kaicho8888

1968 has serial 903000-920899 according to "Blue Book of Electric Guitars, Sixth Edition, Gibson Serialization" Each of the pots are usually enclosed in a shielded cover... cannot see the pot dates.

Jazz III ... small, simple, good grip surface, and fairly cheap

Looks more like physical crack like a hammer hit. The nitro layer looks cracked rather than melted with alcohol. Tough to match the gold color and then filled with clear nitro.

Yikes! Alcohol or any alcohol based product reacts with the nitro finish . Let it alone for a few months till it hardens then try some non-silicone finishing car polish. Use an old cotton T-shirt in circular motion to polish back to luster.

ES-345 1967 got it new in San Francisco Don Weir's Music City.

Sorry to hear you got scammed! For sure, it's not made by Gibson.

Wired in parallel.

Congrats and enjoy it... looks excellent!

Can't see the pictures...

FAKE: Logo and fret inlays not MOP; missing first fret inlay; truss cover and pick guard wrong shape and no multi-ply; front body binding not 5 ply; wrong back body binding , no binding on headstock; no wings on headstock; wrong headstock inlay; wrong serial embossing; wrong tuners; no label visible in f-hole; metric bridge; wrong knobs; no nibs;... ...must be an older fake "Chibson"!

Chibson and not Gibson... sorry.

Mineral oil is always the basic ingredient. I use mineral oil (food grade) for my ebony or rosewood fretboards. It's primarily used for heavy duty chopping boards protection. Great protection if you also use your fretboard for food prep 🤣!

Yeah... I remember and forgot about that two layer rosewood during difficult sourcing of rosewood. It's suppose to be more stable; but the method was short lived.

I don't know if you can tie a string to the switch, unscrew the knurled nut and access the contacts to spray cleaner. You can also place a thin strip of fine sandpaper and clean the contacts by pulling the strip between the closed contacts. I've done this on the selector toggle switch and eliminated the pops... should work on the pickup coil split (or taps).

If it's gold plated cover it will wear easily just by playing it. It might be late for you; but should you replace the gold covers, use clear nail polish on areas that you normally wear out. Usually, pickup wear is on the outer high e string areas where you rest or touch the pickups. Also, areas on the low E bridge area. Just be careful not to accidentally get it (acetone) on the finish or inside the pickup screws. I've done this to at least seven gold plated Gibsons and it keeps that new look longer. Otherwise, just shut your eyes and enjoy playing them with your ears.

Yeah... the input jack closest to the strap pin is for mono. The other is a stereo jack and you need a TRS plug for stereo output one for each pickup. Like you mentioned, could need a good jack cleaning... spray deoxit or just roll up a fine sandpaper and use it like a jack. Might as well clean the toggle switch and pots too!

Looks good! Price is also good!

I've also used D'Addario NS Micro and kept it on the headstock on four Gibson for so many years... no adverse effects on the nitro finish. Only took it off to change battery. Just a caveat, the guitars are 60 to 15 years old; so the nitrocellulose lacquer is all dried on the surface. I'm also aware that freshly sprayed nitrocellulose lacquer can be soft. Although, the later models are not as noticeable. Yeah, it was like soft and you can even press your finger prints to make it yours.

High humidity usually cracks the nitro finish on the body. I believe knob cracking is caused by a physical force. I had the same thing when I had my ES on my lap, face down, as I cleaned the back. A little pressure rubbing the back just cracked a knob. ... easily changed for a few bucks.

Congrats on your new axe! I suggest to keep your stock pickups, experiment and adjust the pickup heights and screw poles. Play it at gigging volume and adjust to your liking. Learn how the adjustments affect the tone/volume. I have a number of differing ES's and I've endlessly tweaked each one to my liking. Each had its own tone characteristic. After a few months of experimental adjustments, hope you find the best tone that you like with the stock pickups. If not, you might also try different magnets. This is easy to do with a soldering tool. .. again, learn how the different type of magnets affect the tone. Only then should you try another pickup! And yes, it's a cumbersome job replacing pickups in an ES. It wasn't too bad...just took too much time. Or you can take the easier way by just splicing new pickups to the existing wiring in the pickup cavity. Have fun with with it... mostly practice, practice, and more practice.

Per Badbluesplayer, I also use mineral oil for at least 55+ years. Get the food grade and use it on all wooden chopping boards.

Yep, side dots for righty neck... lucky the rectangular inlays are ambidextrous... 😁 You have a unique ES. Are the knobs correct for a lefty?

Cherry color?

Beautiful....Congrats!

Looks a little deep as cut by the Plek. If you don't have any buzz or sitar buzz on open strings; and not binding after bends... I wouldn't worry about it. Well, I'm sometimes OCD and file dress the top angled more and lower the top of the nut to expose more of strings. And I don't forget to polish to shine! Well, now I would just let it be if it plays OK.. I've become less OCD and practice more.