nik62es Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Help needed ! I have send some pics of my Lucille to Gibson and they identified it as a 2004 model. I am not an expert on these, but when I opened the back plate I had a funny feeling : The cut-out for the plate is less than perfect. May be because the process is different for hollow and solid bodies, but my other Gibson guitars (solids)have a perfect cut.. I looked at the guts and wondered why I couldn't find a Gibson stamp on any of the pots. I would very much appreciate if anyone who actually owns a Lucille could either put my mind at rest - or not. I did write to Gibson again after their initial confirmation, asking specifically for the same, but haven't received a reply yet. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Something is definitely not right in terms of the routing, which looks like someone has taken a rasp to it - the factory rout would have clean, straight edges. The wiring and varitone look right as far as I can remember but the pots look like minis which I wouldn't expect in a Gibson. Can you post a few more pictures showing the whole guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Here's a link to a photo of a Lucille cavity. The wiring is modified but you can see the same brown and green wires and the same part code on the varitone which is good news - but look how much cleaner the edging is. http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/2012/02/17/gibson-lucille-varitone-true-bypass-modification/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Hi Jayyj, thanks for your reply. Here are more pics. I am worried now, this was not a cheap instrument and I trusted the seller.. http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv37/nik62es/20161121_112413.jpg[/i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 To be honest I'm not seeing any red flags except for that control cavity. I think your worst case scenario is someone has done some wiring work and somehow damaged the edge of the cavity, then tried to tidy it up in the loosest sense of the word. I've seen fake Lucilles but they've been pretty obvious ones - I don't think you need to worry from that perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 If you can wait until the weekend I'll pop mine open and take a few pics. Is that first fret as weird as it looks in the photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 Here is a couple of shots of the control cavity, of my "Lucille!" It's a 2002 model. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 To be honest I'm not seeing any red flags except for that control cavity. I think your worst case scenario is someone has done some wiring work and somehow damaged the edge of the cavity, then tried to tidy it up in the loosest sense of the word. I've seen fake Lucilles but they've been pretty obvious ones - I don't think you need to worry from that perspective. I took some more decent pics with a proper camera..not very good at it, but I think it shows some details that may be missed on mobile phone camera quality.. I would like to hope that it is as you say, but can't understand why anyone would want to do such a shoddy job on such an expensive guitar. I guess someone needed to un-solder something and the iron didn't fit in ? I can't really think of anything else... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 If you can wait until the weekend I'll pop mine open and take a few pics. Is that first fret as weird as it looks in the photo? Steve Ford, that would be great ! Thank you very much for that offer. I am particulary interested in seeing some of the inside cavity wood or anything that would appear different. I am going to add some new pics on the bottom of this.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 Here is a couple of shots of the control cavity, of my "Lucille!" It's a 2002 model. CB Thank you very much for the pics, charlie brown. To be honest, components seem to be the same. I am not an expert, though. The difference are the square edges that got rounded in a very rough way on mine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 These pics may show some more detail : This shows the fretboard and the binding Some more details on the binding the pots & switch the BB King plate the back of the headstock, I can see two lines , meaning this is a three piece headstock, as it should be the pots in detail neck to body joint pots bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 bridge Grover tuners different angle for the tuners bridge and pick-ups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 bridge & pick ups bridge again, different angle cavity detail scratchplate support cavity detail with wooden supports shown. Can someone please check if this looks the same on theirs ? I can see glue marks. detail which seems to look original Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 ..just a quick update. after having send all the detailed pics to Gibson, they have responded saying this seems to be an original Lucille..so the only mystery remaining are these rather ugly marks where for whatever reason someone widened the cavity entrance routing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Thank you very much for the pics, charlie brown. To be honest, components seem to be the same. I am not an expert, though. The difference are the square edges that got rounded in a very rough way on mine... Yeah, that is "strange," that they'd do THAT?! But, you or a good Luthier should be able to clean it up, as needed. Good Luck, to you! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nik62es Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Yeah, that is "strange," that they'd do THAT?! But, you or a good Luthier should be able to clean it up, as needed. Good Luck, to you! CB Thanks CB :-) I honestly don't think this happened at Gibson..specially not at the Memphis plant... I will need to get this sorted eventually, as it bugs me, but I will try to get to the bottom of things first. I haven't yet contacted the previous owner, because I wanted to establish first how much of a problem I have on my hands. If the only worry is a shoddy bit of work and if I can get a reasonable explanation out of the previous owner, then that would be fine..however, I can almost foresee that he will say he didn't know anything about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Thanks CB :-) I honestly don't think this happened at Gibson..specially not at the Memphis plant... I will need to get this sorted eventually, as it bugs me, but I will try to get to the bottom of things first. I haven't yet contacted the previous owner, because I wanted to establish first how much of a problem I have on my hands. If the only worry is a shoddy bit of work and if I can get a reasonable explanation out of the previous owner, then that would be fine..however, I can almost foresee that he will say he didn't know anything about it. Agreed! I too, don't think Gibson did that! More likely the previous owner(s), or someone trying to open up an area, for some repair or mods, or whatever?! IF everything else is good, then you can just get that cavity cleaned up a bit, and play the Hell out of it! Good Luck, and Merry Christmas! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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