[Rickyu81]

Hello my name is Ricky. I have been playing for 17 years on and off. I finally purchased a used Gibson les Paul. A 1984 Gibson les Paul studio standard custom with original Tim shaw pick ups, everything on it is original, and even got the original case. Does anyone know of a site that can give you an idea of the value of my guitar? I can not find it no where and when I got it professionally set up at guitar center the tech was amazed at how beautiful this guitar is and said he has never seen one like it. When I picked it up the worker said I should be able to get $2,500 if I should sell it. But he is not someone who appraises guitars. Thank you for your time. I have other guitars too, but I love my gibson. I hope to own a custom soon

[Rickyu81]

[kidblast]

Hi,

A reasonably good way to find out the value of gear is to look for ended auctions on Ebay

This link is to an 1988 studio standard, winning bid was $1,300. the seller claims to have purchased it at a GC for $1,600

So somewhere in between those two numbers, could be some what of a ball park for yours.

http://www.ebay.com/...D-/200820207359


Gruhn and Elderly will appraise for you for a fee, but I am not sure it's necessary unless you were looking to have something very "vintage" valued.

Here's some links:
www.gruhn.com/
www.elderly.com/

[kidblast]

Did some checking on this, I was curious about the origin of the Studio Standard. According to a book I have, which seems a pretty complete history of Les Pauls, they were made from 1984 till 1987. (the book referenced: The Gibson Les Paul Book - A Complete History of Les Paul Guitars - Tony Bacon & Paul Day)

So the one on that Ebay link could not be from 1988.

But regardless of the year, the only thing I can see is Gibson added neck and body bindings. Not a lot of info on any thing else that would differentiate this from a regular Les Paul Studio (non-figured top, dot inlays for example)

Just thought I'd follow up on this.

Cheers.

[Rickyu81]

That's my problem this guitar has never been on ebay. And one time on craigslist in nj and i picked it up. They made these guitars from 1983 to 1986. It's the first version of the studio. But when i went to get my gibson set up due to a buzz from having thicker strings the guitat tech was amazed. He told me it is built just like a standard. Tripple binding and all. He thought i swaped the standard truss rod cover for a studio. There is and 85 studio standard on ebay for $1,500 the other day. I've seen a 85 studio standard go for $2,000 in the past on ebay too. But all the studio standards i saw were not 100% original like mine. Some had the tim shaws swaped out, and all had new tuning keys, and new tone and volume knobs. A standard this year averages around $2,500 and a custom around $3,000. And having the tim shaw pick ups is amazing. It might just be one of those things where it is only worth what someone will pay for it. I know this guitar is super rare and that doesn't always mean it's worth a fortune. I almost traded it for a brand new 2012 gibson les paul custom classic. Dude said no tho.

[Rickyu81]

My bibson after being professionally set up

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[george panis]

nice guitars!!

[Rickyu81]

george panis, on 13 November 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

nice guitars!!

Thank you

[pippy]

Nice guitar.

As kidblast has already said the Studio Standard was made between '84 and '87.
It's possible the one in the ebay listing was finished at the very end of '87/start of '88 and received an '88 serial number - though as he doesn't mention the number we'll never know for sure.

It was introduced as a half-way house between the Studio and the Standard of the time. It has single-ply binding to the top of the body as per the Standard but dot inlays like the Studio.

Rare? Compared to a Standard, yes, but as they were perceived to be neither one thing nor the other they didn't have mass appeal - hence their short life-span in the catalogue.
There was also a Studio Custom version offered with multi-ply binding but still with the dot inlays. It's reception was even less enthusiastic and it only lasted for two years; '84 and '85.

I'm sure it's a very nice guitar to play. The basic Studio is a generally a great guitar to play and yours, obviously, is a slightly fancier version of that.
I wouldn't hold out too much hope of getting $2,500 for it though.

Incidentally, there is a thread on a Forum member's Studio Custom over in the Les Paul section. Look under 'Rita'.

P.

[Fergus12]

Wow, superb!

[Rickyu81]

pippy, on 14 November 2012 - 07:27 AM, said:

Nice guitar.

As kidblast has already said the Studio Standard was made between '84 and '87.
It's possible the one in the ebay listing was finished at the very end of '87/start of '88 and received an '88 serial number - though as he doesn't mention the number we'll never know for sure.

It was introduced as a half-way house between the Studio and the Standard of the time. It has single-ply binding to the top of the body as per the Standard but dot inlays like the Studio.

Rare? Compared to a Standard, yes, but as they were perceived to be neither one thing nor the other they didn't have mass appeal - hence their short life-span in the catalogue.
There was also a Studio Custom version offered with multi-ply binding but still with the dot inlays. It's reception was even less enthusiastic and it only lasted for two years; '84 and '85.

I'm sure it's a very nice guitar to play. The basic Studio is a generally a great guitar to play and yours, obviously, is a slightly fancier version of that.
I wouldn't hold out too much hope of getting $2,500 for it though.

Incidentally, there is a thread on a Forum member's Studio Custom over in the Les Paul section. Look under 'Rita'.

P.

I was told mine has a triple binding buy the guitar tech. The guy i bought it off of said it is a 1984 studio standard custom. I love this guitar and posted a couple videos in the recording section. Probably have to repost to walk the walk section. Thank you about the info to check out the studio custom section. I will check that out.



Studio Custom
The Studio Custom was produced during 84-85. It was introduced before the design of the Studio was finalized, and mostly had the features of a Standard with a variety of features mixed in from other models. It had a mahogany neck and mahogany body with a maple top, single-ply binding around the neck and three-ply binding around the body, and gold hardware with black pickup rings and pick guard. The 1984 models had two-piece tops, while '85 models had three-piece tops. The fingerboard was made from rosewood on some models, ebony on others, and had Mother of Pearl dots for inlays, instead of the usual trapezoids. The neck profile was slim-tapered, like a Standard, and the frets were low, like a "Fretless Wonder" Custom. According to limited information from guitar forums, some of these had the sought-after Tim Shaw pickups.

Studio Standard
The Studio Standard was produced during 1984-86, and was very similar to the Studio Custom, including the "dot" inlays, but had a single-ply binding around the body, chrome hardware, and white pickup rings and pick guard. It was also available in different colors, such as Cherry Sunburst and Ferrari Red.

Mine seems to be made of both studio custom and studio standard. Guess that is why th guy said it isbabtudio standard custom. I know the $2,500 price is a little far fetch but don't plan on selling it. Just wondering if I got a good deal

[pippy]

Rickyu81, on 14 November 2012 - 09:04 PM, said:

I was told mine has a triple binding buy the guitar tech. The guy i bought it off of said it is a 1984 studio standard custom....

The Studio Custom was produced during 84-85. It was introduced before the design of the Studio was finalized...

Mine seems to be made of both studio custom and studio standard. Guess that is why the guy said it is a studio standard custom....

Well, for starters the Studio was introduced in '83 - i.e. one year before the Studio Standard and Studio Custom.
Finalized the design? They still change the spec of the Studio models every few years even after 30 years of production.

This is a Studio Custom. Look at the binding. White-black-white-black-white-black-white. Is the binding on your guitar the same as this?



If it IS the same as this then you have a Studio Custom.

If it ISN'T the same as this - if there is one layer of cream binding - you have a Studio Standard.

And next time you see your guitar tech you might tell him that Les Paul Standards have never had triple binding in all their 60 years of production.

Still, as I said earlier, nice guitar.

P.

[Rickyu81]

Yeah mine just has the single cream binding. I'm no guitar luthier so I only go by what I am told. Dude said my guitar is built like a standard. And did say something about triple binding. Maybe I should go back and say you want it for 2,500 and then go get a custom. The guy I bought it off of said if I ever want to sell it back in 3 months, 6 months, a year, 2 years, or even 3 years to call him. He was a drummer who wanted a new drum set. He loved this guitar and took great care of it. I hope next summer to pick up a standard or custom. Any certain years I should be looking at? I know a 59 orb60 is way out of my range. Anything under $3,000. I would love an ebony 81 custom or dessert burst 2012. Thank you again for the info.

[Rickyu81]

Looks to be single binding. I love the glossy shine

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[pippy]

As I've said all along; yours is a nice-looking guitar. If it plays as good as it looks then I'd say just keep it - as long as you didn't pay over the odds for it, of course.

If you do plan on swapping it there are plenty of guitars out there for under $3,000. You could probably get an Ebony Custom for that price depending on where you live.
Check ebay/craigslist and look at the 'Completed' price - that is to say what the instruments actually sold for as opposed to the asking price.

Also it seems like there's a 'fire-sale' mentality in the USA just now where stores are discounting prices like crazy. Bargains are there for the asking.

With Les Pauls there is no 'Good' or 'Bad' year. The guitars are still to a large extent finished by hand and vary from one to the next - even within the same model and same year.

But yours is a bit more unusual than a normal Standard and unusual can be quite interesting.

Good luck.

P.

[Twang Gang]

Cool axe. The main difference between Standards or Custom LPs and studio models has always been the Studio didn't have binding, often didn't have a pick guard and many have dot markers instead of larger crown, splits etc. Your guitar would appear to be almost a full blown Les Paul except is has dot markers. A rare find, and like you mention - it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay you for it. Doubt it is one of a kind - put pretty sure not many were made that way. Enjoy it.

[Rickyu81]

Twang Gang, on 06 January 2013 - 07:54 PM, said:

Cool axe. The main difference between Standards or Custom LPs and studio models has always been the Studio didn't have binding, often didn't have a pick guard and many have dot markers instead of larger crown, splits etc. Your guitar would appear to be almost a full blown Les Paul except is has dot markers. A rare find, and like you mention - it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay you for it. Doubt it is one of a kind - put pretty sure not many were made that way. Enjoy it.

I don't think i would ever sell this guitar. I have only seen this one and only this one on craigslist. And only 3 on ebay this year. But 2 weren't all original. Thank you for the compliment. Def rare to see one for sale tho.

[scottishrogue]

Ricky, to answer your first question about the current value of your guitar, I would agree that checking the eBay sold list for a model that (as closely as possible) matches yours. Another idea you may want to consider. I use "The Blue Book of Electric Guitars" or "The Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars" as I have used it to try and get a lower price from a seller. It doesn't always work, but it does sometimes. Another thing about these 2 books...it gives a very accurate description of what changes have been made for each model listed and when those changes were made. Only drawback is that for the current edition, it will put you out a few bucks.

I found out that the salesman who sold me my very first name brand guitar was lying through his teeth about the year it was made. It turned out to be a used model that he represented as new. And the only way I was able to determine that is the manufacturere made major changes on a few things on this model. As it turns out my guitar is finally beginning to increase in value now, because it is considered quite rare. I was planning to give it away, but decided it would be wise to hold on to it for a few more years. I'm not emotionally attached to it, but I have to admit, it is one very good sounding axe and nice to look at, with a lot of intricate marquetry that is becoming increasing difficult to find in newer models.

Glen