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Question about my Les Paul Classic


rosetree

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I figure if somebody can tell me more about my guitar, it would be someone in this forum.

A number of years ago I bought my Gibson Les Paul Classic in a local used guitar shop (now closed).

It was one of the only LPs they had that I could afford.

I haven't played it much but I opened the case the other day and started reading bout this particular model.

Some questions.

 

The serial number is 1 3074

There is a space between the 1 and the other four numbers.

 

Does the serial number mean 1991 or 2001?

I searched it and it said it could be either but i keep reading that 01 means 2001 and this means 1991.

 

question 2

 

I see that Les Paul Classics generally come with uncovered pickups. Does this automatically mean the previous owner changed out the pickups or did some come from the factory like this.

I could take it to a tech to check out -- and I likely will some day but I thought I'd ask here first.

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who has answers for me.

post-23741-034722100 1537122688_thumb.jpg

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1 3074 would definitely indicate a 1991 and yes; as you have previously noted a 2001 would start with 01.

 

Pickups were always uncovered but some players (myself included) simply put aftermarket covers on for a more traditional appearance. Whether the ones fitted are the originals is impossible to tell from that snap but the originals would have been the very hot 496 / 500 ceramic pairing. Have a look at the solder in the potentiometer cavity. If the wiring to the pots/caps looks untouched then the p'ups might well be the originals which have been covered. If the solder joints look to be post-factory then they might well have been swapped-in/out (the ceramics were not to everyones' tastes).

 

Pip.

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Excellent reply. Thanks for the information.

 

1 3074 would definitely indicate a 1991 and yes; as you have previously noted a 2001 would start with 01.

 

Pickups were always uncovered but some players (myself included) simply put aftermarket covers on for a more traditional appearance. Whether the ones fitted are the originals is impossible to tell from that snap but the originals would have been the very hot 496 / 500 ceramic pairing. Have a look at the solder in the potentiometer cavity. If the wiring to the pots/caps looks untouched then the p'ups might well be the originals which have been covered. If the solder joints look to be post-factory then they might well have been swapped-in/out (the ceramics were not to everyones' tastes).

 

Pip.

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Happy to help.

 

A little bit of the early history of the '1960 Classic' just in case you have not yet read it anywhere and might be interested...

 

The early '1960 Classic' (1989 - circa 1995) examples are slightly more sought-after than the ones which came after this date. When the 1960 Classic was introduced the Historic Division's (later Custom Shop) 'proper' re-issue instruments were still some years off production (these were finally introduced in 1993). There were some instruments made by Gibson which more closely resembled the original '58 - '60 Sunburst Standards and these are now referred to as 'Pre-Historics' and were almost double the price of the LP Standard of the day. The '1960 Classic' had many features of the Pre-Historics and were priced roughly half-way between the Standard and these Top-of-the-Range offerings. Once the Re-Issues became available, however, it was noted that many players who might be in the market for a Re-Issue were buying the less-expensive 1960 Classic so, starting in around '95, some of the Historically-accurate details were abandoned to put some free-space between the two models in the range. The 1960 Classic was to go through quite a few of these detail changes over the next decade.

 

Pip.

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Very cool.

Many thanks.

Happy to help.

 

A little bit of the early history of the '1960 Classic' just in case you have not yet read it anywhere and might be interested...

 

The early '1960 Classic' (1989 - circa 1995) examples are slightly more sought-after than the ones which came after this date. When the 1960 Classic was introduced the Historic Division's (later Custom Shop) 'proper' re-issue instruments were still some years off production (these were finally introduced in 1993). There were some instruments made by Gibson which more closely resembled the original '58 - '60 Sunburst Standards and these are now referred to as 'Pre-Historics' and were almost double the price of the LP Standard of the day. The '1960 Classic' had many features of the Pre-Historics and were priced roughly half-way between the Standard and these Top-of-the-Range offerings. Once the Re-Issues became available, however, it was noted that many players who might be in the market for a Re-Issue were buying the less-expensive 1960 Classic so, starting in around '95, some of the Historically-accurate details were abandoned to put some free-space between the two models in the range. The 1960 Classic was to go through quite a few of these detail changes over the next decade.

 

Pip.

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  • 3 months later...

Update --- here's a shot of the pickup. Not a PAF --- One with the patent number. Begging the question, did somebody swap out pickups with vintage ones that predate the guitar or just one set up 90s Gibson pickups with a different set. Still a bit confused about this.

post-23741-081655100 1547075449_thumb.jpg

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