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btoth76

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Grog,

 

If it is a Factory Original the P/Us could easily have been L5s PUs.

 

The gold plated Personal used the black PUs with gold PU surrounds etc.

 

One way or another they are probably L5s PUs.

 

DG

 

Hi Dave,

 

Many of the parts are the same as a L-5S, & likely the same time frame. Possibly using up leftover pickups from the L-5S after it switched to normal humbuckers? One would have thought that they would have used the same pickups used in the Les Paul Personal under normal conditions. The "CUSTOM" truss rod cover was still being used at this time for "Special Orders". Interesting guitar!

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Just listed my 1970 Personal for sale on eBay and probably Reverb.com. Also will be on the local craigslist in Madison, WI. Not sure if this forum is a proper place to communicate that so someone let me know if not and I'll pull this post.

 

It's in fantastic condition and I hope it goes to someone who'll appreciate it as much as I have. You can see pictures of it in this forum. Earlier in this low impedance thread.

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Just listed my 1970 Personal for sale on eBay and probably Reverb.com. Also will be on the local craigslist in Madison, WI. Not sure if this forum is a proper place to communicate that so someone let me know if not and I'll pull this post.

 

It's in fantastic condition and I hope it goes to someone who'll appreciate it as much as I have. You can see pictures of it in this forum. Earlier in this low impedance thread.

 

That guitar is sweet!! It has to be one of the nicest LP Personals out there...............

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Just listed my 1970 Personal for sale on eBay and probably Reverb.com. Also will be on the local craigslist in Madison, WI. Not sure if this forum is a proper place to communicate that so someone let me know if not and I'll pull this post.

 

It's in fantastic condition and I hope it goes to someone who'll appreciate it as much as I have. You can see pictures of it in this forum. Earlier in this low impedance thread.

 

Beautiful example!

 

I would immediately buy it if I could! Are You sure about selling this wonder?

 

$_57.JPG

 

Best of luck... Bence

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  • 3 weeks later...

Still for sale. In no hurry. It's too nice to give away as anyone who owns one would know.

 

A little concerned for a while due to someone looking at it complaining about the frets. Guess I'm not real familiar with how low or crowned the frets should be on these 'fretless' guitars. Maybe someone in this forum would know. He was complaining about some tiny grooves on the frets. A lot of microscopic ones on a fair number of frets that you can' t really feel but can see. Also complained about somewhat squared edges on some frets. Claimed someone had probably filed the frets down in a crude manner.

 

Met Bob Dylan's guitar/instrument tech a while ago and he's been doing some work on a couple if blackface Fender amps I bought recently. He's not all that familiar with the fretless models but one of his gurus looked at the frets and said they're fine. Thought the guitar was one of the nicest early ones he's ever seen.

 

Worst case scenario if the frets do need replacement it's about $350. A little more than usual because of the high quality binding on the Personal. I understand the guy at Dave's Guitar in LaCrosse is one of the best in the Midwest so I'd take it there if need be.

 

Bottom line is frets are not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Complaining about them on this guitar is like expecting the windshield wipers on a 46 year old car to be original and in perfect working order. It's a wearable part.

 

Otherwise have had it at a couple of guitar shows lately and it was a hit. Many people saying it was the coolest thing there. Nice guy from Chicago Music Exchange more or less offered about $2200 saying they'd expect to get over $3000 for it with a little patience.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My wife & I are visiting Nashville. We stopped in at Gruhn's Guitars....... I am now the proud owner of a '73 Gibson L-5S. That rounds out the low impedance collection! I don't know how to post a photo from my iPhone, so it will have to wait until next week when it arrives by UPS. It's the only low impedance guitar, that only plays in high impedance as far as I can tell. What's the point???? It's a cool guitar, a lot of gold wear which seems to be the issue with most of them. Photo in about a week......

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Hello George!

 

That's fantastic news! Those beauties are rare!

 

I always wondered about their electronics. I thought they only work in Low-Z mode. Now, I know. [thumbup]:-k

 

By the way, - in my personal opinion - the L5-S is the non-plus-ultra of Gibson solids. There's a beautiful example for sale in the "Trading post" section of the Forums.

 

Enjoy Your visit in Nashville!

 

Best wishes... Bence

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I took my Hi Imp version along to a local store to compare it with the Lo Imp version that they had for sale.

 

I expected it to require a transformer lead but it worked quite well into an amp with a normal lead. I thought at the time that the original owner might have installed a transformer inside but it became clear over the years that the transformer was factory fitted. The clean sound was a little more accoustic than my Hi Imp version when compared side by side but the difference was small. I would have been tempted to bypass the t/f and try it with an LP Personal Lead but did not get the opportunity. I don't think that I have ever seen a wiring diagram for this model??

 

Billy Butler was a user and recorded with it.

 

I found it to be a very "cold" instrument compared to the Recording, perhaps because of the different woods in the neck. It was also neck heavy and difficult to play while seated.

 

I eventually sold it.

 

DG

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Hi Bence & Dave, I'll be looking forward to giving it a better try when I get it home. I posted a gut shot of another guitar that was for sale on eBay. It was in this forum back around last January. It really doesn't have much in it, but the transformer & wiring is visible. Being solid maple,(I believe), it likely would sound much different than the LPR. Other than Bence's model & the LPR II, none of the Les Paul's even have a maple cap. It sure is thin compared to a Les Paul.

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Here is the one photo I took with my iPhone before I left Gruhn's a week ago...........

 

1973%20L-5S%20Gruhns_zpsutnj9z2g.jpg

 

Also, we stopped at the Nashville location of Antique Archeology, (American Pickers), and he had a Les Paul Professional hanging on the wall. I don't think he really wants to sell it too quick..........

 

AmPck%20LPP1_zpswbyq8ohz.jpg

AmPck%20LPP2_zpspfxl3e7d.jpg

 

The L-5S should be delivered tomorrow...............

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A few photos from home. It arrived in one piece............

 

73%20L-5S%201_zpskrzgjynj.jpg

73%20L-5S%202_zpsutdblsrk.jpg

73%20L-5S%203_zps0wmuzb8s.jpg

 

The curly maple is nice. The guitar was well used. It's growing on me. Output is a bit weaker than a guitar with normal humbuckers, just crank the amp up a bit..........

It still seems odd to me to design a guitar with low impedance pickups & no way to play it in low impedance. Using a shorter chord would give it the same effect as using the transformer cord Gibson supplied with the early low impedance models. Time will tell.............. The pot reads 1377315. 197 of these were shipped in 1973, all low impedance. Some were shipped in 1974 with low impedance pickups before they changed over to high impedance pickups, don't know how many..............

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George,

 

Those pots are going to be "identical" to the Recording version albeit that you only have Tone and not Treble and Bass.

 

It would be easy to bypass the transformer and use an unbalanced lead with the Gibson/Shure transformer just to see whether you prefer it?

 

I always used that setup - unbalanced lead/Shure Transformer - with my Recording and it was heaps better than the T/F built in.

 

DG

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As I said above, it just needs one connection resoldered to make it into a Lo Imp output for use with an unbalanced lead and Shure/Gibson T/F.

 

If you compare the Pot sizes they are identical values to the Recording Pots. The Tone Caps are probably a compromise beween the Treble and Bass setup of the Recording etc.

 

Another mod worth considering is the addition of the resistor / capacitor arrangement on the volume controls.

 

But only consider it if you are a Low Imp advocate and not if you are just a collector of Low Imp models :)

 

DG

 

BTW - my post in 2013: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/98481-gibson-l5s/page__view__findpost__p__1348689

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The control cavity might be too tight to squeeze a push pull pot in place of the original. They might be hard to come by in those values. The thin body & thick control cavity cover doesn't leave a lot of room. The previous owner replaced the original Switchcraft jack, (cheaper plastic type), with the one shown in the photo. The back side of the cover was relieved quite a bit to keep it from binding, I had to relieve it more. Dave's idea would make more sense in this situation.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a 1970 something (71or72) I think Les Paul Recording Bass. Thecontrol plate has been hand made out of a piece of wood. Its OK, butlooks out of place. I would like to make another one. I need apattern or tracing to do a layout. Can you help in any way?

 

I would also purchase one if available, but don’t think they are.

 

My E-Mail address is Pr4egle@cox.net

 

Phone# 540-343-8707

 

Cell# 540-330-7349

 

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