cunningham26

HERE is an identical one that's two-digits off the one you have- made alongside each other!

I love the tal farlow- as original as the man himself. Definitely in the rarified air of the trini lopez and barney kessel for doing something super creative with their sig design

I have the golden age ones on mine- they look the part and are honestly the best tuners on any of my guitars. definitely recommend them over Gibson's offerings. the white is a little WHITE but nothing a little kiwi couldn't tone down.

Congrats! Glad you liked it and looking forward to learning more about it! happy ngd!

Seems to be an MO of Gibson to put out these signature models that have collectability from people who aren't a household name. I imagine if they put out a Gram Parsons or Tom Petty signature, they'd maybe break even on what they'd have to pay the estates to associate their new guitars with them. It's gotta be the right blend of run size, cost, and cache to make it work. Guessing these red j200s will be a pretty rare bird. My sights are firmly set on that noel gallagher j150 JCV mentioned

the square label is a good call- pictures inside the body of the label and the bracing would certainly do a lot of good here. the angle of the OPs photo makes the bridge look at little strange and def not an adj bridge, so maybe that's just been replaced over time. I don't know that I've seen an early norlin acoustic that was the darker sunburst either- they all seem to have been cherry bursts, some of which have faded to a nice poopy brown!

the natural headstock, square shoulders, diff pickguard, and belly down bridge all scream post-norlin to me. i dont see anything that would put it at '68 besides the serial number. here's my '68 with the pre-norlin featues. as said above this is gibson we're talking about, so obv my serial number is about 40k higher than the one posted, so not something you can really drill down on for accuracy.

swapping pickups on either will be kind of a pain because most of the work is in and out of the f-holes. there will definitely be more range/selection of HB pickups than dogears but you can up the quality of the p90s pretty easily (if not inexpensively). if you're not certain your amp isn't causing the trouble, I'd bring your casino into a shop, say you wanna test out some amps with your own guitar, and see if a similar sized amp has the same issues. most places should have a blues jr or AC15 kicking around and who knows if the guitar sounds great, you can walk outta there with a new amp!

Muddiness is a pretty common complaint with epi pickups, so even if you switch to the 335 you may still find yourself frustrated. you could try to swap out pickups esp if you go the humbucker route, there are plenty out there. If you have only been playing a single-coil strat through that amp, I'd definitely check whether it's the amp just reacting to something with a little more oomph, esp if it's a lower-end amp.

Fair enough, but there are dogs with everything. I was watching the Gibson TV episode of The Collection with Keith Nelson where he mentioned owning and moving around seven iirc '59 bursts until he found one he really liked. Really have to have confidence in what you're looking for to say "this 250k one isnt quite up to snuff... but THIS one might be!" I'd say if you can get any pre-norlin 60s gibson under $1000, apart from obvious kindling and maybe the LG0, even if it takes a few hundred bucks in repairs, you'll have a pretty decent deal on your hands. Plus where's the fun of paying full retail from retrofret for something pristine- where's the thrill of the chase and the story of the deal 🙂

This is such an unhelpful post- "if you want to play that guitar, buy one for six times the cost of the one you posted."

These threads are great to see every now and again to remind me that while the family pics and NGD are fun, even the die hards are willing to admit that usually they're not giving equal time to an entire herd

a repro pickguard will do the job i think- i dont think you could include the cost of replacing an original pickguard without people then talking you down or saying you're overpriced. Plus that's a guitar that someone may prefer not have a guard on it so why bother. As for the scratches and condition- leave them be. way better to have it show wear commensurate with its age than have someone homebrew a buff job onto it and maybe screw something up. Looks great! 175s seem to be pretty hot right now, good time to sell.

Agreed- not uncommon in the 60s to want a master knob in that position. I've been reading Charlie at OK Guitar's blog for years (a very thorough examination of all things gibson 335 shaped) and seem to remember him mentioning something like this. Of course i can't find it now, but as with any custom order with Gibson up through the 60s, you could just give them a call, tell them what you wanted and they'd do it. do you have the serial on it? I wonder if someone has the pages of the shipping ledgers and could check whether it's noted.

the next thread down in this forum was a great masterclass in all things kluson three-on-a-plate. if the holes have been drilled out and widened, there are bushings from stewmac that can cover the span without having to fill in and redrill. https://forum.gibson.com/topic/161301-advice-for-tuners-for-1934-l-00/

Great post Dave, wonderful info!

As others have said this definitely looks legit, and I'd say for $500 it's a pretty good deal. the 70s gibson acoustics aren't really sought after because they had additional bracing making them heavier while at the same time muffling the open sound most guitarists are looking for in an acoustic. You'd find better players in that era for about the same money in Alvarez or even those martin copies, some of which sound amazing. But it's got Gibson on the headstock so who knows, maybe people will come around to them in which case you'll tell the story of getting it when things were cheap. as someone in the market for an 80s strat I consider vintage, you really just do never know!

I've got the golden age tuners from stewmac on my L48 and they look the part and are better than the modern tuners on my new guitars. Mine were relic nickel with white buttons that i had to put a little shoe polish on to age them a bit- looks like they've got enough calls that they now offer a cream color button.

Hey Creek definitely sounds like you had an Emperor, the acoustic archtop that you posted above, and maybe someone put a p90 in the neck. Epiphone did make an electric version with white knobs, but always had three of the NY pickups in them. It's possible you had a zephyr with a bikini logo or maybe a diff neck on it? sounds pretty close to what you're talking about less the tree of life headstock

You're correct- a replaced tailpiece, but that's not the end of the world. would have come with a standard trapeze tailpiece- you could replace it with a new one, or keep an eye on ebay for a vintage one, for under $100. Congrats- looks sweet!

I'd say you could make a cup of very strong black tea and slowly dab, let it dry, and keep applying until it's almost colormatched. another forum suggest tinting clear nail polish with woodstain until it's the same tone. HERE is how an expert luthier would do it- if it's worth it to you, it seems like you have a range of options. I'd say you've just started the journey of making it your own and it'll pick up some bumps and bruises if you honor your mom and use it in good health.

That's pretty cool! I've never heard of that run but i like it and definitely seems like something that will be collectable a long time from now. Reminds me of the Gretsch Princess, which was a similar vibe back in the early 60s. That said if the guitar you want requires you to sell it, you're not really in a position to have this sit under the bed hoping it will gain value. Those Gretsch's are 60 years old, sold for a couple hundred bucks and maybe like $2k-2500 realistically today. I'd say get the guitar you want to play and don't worry too much about guitars as collectors items unless you have the cash to treat them like investments (aka not touch them).

If you come in hot with roaring complaints and then ghost when a conversation gets started and questions get asked, i wouldn't say there's an attack of the fanboys happening. Those with a LOT of knowledge of Gibson products, including those that have bought guitars made alongside the OPs, rightfully scratched their heads and asked for more pictures and info because they agreed this was such a glaring failure on gibsons part. If people are here and post with some frequency, they are well aware of Gibson's consistency for inconsistency. Tom posted his original 36 to show that even that one had a few little things happening with it. I don't really understand the mentality of walking into a virtual group of enthusiasts complaining and then get upset and leave when they as you to clarify your point instead of sheepishly breaking out the torches and pitchforks with you and march to bozeman.

...and then disappeared! Guess they sold it and moved onto greener pastures when people started giving them heat

Hi Don a little late responding but feel like i can add a bit to the other response: - definitely a 70s gibson professional - if you take the pickguard off, there should be a cavity for the neck pickup. the pickguard is a replacement - the white bridge pickup is a replacement p90 - knobs have been replaced - bridge has been replaced - tuners have been replaced. Now, about the neck. Neck breaks just like that are really common on gibson electrics, and it looks like your uncle fixed it himself, spray painting the crack to make it look better. if it has had strings on it for a long time and they've been at tension, it could be stable. It is worth having a professional confirm. any luthier that has been working on electric guitars for a while has definitely seen this before. Right now it is not worth much of anything to anyone but you- if it is special because of your family connection, it is worth keeping. If you replace parts, you will probably not get your money back if you try to sell it. But it could be fun to have all fixed up and ready to play! Good luck- here is one in original condition