tuners.

 

The only other difference I know of are that mine & Surfalien's axes have Burstbucker Pro Classic pups and the Custom Classic has 57 Classic pups. Here is a link to the type of LP Standard we have.

 

Link

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Well, that's really confusing, especially after seeing this article about the 'Limited Editon Gibson Les Paul Standard Silverburst':

 

http://images.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://www.triplerguitar.com/store/media/images/product_detail/Image2086.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.triplerguitar.com/item--Gibson-Les-Paul-Standard-Limited-Silverburst--gibson-les-paul-std-silverburs.html&usg=__uMyfh2JR5gXoFz7syTRASGUybUI=&h=648&w=972&sz=170&hl=nl&start=9&um=1&tbnid=Es_VyYDvsG_2hM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGibson%2BLes%2BPaul%2BClassic%2BSilverburst%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dnl%26sa%3DN

 

Copy and paste the whole link, then you'll see.

 

It looks exactly the same as yours, but this one has a rosewood fingerboard (as its a LP 'Standard' and not a 'Custom').

 

The Custom Shop Les Paul Standard also has a rosewood fingerboard.

 

The Classic Custom has an ebony fingerboard.

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Well, I was right in my earlier post.

 

You have the Classic Custom (with its '57 classic

pickups/ebony fretboard/classic custom headstock in-

lay), believe it or not.

 

This is the Gibson Les Paul Standard Limited Editon (with

the Burstbucker Pro classic pickups/rosewood fretboard/

LP Standard headstock inlay):

 

1) http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Standard!-RARE-Silverburst-Finish-MINT!_W0QQitemZ260351542161QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090125?IMSfp=TL090125074005r33531

 

2) http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Standard-Silverburst-Limited_W0QQitemZ150326947581QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item150326947581&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

 

This is the Gibson Les Paul Classic Custom Silverburst (with

its 57 classic humbuckers/ebony fretboard/classic custom head-

stock inlay):

 

1) http://www.zuitar.com/guitar/100719-Les_Paul_Classic_Custom_Silverburst.html

 

2) http://cgi.ebay.com/USED-GIBSON-LES-PAUL-CLASSIC-CUSTOM-SILVERBURST-_W0QQitemZ230323683030QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090205?IMSfp=TL090205153005r16527

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