Grog

Great videos Dave! I vaguely remember seeing a modified Les Paul Professional or Personal about 15 years ago at a Wisconsin guitar show. It was refinished in tobacco sunburst similar to this one, but you could see the plugs from the original controls if you looked closely. After 47 years, it makes you wonder how many are really still around after modifications, fires, natural disasters etc.......

I've had good luck at AMS, Zzounds & Musicians Friend.

It would be interesting to hear more about it. How it sounded. How the middle pickup affected the phase feature......... etc......

I bought this Les Paul Studio Deluxe T last August. I'm loving it also!

Nice Les Paul!! Congrats!! The main thing that sticks out to me are the pots. To me they look changed. Here is a photo of my 1974 Les Paul Custom control cavity. Here is a photo of a pot from my 1969 LP Deluxe.......... 1376929. 137=CTS 69=1969 29=week of the year the pot was produced. This is typical of almost all Gibson of this era.

Hi Bence, The few I'm finding don't have the fluted shaft for the guitar knob.................... http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Potentiometer/Alpha-Potentiometer-24mm/Alpha-Pot-Mono/Alpha-2-5-kOhm-linear::4926.html?language=en&MODsid=vpovqfvhqkqsu1uirnlq0lc2v4

Hi Bence, The pot should have been made by CTS. My extra control plate for a '73 Les Paul Triumph bass shows a part # of 70-988. I'll post a photo of that & the info from my 1981 Parts List book.

Hi Walter, Beautiful guitar!! I didn't know it was one of the few sunburst models! The shipping total book only lists (85) shipped in Tobacco Sunburst. Whether Ron Pace ever want's to see another one or not, he is now the expert on repairing a rare vintage guitar.......... Congratulations!! George

It had a very irritating hum in some situations. It was an interesting guitar, but I went back to my two humbucker Les Paul. Putting in two mini humbuckers would have been a good option. Wish I would have considered it before I let her go.

I was the proud owner of this one............. but I traded it off about five years ago for a Les Paul.

I was the proud owner of this one............. but I traded it off about five years ago for a Les Paul.

Due to the way that the neck is mounted & the normal "Tune-O-Matic" bridge, I would be surprised if this guitar wasn't a semi hollow body. As Dave said, the Crest top could be easily modified to anything. The Les Paul Signature has a big chunk of the center block hollowed out on the control side to aid in installing all of the controls, still not easy! If Lester had any say in this guitar, he would insist on the center block.....

The Crest was more like a fancy ES-330, fully hollow like Dave mentioned. I was fortunate to have been able to see one in person. It was a silver Crest. Beautiful, rare guitar.

Nice! Did you get a chance to talk to him Dave?

It's under $40,000.00!............. Neat guitar! https://www.gbase.com/gear/gibson-es-355-1969-natural

Hi Bence, I noticed that one around a year ago. It has a changed tailpiece & changed knobs. That tailpiece would be close to impossible to find. I see they just dropped the price though...........

I bought a Wifi Borescope. It's sort of awkward, but I made an attempt to take some photos of the Impedance Level switch on the Les Paul Signature guitar. 2mbl.jpg.html][/url] This photo is of the Phase Switch.

Hi Bence, This eBay seller had these that they were selling as build kits with a red plastic bobbin. They sold many NOS Gibson items from the Kalamazoo plant. It is possible that they were for the Triumph Bass, but I believe it was for the guitar. It's hard to say if they have any more laying around. http://stores.ebay.com/greatdealz1967/ Also, Gibson made them again for the Les Paul Recording II (Iridium). They look like an exact match. You can see if Gibson could sell you a couple............. Good Luck, George

Hi Walter, Checking out a local vintage dealer's webpage, I ran into this...... http://www.williesguitars.com/index.cfm/gibson_electrics/3/inventory/22 It looks like they had to rewire it like a normal Les Paul & knowing Nate, he kept the remaining original parts with it. He may have what your looking for out of the guitar if it hadn't been totally butchered up by it's previous owner. They might be willing to photograph it. Might be worth a shot to have Ron talk to whoever did the work on it, even though they were unable to bring it back to original specs. George

Hi Walter, I did work on part of one about 15 years ago. I just remember it taking me a month to get up the nerve to disassemble the few things I had to take apart to fix it. I have no photos, but I do have a parts list. It does have a few values, many things are Gibson Part #'s which is of little help........... Hope this might help find something, George

Hi Walter, Most authorized repair people likely have never seen one of these, few would know how to fix one (other than techniques to getting things apart & back together). I'm no expert by a long shot either. It almost sounds like something might be shorting out some contacts on your Level Control switch. It might have came loose & was retightened 180 degrees or so from where it was intended to be. Maybe you could just loosen it & try turning it gently & see if it works............ Might be a bare ground wire causing the trouble. George

Hi Walter, You might be able to get a better look by taking the bridge pickup out, that should give you a larger opening to see through & take things out if it comes to that. I think the block of wood in the center of the guitar is routed out on the control side, but not 100% sure. Getting the pots and jacks out & back in can be tricky. Some people tie string around the posts, I've had luck using the right size shrink tubing, pushed on the knurl post after the knob is removed. It grips tight, pulls the pot back in straight & you can slip the nut & washer on over the shrink tubing. Good luck, George

Hi Walter, I took a few readings on my 1974 Les Paul Signature. All readings are with the Volume & Tone on "10" & the Pickup Selector Switch in the "Center" position. High Impedance was at 3.75 K-Ohms, measuring on the end of the guitar jack. The "Level Control" switch made no difference. Low Impedance, using a balanced cable with a Stereo 1/4" jack at one end & a Female XLR jack at the other. Reading between pins 2&3. "Level Control" set at: 50, 10.5 Ohms 200, 12.5 Ohms 500, 13.5 Ohms *Note, My meter had a reading of 1 Ohm when I tested it for "0" at the 200 Ohm setting. The Les Paul Signature has a balanced 3 wire jack on the side. A chord that you can buy right off of the shelf just about anywhere will allow you to plug into a PA or an amp that has a low impedance jack. Do you think anything was altered? The schematic makes it look like the transformer is incorporated in the Level Control switch possibly? Variable impedance transformer? Good Luck, George

The very earliest LPR's had the ABR style bridge, I don't think Les Paul Customs had the harmonica bridge, my '74 doesn't. The extra thumb screw is sort of odd. Are they using them to cover up a modification?

Another one of a kind, custom Les Paul Recording. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Gibson-Les-Paul-Recording-Custom-Cherry-Burst-Gold-Hardware-w-HSC-SKU-404-/121673003763?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c5446b2f3 I was just in Franklin Tennessee about two months ago. If I had known, I would have checked it out..................