Twang Gang

Thanks guys. What can I tell you I am weak!! I fell in love with the color, and I usually don't buy guitars for the way they look - but I fell quickly for the shade of red. Then once I played it I was hooked and felt the price was right so there was no escape. Pauloqs - I would tend to agree with you that the pickups have "a bit more clarity than the Classic 57, but not as modern sounding as BB pros". I can't find any specs on the 61R and 61T yet. Sort of funny that Gibson names them that way, which infers a pickup from 1961 and in that year the only Les Paul they made was an SG. Billroy - First I play it unplugged to see how resonant it is by itself. I feel if a solid body electric is resonate unplugged, unless there is some wiring problem or something, it will sound great when you amplify it. I play up and down the neck making sure I don't hear any string buzzing, and nothing is fretting out. I sight down the neck to see what sort of relief is present and that the neck isn't wavy. I crank on the tuning keys a bit (even if it is in tune) to see if there is any pinging (nut binding). Then I ask for a Fender Tube amp to plug into and make sure I can get a clean crystal clear sound from the pickups. You can always get distortion by overdriving the amp, or with effects - but a muddy sounding pickup can't be cleaned up much so I want it to be as clean as possible to start with. In this case I also gave all the push/pull knobs a test to make sure they worked as well as play volume and tones from 1 to 10 to see how responsive they are. Then when I get it home it's "Katy bar the door" as it gets plugged into my Rivera Venus 6 and crank it up. 🙂

The trick is really in the nut. It has three holes in the sides. You can put a small allen wrench through two of them lengthwise to tighten it down to the strap, and then there is a little set screw in the other hole for more security. The threads on the part that attaches to the strap are longer than the older ones, and thus better for the thick padded straps. Sometimes on the older ones if you had a thick strap it was difficult to get the washer and the nut started on the thread, and easier for them to come loose. Although with a thin strap - the whole thing probably protrudes more than the old version. To see how they fit look at their video at : shaller.info/s-locks They have way better pictures than I could take.

Been about 55 years or so since I was in London - was expecting city hall to be some 400 year old building, not that ultra modern tilted looking thing. At least they haven't torn the down the 'ol bridge and modernized it yet. (Although it looks like it got some fresh blue paint recently)

Sounds like a pretty good find, but playing it would be a must before a purchase. A lot of things can get out of whack with a 65 year old guitar, if it is truly that old. Good luck, hope it works out for you.

I might be mistaken, but I believe I've read that was the last live performance that they did? People in the streets had no idea what they were witnessing.

I said I didn't need another Les Paul but my local Guitar Center had one of these so I had to go over and check it out. I was thinking I might trade my Les Paul Custom Lite, but they offered a pretty good price without the trade so I bought it. Didn't hurt that they had a sweet brand new Fender Super Reverb to demo it on. Has the Burstbucker 61R and 61T pickups - not sure how they differ from the Burstbucker Pros that are in my Standard, but they sound a little hotter, and a little dirtier although they clean up nicely at lower volumes. Also the "out of phase" push pull seems to be a little more distinct sounding than my Standard, maybe because the pickup are uncovered? The neck is a nice slim 60s style, although flatter than the asymmetrical fingerboard on my Standard. The finish looks like a plain top, and the photos don't show it very well, but there is some figure in there. I like the reflector knobs which seem a little taller and easier to grab onto than regular top hats, nut does not bind and the set up is overall very good. I will go over it in a day or two and set to my liking, but for now just having fun playing it. Has 9 hole weight relief, so comes in at 8.5 pounds, about a pound heavier than my Standard with "ultra-modern weight relief", but not too heavy. I don't play those 9:00 PM to 1:00 or 2:00 AM bar gigs anymore so hopefully I can tote it as long as needed.

Not sure how new these are, but Schaller has improved their strap lock design. They improved the way the lock is attached to the strap. No more washer and nut to tighten: Go to schaller.info/s-locks to get the whole story. The website is in German, but there is a video in English. I bought a set and they work very nicely. The strap button screw is self tapping and while longer than the screw that I removed it worked perfectly and they include the little felt pads. As to why I bought a set - see my NGD post 🙂

I think that solves it then - it was a '68. Thanks for all your help.

Seems every day there are more guitar models showing up on the Gibson website. I found one that seems like a great value to me (although I am not looking for a third Les Paul by any means). What caught my eye was the translucent cherry Les Paul Classic. Seems to have a lot of desirable features and the MSRP is only $1,999. Usual mahogany body w/9 hole weight relief, maple top, slim taper mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard. Has Burstbucker pickups, four push/pull knobs, ABR-1 bridge, Grover tuners and comes with a hardshell case and in 4 different finishes plus a goldtop version. What's not to like for under $2K?

A good starter guitar. Don't believe they are currently making them so assume you are considering a used one? If that is the case then the condition of it is everything - hopefully you can play it and see what it sounds like and if it stays in tune before you purchase. My first electric was a 125 purchased used in 1965. It has a 60s slim taper neck, rosewood fingerboard, ebony floating bridge and a single P-90 pickup in the neck position. Not a huge variety of tones available, but was a good first electric to start learning on. Do you have a link to any photos of it? What price are they asking?

Nice looking Access - congrats. Glad you were able to gig it a couple times already and find that it does the job you wanted. As to the Strat trem and tuning, I think it is a matter of the springs as you mention, not that they are weak necessarily, but have to be adjusted just perfect for the bridge to come back into perfect tune. I have played with mine a lot lately as I changed string gauge and had to reset everything. Mine returns to good tuning most of the time, but has a tendency to be just a little sharp across all six strings sometimes. I believe a two point or six point knife trem is never going to be as stable as a Floyd Rose, just my opinion.

Another good opinion of the new '50s Standard. The strings might have felt a little lighter because the neck is a little chunkier and with the ABR-1 bridge not being as wide as a Nashville bridge you can usually deck the stopbar and the strings still stay off the back of the bridge. Haven't heard anyone say anything very negative about these new (old) models. 👍

Cool - blast from the past, and a rare live performance to boot!

If you've already tried a few modern ones and thought your '76 had better tone and sustain, then just stick with the one you have. You have been playing it so long - that is what a LP feels and sounds like to you and it would be almost impossible to find something "better". The new offerings are certainly beautiful and offer a lot of variety, but most of us that have had a LP for a long time like our vintage one the best.

There ya go - that's a beauty. Little surprised they are using Burstbuckers in what is supposed to be going back to the basics 50s or 60s models. Would've thought '57 Classics would be more appropriate. My 2017 Standard came with Burstbuckers and at first I thought they were too bright and trebly, but after working with them for a couple weeks I have come to like them and am able to get the tones I want. Let us know how the Seymour Duncan's work out.

Check out these approx. 3 foot wide section of Maple. Huge old tree branch came down in my sister's yard, fell on neighbors roof and smashed their chimney. Entire tree will have to come down - hopefully someone will be able to use some of the wood?

Really nice looking straps from those guys, and can't believe how low their prices. Hey Bill, I thought I read in another post that you had ordered a new LP 50s Standard - but never saw a NGD post about it?

That is a tough one because so many things have been changed - tuners, pickups, controls, bridge etc. Serial numbers from Gibson can be confusing as they changed how they assigned them over the years. Your guitar has a volute at the back of the headstock and they didn't start doing that until 1969 so that is the oldest it could be. One serial number checking website I looked at said it would be made in either Nashville or Kalamazoo in 1970, 71, or 72. Since the serial number looks ink stamped (not impressed into the wood) I tend to think 1972. But as to what model exactly there is no telling anymore. Probably a basic model as it just has dot inlays on the fingerboard, and no fancy logo on the headstock.

Never thought about what was inside them before. I get the similarity to the jangly surf music from the early sixties. Not sure how Page came up with the idea to use a Danelectro in recording Zepplin, but I am sure I've read he did a few times.

Seems like we were all taught to tune up to pitch, except Flyingaradillo says he tunes his Strat with locking tuners down to pitch. Here is what it says in Fender instruction for set up: Remember—with most tuning keys, it's preferable to tune up to pitch. However, with locking tuners, go past the note and tune down to pitch. So I will try tuning down on my Strat w/locking tuners and see how it works out (if I can remember - such a habit to go up to it).

Nice job on the lesson. I always loved this song and wanted to play it, but couldn't figure it out. Now that I see how it's played, I know I'll never do it.

That doesn't sound like such a good deal to me.

My Goldtop did have an ABR-1 (with the retaining wire) and a stop bar tailpiece. It did not have reflector knobs, but plain amber top hats (of course those are so easily changed). At the time I bought it (1970) and at the time I traded it there was little if any internet access. There had been a lot of confusion about serial numbers as Gibson changed their methodology a few times. I had been told that the first number and the last number in the serial designated the year (don't think that was ever really the case) and mine started with a 5 and ended with an 8. The serial number was not stamped in ink, but rather almost carved into the back of the headstock, like a die with the numbers had been pressed into it, then in the indentations some gold paint was used. When I got it in my head to trade it I took it around town to a couple different "experts" at guitar shops who might be able to determine the year. None of them looked for dates on the caps though, only the serial number and the original pickups which I still had in the case. None of them came up with a definitive answer but the one guy who seemed most knowledgeable thought it was a '68. I just never trusted them all that much as they knew I was looking to trade, and that I wasn't sure what it was, so even if they thought it was a '58 they probably wouldn't tell me. But if Gibson didn't put P-90s into '58s that pretty much solves it. (although we've all certainly seen plenty of examples of one-offs and odd balls coming out of a Gibson factory over the years). I used to have a little slip of paper with the serial number written down it, but I can't find it now. With all the info that is available on serials numbers now I wish I still had that so I could be certain.

Cool find - enjoy. And you were not happy about driving to that wedding as I recall, but you were rewarded for your efforts 🙂

It seems that with Les Pauls and SGs (flatter top to begin with), the angled rings for the most part do the job of getting the pickup parallel to the stings. It's is the ES models with more curve in the carve of the top where it's gets way out of whack. And in the case of a P-90 since there is only one coil then string to pole piece distance would be all that matters. (Hey I like that new phrase I stumbled on "Curve of the Carve")