stein

There isn't a lot of detail in the picks to show the finish to really judge it, but another clue this is likely origonal is the clear finish on the rest of the guitar, which is proper for a Gold-top of this time.

I think a lot of it is that for folks that have been playing for many years, are USED to tuning and have certain rituals or techniques for doing it. Just as you don't learn to play the guitar without learning to tune it, you don't get GOOD at playing guitar without getting good at tuning it. Maybe not so much an age thing, but an experience thing. Although, older folks tend to be put off by stuff they have to learn that isn't on the agenda. I don't know if I would be called old, but I am kinda in that boat. My personal dis-like is I don't know how I could get used to pushing a button and hoping for the best as it ain't what I am used to, and if by chance something went wrong, what I would do about it. At least for guitars I might use for performing. But for a COUCH guitar, might be kinda fun.

I think it's something Gibson has really got right for a change. See, a "typical" Gibson guitar is fairly expensive, made to play well, and last a lifetime. As in, not disposable. And that typically means being able to replace parts as they break, or as a player sees fit for whatever reason. Finally after many years, Gibson has "robo-tuners" that are drop-in replacements that can be swapped in or out, as they break or fail, or at the player's whim. And fairly cheap. That makes folks mad? And "they" say Gibson doesn't offer a choice? You know every place I have seen the 2015's for sale, the place also has walls of displays with tuners on it, and most more than one option for any given guitar. It isn't hard to put two and two together to figure out if you have 1500 bucks or so in your pocket, you can have any tuners you want on any guitar you might want to buy. But it's worth saying again, the technology Gibson is offering here is they can be swapped out or changed ANY TIME you want, and easily replaced with new ones, just like ANY other tuner.

Since this thread is back on, did there ever develop a resolution to this particular Gold top? Seems I remember there was at least one more thread where suggestions were offered.

It's a BS answer and a waste of time. Want to point out, in the answer it says "years" and "usually", which means basically the whole answer means nothing as there is no determination on their part, and it hasn't been years, it's been months. Also, the part I find to be utter total BS is the wood "settling and shifting". No, sorry, the wood should be cured before it's used, and Gibson knows that and does that. Sure the wood will move because it's wood, but to imply the wood still needs to move and "settle" into something else after it's built certainly implies something else to most who would read this. It kinda leaves the door open to someone saying, "Could you take this back and give me a guitar that is made of wood that is cured?" Which also, I believe they would do.

I agree with this, but my guess is more movement due to the thinner wood there and more holes. I am not sure that even though the guitar is weaker there, it's weak enough to flex from outside forces to the point it would cause finish damage. It's still failrly strong maple. I don't know the cause, but I'm thinking it's finish and wood movement of some sort.

Not sure what you mean by "CC"? Only thing I can think of is "Custom Classic", which are kinda rare. Anyway, most stuff from the 90's on up to today are going to be closer to the late 50's/early 60's "originals" than the mid 70's you are using now. So, it depends on what your definition of "classic" LP sound is, and what you are measuring against. Even though for the most part LP's are closer to the holy grail 50'5/60's than ever, there are still many of us who grew up in the 70's/80's and are familiar with those LP's, and they are more "original" to us.

It depends on what one considers "rare". For a particular color/hardware/whatever combo not really normal, it may be rare. But Gibson is ALWAYS making stuff a little or a lot out of the standard burst/chrome scheme. In other words, it isn't unusual at all to find something rare.

Last night was breakfast for dinner...the works. That's hashbrowns AND hotcakes. And ALL the bacon I could handle.

Here at a local GC, on "tech" will try and clean it off for you with WD-40.

Since the subject of fast food came up, thought I'd go ahead and mention yesterday and the day before was McDonalds. They're open late. We have a Dairy Queen here too, gave them a shot a while back, but man, they were spendy. Fast food prices here in Portland Or are going up quite a bit. Surely has to do with the Unaffordable Care Act and the minimum wage stuff. As far as that goes, I'm all for the workers getting more, and kinda willing to accept the cost on the driver's side window, but to be honest, might have to back off the fast food, as it's really getting to be a different kind of deal for me when the cost reaches a certain point. Having said that, I recently have been learning to cook lobster. I wouldn't say I'm particularly good at it, but MAN lobster is TASTY. I get tails for about 10 bucks a piece around here lately. Back it up with some frozen shrimp, and it's a seafood feast! The beauty of it is, being frozen, don't have to depend on my lazy self to be sure to cook them before they expire. I waste more money that way.

Man that's quality humor there.

I know PEOPLE can become magnetized, as I have on occasion. I can remember working in the rain with cords and electricity, and getting buzzed all day. My arms would ache. One pass with a bulk tape eraser would make it go away, instantly. As I said before (maybe a different thread?), in winter, walking on carpet all day, every now and again would get shocked on a doorknob. Got it the habit of giving it a quick swipe to get the shock before I grabbed it, just so it wouldn't hurt as much. Once I got the spark out of the way, wouldn't get a shock. Or how about cats? I used to have this fat kitty that used to sit on my lap, and would pet him until he was all full of static and make cracking noises like a spider web, and be all matted up and such.

This here, I don't understand. I don't know who does. To be fair, not saying you aren't having issues, but your case is a mystery, because this isn't something that is occurring for most of us. Certainly, not a whole store suffering from this, and not being able to fix it. As for Gibson CS, keep in mind, they get a lot of calls, and they likely don't know what to say, and are probably getting back to those that they have answers for. Besides, it isn't for sure a Gibson issue, it's just your particular store, and maybe just you as well (Again, not saying you don't have a problem or it's your fault). Wish I had an answer, really I do. It's at the very least, a great mystery from here in the cyberworld. One possibility: maybe you as an individual, for whatever reason, tend to have a lot of static electricity build up. I used to get that at work in a particular building, and would discharge myself on a doorknob. It would make a spark. Every day. It came from walking a lot on the carpet at a fast pace throughout the day.

Static electricity that is built up can and will indeed itself be prone to picking up noise. Grounding the heck out of everything is not always better, because it can cause ground loops, which generally will make a thing MORE prone to noise than not. Without a full on lesson in grounding from an un-qualified guy, I'll just say that Gibson's have an advantage using humbuckers, but the wiring schematic and use of shielded hook-up wire makes grounding more complicated. THIS result here is likely what one should expect if they just start soldering grounds to everything and each other. It might seem intuitive, but it makes things much worse, especially if it is already grounded.

I have to agree. Top notch stuff, at least what I know. I have one, bought it while shopping for a Martin. Last I knew, Mr. Larrivee retired, or partially, or whatever, and moved to California and opened a factory/shop there. The family still made and kept the Canadian place. So there were Larrivee guitars coming from 2 places, both from the same people/family. California guitars only being the very high end stuff. I haven't played many of the ones coming from California, and a couple I didn't like the sound of much, but the construction, at least on the surface, was like that of Santa Cruz or Collings quality. VERY nice. The regular, or older stuff, are nicely built, and impressive in sound quality, at least to my ears. I'd rate them along with standard production Gibson and Martin, easy.

From what I remember I read, the "lawsuit" was a letter, but no one got sued, so to speak. So many stories. So much rumor. I don't know what to believe, but rather, I don't really think it was any big deal. Regardless of what the real facts are. Personally, I think the story gets embellished a lot of the times because it just ain't an interesting story to begin with. Just rather to say, at some point, Gibson and Fender weren't going to let total "copies" be made and sold here. But just as importantly, Ibanez and the like weren't going to get all that far making copies anyway, but rather did better making their own designs and getting a rep that way. I think the MAIN thing here, is COPIES in the 70's and 80's weren't looked at favorably, both because of the stigma of having a copy and not the real deal, and, they weren't "good"...yet.

That's what I think. To me, there is no way a guitar with a well repaired headstock break is only half as good, or worth half as much. But, they are. That's almost a rule, but I don't really think it's a fair one. I don't have any, but knew lots and played lots who did. Most of the time, you don't even notice, you have to look. Just my opinion, but it all comes down to chances of breaking again, and how much to repair it. Any break, ANY, can be repaired, even if it means splicing a piece into it. Even if it has a splice and dowels and such, repaired is repaired. At that point, the QUALITY of the guitar is how it sounds, plays, and feels as it is at that moment.

Yea, but....but...but....HALF PRICE!!!!

At what the internet says is a 50% discount, I would DEFINITELY buy a guitar with a repaired headstock. I would add though, I would take a good, hard look at the repair. I don't buy the "stronger than before" thing. Stronger than what? Before it broke? Stronger than another that never broke (yet)? The MAIN reason to be leery, and such a "standard" 50% price reduction I think, is you really can't tell how good a repair is/was. You can guess, but looking won't tell you how much glue, what type of glue, or what the wood actually looked like before it was glued. Still, a broken headstock is nothing to stress out over, most are easily repaired. It happens.

I have to chime in here on this here debate. The "lawsuit" guitars, that's really rumor only. It's mostly just a legend created to make those old Japanese guitars seem better or more interesting than they were/are. Sorry, not saying they aren't cool or suck, but this idea that they were all that great also, well... Here's the truth: the "lawsuit" never happened. They just said "knock it off" and they did. I don't think there is even a story, but I have yet to hear a story worth writing that is/was true. A lot of OLD Japanese "copies" were OK, and fine guitars, and I have played some. But not until YEARS and years later, did anyone think or claim they were really that good. The TRUTH of THAT is, Japanese guitars are better now than they have ever been. They were better in the 80's than they were in the 70's. and better in the 00's than in the 90's. So, really, where does the idea that 70's Japanese "lawsuit" guitars being so good come from? I think it's EBAY. The only thing "better" I have personally ever seen is the prices. Just my opinion here, but I think one would find the exact same thing and better value in buying the current "made in Indonesia" or Korea of China stuff available right now as we speak. And I bet if one is honest and objective, they are better than what Japan was making in the 70's/80's. But, I can't think of a good rumor to go along with that right now.

That there, is an eye for detail. The ORIGINAL Klusons, did come in both double and single ring on the key. In fact, it used to be the case, before reproductions were available, that the single ring were very rare as that is what the the oldest Gibsons used to have, and of corse, as you know, they tend to deteriorate. Gibson switched from single to double ring sometime in the 60's. Something like that, anyway. These days, or corse, you can get anything, different looks, different quality. I can't keep up.

I followed the link provided, and the Wilkinson Deluxe do in fact appear to look identical to every other Kluson Deluxe tuner, save for the writing on the back.

It's very possible the tuners are the same exact tuners, but just branded differently. I don't know what the "Wilkinson tuners" are that are "supposed" to be on that guitar, but it's kinda doubtful that for 350 bucks, they are as upscale as the name might lead one to believe. They look like standard "Kluson Deluxe" tuners made and branded by nearly everyone. (Kluson is no longer in business).

Great find. I think everyone should have one of these, be it this one, a "lp", a champ, etc. Thought I might add, what you describe the 6v6 tube doing, that's one way of checking for a bad tube. This one is clearly bad. One of the charms of these is you only need one tube, so finding various real NOS tubes, or using leftovers, makes life more fun.