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Help ID my les Paul


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I bought a les Paul about 8 years ago. I have been trying to find out how old it is and what kind it is. I thought I had the year figured out but I might be wrong. I bought it to a friend today who has books on les Pauls and couldn't pin point the year. He also found some things that are different from other Paul's. He also doesn't think it's a copy. I need an expert Gibson Les Paul's to help me figure this out. The number on it is 80674530

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I bought a les Paul about 8 years ago. I have been trying to find out how old it is and what kind it is. I thought I had the year figured out but I might be wrong. I bought it to a friend today who has books on les Pauls and couldn't pin point the year. He also found some things that are different from other Paul's. He also doesn't think it's a copy. I need an expert Gibson Les Paul's to help me figure this out. The number on it is 80674530

 

If your Gibson Les Paul is genuine, it was made in 1984, mid-March. If you give me some specifics about your guitar I might be able ID it. The color, the headstock design, words on the truss rod cover, the pick guard, location of the cable jack, the binding, the tuning machines, etc. It could be a Deluxe, Custom, Standard, Studio, or Traditional.

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If your Gibson Les Paul is genuine, it was made in 1984, mid-March. If you give me some specifics about your guitar I might be able ID it. The color, the headstock design, words on the truss rod cover, the pick guard, location of the cable jack, the binding, the tuning machines, etc. It could be a Deluxe, Custom, Standard, Studio, or Traditional.

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If your Gibson Les Paul is genuine, it was made in 1984, mid-March. If you give me some specifics about your guitar I might be able ID it. The color, the headstock design, words on the truss rod cover, the pick guard, location of the cable jack, the binding, the tuning machines, etc. It could be a Deluxe, Custom, Standard, Studio, or Traditional.

 

 

post-53429-046258800 1360527794_thumb.jpg post-53429-002634500 1360528418_thumb.jpgpost-53429-097344000 1360528404_thumb.jpgpost-53429-014206000 1360528393_thumb.jpgpost-53429-066820300 1360528376_thumb.jpg here is some pics

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Are you serious?

 

If you were trying to prove the guitar is a fake then I must say you've done a very good job.

 

If, however, you wish it to be proved genuine then you must do an awful lot better. Those pictures are utterly useless in determining the authenticity of the guitar in question.

 

FWIW (and considering the rubbishy pictures you have given us to work on, I dont really give a sh!t) it looks to be a really crappy fake.

 

FFS, try to help us; otherwise forget it.

 

P.

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Pippy, be nice now.

 

The first thing that stands out for me is the truss rod cover...not original. Also the logo on the headstock should be MOP, not gold stencil or decal. Also, the double humbuckers could be aftermarket, but I'm not positive if they were included on any original models. Gibson LPs usually come with single coil mini-humbuckers with the magnets facing away from each other. It's not a "Studio" model, as they don't come with white body bindings.

 

Other than that, I can't see anything else that stands out. This is probably something you don't want to hear, but I would try to get my money back, or at least try to convince the seller to give you a discount.

 

Good luck. [thumbup]

 

Glen

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... Gibson LPs usually come with single coil mini-humbuckers with the magnets facing away from each other.....at least try to convince the seller to give you a discount.

 

Um...possibly not entirely accurate, that first statement. Mine has P90s.

If he's owned it for 8 years it's far too late for any discount!!

 

I agree this looks fake though. The p/us do look as though they have been changed. It could conceivably be an early LP Studio because of the dots on the board, but the headstock doesn't look right and they don't have bindings. Other LPs have inlays, not neck dots. Sure, the pic's not good either but the headstock is just wrong. The close-up back view of the heel looks odd too, but I still think it could be a Studio that's been tarted up.

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hahahaha...You're right jdgm, 8 years is a wee bit too long to look for any refund or discount. [cursing] Dunno how I missed that, but there's even more that I missed. But there's lesson here. Investigate BEFORE you buy.

 

I also missed the dots on the fingerboard, as MOP trapazoids are more common. Also, the paint looks strange. Sunburst tops usually have a darker edge and a flamed maple top. Also, it's more common to see gold witchhat knobs rather than speed knobs when you have gold hardware. And the pick guard is not there.

 

Now, in all fairness, my LP was also "customized" by the previous owner, but he provided me with all the parts that were replaced. I've got a beige pick guard and 2 chrome mini-humbuckers with beige trim rings, gold witchhat knobs, gold speed knobs, and the beige trim ring for the pickup switch that has RHYTHM & TREBLE printed on it, and the original truss rod cover where the model's name is placed. Mine says "Deluxe."

 

With all the "differences" that have been questioned here, I'd be confident in saying that your guitar is probably not a genuine Gibson. You could do further investigation, but it probably would not be worth the effort.

 

If it sounds good, that's a plus because it will probably be hard to sell, unless you inform the buyer that it's probably a copy.

 

Glen

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Thanks Glen and jdgm for your help. There is a giutar tec at a local Sam Ash store that is suppose to be really good. I'm going to take it to him and see what's up with it. I didn't pay much for it and it came with a Gibson case and a little amp for under $500. It sounds good and feels really nice. So if it is a fake they did a good job with the neck and body. The body appears to be made of three separate pieces as opposed to one whole shell and is a little thinner than most Les Paul's. There are a lot of things I don't know about Les Pauls and just curious as to the history behind this particular one. Not sure what MOP means but the crapjob that has altered the guitar itself is just a mystery to me....I would eventually like to obtain authentic pieces to restore it weather it is real or fake to make one badass guitar! Sorry for the lack of technology of my pics but your worthless comments are not welcomed Pippy, thanks!

 

 

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Well Horsehockey, you got a great sounding guitar for the money. Most Gibson LPs will cost considerably more than what you paid. Btw, MOP is short for Mother of Pearl. You'll eventually pick up the "lingo" so don't worry about that. And don't be too harsh on pippy. Both of us "wig out" on occasion, but he is one cool dude, and he knows more than I do about Gibson guitars. He's got a really great looking LP Custom, wouldn't you agree? That's the exact color I wanted, until I tripped over the dark burgundy wine color LP Deluxe I snared. The seller gave me an unbelievable good price on a guitar that had been "customized" by none other than...Seymour Duncan. At least that's what the seller told me. hahahaha Goes to show, you can't always believe what people tell you, right? I did some investigating and everything else he told me was accurate, and I'm a pretty good judge of character (IMHO) so I was convinced that he was honest. And, it's one solid chunk of mahogany, which is quite rare, and it weighs almost 10 pounds! It's the smallest guitar I own, but the heaviest, as well. I had to special order diamond-shaped strap buttons to insure the strap wouldn't come loose. [thumbup]

 

Glen

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Pippy, be nice now...
...your worthless comments are not welcomed Pippy, thanks!

Hmmm......

 

Was I rather lacking in the old 'Bedside Manner' department, do you reckon?

 

Yes; perhaps you are both right.

 

OK. Let me see if I can be considerably more helpful this time around.

 

There is a very good chance it is a Gibson Les Paul Studio Standard.

The LPSS was introduced in '84 and lasted until '87 so your guitar would fit in this timeframe.

 

This model had a gold Gibson headstock logo; a dot-marked 'board; a bound neck; a single-ply bound body; two humbuckers and they could have 3-piece tops.

All these features are present on your guitar. From what I remember they also had a slightly thinner body compared to a regular LP.

 

Several things have been altered, of course, but these are simple modifications and the guitar IS almost 30 years old so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if some changes had been made.

 

In order to verify the authenticity we would need to see a few GOOD pictures as follows;

The bridge. Mainly the tops of the posts at either end of the top surface.

The binding of the neck where the binding covers the ends of the frets.

The rear of the peghead - specifically whether there are thin, additional strips stuck along the length of each side between the tuners and the outside edge. Best seen in the serial number area.

The front of the peghead showing the logos.

 

I'm pretty sure it will turn out to be genuine but without seeing good pictures I'm not going to swear to it.

 

Was that better?

 

P.

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Hmmm......

 

Was I rather lacking in the old 'Bedside Manner' department, do you reckon?

 

Yes; perhaps you are both right.

 

OK. Let me see if I can be considerably more helpful this time around.

 

There is a very good chance it is a Gibson Les Paul Studio Standard.

The LPSS was introduced in '84 and lasted until '87 so your guitar would fit in this timeframe.

 

This model had a gold Gibson headstock logo; a dot-marked 'board; a bound neck; a single-ply bound body; two humbuckers and they could have 3-piece tops.

All these features are present on your guitar. From what I remember they also had a slightly thinner body compared to a regular LP.

 

Several things have been altered, of course, but these are simple modifications and the guitar IS almost 30 years old so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if some changes had been made.

 

In order to verify the authenticity we would need to see a few GOOD pictures as follows;

The bridge. Mainly the tops of the posts at either end of the top surface.

The binding of the neck where the binding covers the ends of the frets.

The rear of the peghead - specifically whether there are thin, additional strips stuck along the length of each side between the tuners and the outside edge. Best seen in the serial number area.

The front of the peghead showing the logos.

 

I'm pretty sure it will turn out to be genuine but without seeing good pictures I'm not going to swear to it.

 

Was that better?

 

P.

 

Oh yeah, that's the way you do it! Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but I am definitely impressed!!! [thumbup] You ROCK!!! There is nothing I would like better than to find out this man's guitar is a genuine Gibson Les Paul, in which case, for the money, he got a much better deal!!! That paint still looks a wee bit off to me, though. Sunburst tops are typically more pronounced, darker around the edges.

 

On my 2006 LP, horizontally across the backside of the peghead, the serial numbers are stamped into the actual wood, as are the words MADE IN U.S.A. all caps, using 2 lines, centered between the top pair of tuning machines. Don't know if this method has been used consistently throughout Gibson's entire history, because on my other Gibson (1981 ES-347 TD) the stamped serial number is horizontal across the top of the peghead, but the MADE IN U.S.A. is turned 90 degrees, running vertically (again, using 2 lines), centered between the top 4 tuning machines. :rolleyes:

 

I would agree with pippy, that more photos could probably help. [confused]

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Let's not get ahead of ourselves here...

 

All I'm saying in post #12 is that there was a particular model of LP produced in the corresponding time-frame which had features either similar or identical to those seen in the guitar pictured.

 

There are still amber-flags over certain aspects of the guitar and it may prove to be genuine or it may yet be a fake. Without better pictures...

 

P.

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guitar.JPG guitar back.JPGguitar back neck.JPGguitar body.JPGguitar head.JPG here is some pics

 

Hi, better photos would indeed help - please post one of the serial number as well. At 1st glance this appears to be a 1984 Les Paul Studio Standard - this was an early variation of the LP Studio that featured dot inlays, bound body and fingerboard...see attached for additional info.

LPStudio_EarlyAd_bck.jpg

LPStudio_EarlyAd_frnt.jpg

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Hi Horsehockey.

 

The snaps themselves are probably fine but they are tiny!

 

What size do they appear on your own screen? Are you using some form of re-sizing software? If so what size are you selecting for the images?

 

If you still have the original files could you please try to post them at somewhere around 28cm and at a resolution of 72dpi. ?

 

There does appear to be a pair of 'wings' on the peghead which is a good sign but it's impossible to say from the snaps above are because of their size.

 

P.

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Horsehockey, from the pics you posted, I can see that the tuners look authentic, but like Pippy mentioned, more pics, more bigger. Not sure what kind of storage capacity you have, but if you resize an original that's 1600 x 1000 (pixels) to 50% that would be good for ID purposes. The largest file that you can attach is 13.8Kb, which requires most of my photos to be resized, using a *.jpg file extention. If the photos are a saved in a different format (.tif, .bmp, .gif) it may require resizing even more.

 

Glen

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