Buckethead LP - Differences between first and subsequent runs

[mcmurray]

It turns out that the first 60 Buckethead signature guitars are different to the rest.

 

The differences are the binding and the tuners. I expect the first run to become collectors items with a large price tag in the future.

 

Here's one on ebay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Buckethead-Les-Paul-First-Production-Baritone-/260617280016#ht_500wt_965

 

Gibson Produced a limited first run of 60 of these guitars and sent one to various Gibson dealers. The First run of the 60 guitars has two differences from the current Buckethead Les Paul's produced. First it has a different binding. This one features the Gibson custom binding on the front of the guitar. This means it has a (thick) White- (thin) black- (thin) white- (thin) black- (thin) white. The newer production ones have a different 4 ply binding, consisting of a (thick) white- (thick) black- (thin) white- (thin) black. The second difference are the tuners. The first production Buckethead Les Paul's have Grover locking tuners, as stated on the website. The newer ones come with a Shaller, type unmarked locking tuner set.

 

Now THAT is what I call a rare Les Paul :)

 

If you're a collector, that particular example would make a good investment.

 

I must say I'm a little pissed that I didn't get one of the first run instruments, I had my order in pretty much as soon as the guitar was announced.

[rockstar232007]

Only problem is, yes they're rare/collectible, but only to a very specific/limited market.

 

Not many serious guitar collectors are hampering for BH guitars. Now the JP, BG, WH, Slash, etc, etc, etc...THOSE will bring in the $$$$, even 30 years from now. The funny thing is, there are still a TON of people who don't even know who BH is, which is another blow to their "collectability".

 

I have to admit, they do look pretty cool though.

[deepblue]

Slash, etc, etc, etc

 

I dont think Slash models will fetch too much. They release a new model what?...every two months? lol

[pippy]

mcmurray; take your Sig to the next BH gig and get him to sign it in indelible ink.

 

That'll make it more valuable in the future!

 

(I'm being serious, BTW).

[mcmurray]

mcmurray; take your Sig to the next BH gig and get him to sign it in indelible ink.

 

That'll make it more valuable in the future!

 

(I'm being serious' date=' BTW).[/quote']

 

I would if I could mate. Unfortunately though, Bucket isn't one for international touring :)

[Tim Plains]

I highly doubt that the first 60 would be worth any more money than the rest of them. Slightly different binding and tuners? Big deal, it's the same guitar. Hope you didn't buy yours as an investment and only bought it because you like BH or the guitar, itself. I doubt they'll ever be desirable or worth more than what they sold for new. Give it a few years and once all the hype dies down, people will try getting rid of them left and right for far less than what you expect right now...guaranteed.

[mcmurray]

I highly doubt that the first 60 would be worth any more money than the rest of them. Slightly different binding and tuners? Big deal' date=' it's the same guitar. Hope you didn't buy yours as an investment and only bought it because you like BH or the guitar, itself. I doubt they'll ever be desirable or worth more than what they sold for new. Give it a few years and once all the hype dies down, people will try getting rid of them left and right for far less than what you expect right now...guaranteed. [/quote']

 

Give it a couple of generations and you'll be proved wrong. Mark my words.

[rockstar232007]

Give it a couple of generations and you'll be proved wrong. Mark my words.

In a couple of generations guitars won't even exist' date=' or at least if they do, they will be tuning/playing themselves, and who wants that?

 

As I said before, unless there is a HUGE market for them (from people other than BH fans), they're not going to be very "collectable".

[bucketbot]

In a couple of generations guitars won't even exist' date=' or at least if they do, they will be tuning/playing themselves, and who wants that? [/quote']

 

You are of course joking!!!

 

 

As I said before' date=' unless there is a HUGE market for them (from people other than BH fans), they're not going to be very "collectable".

[/quote']

 

Disagree...anything produced in small numbers will eventually prove to be collectable, what's more in the past 10 years Bucketheads popularity has increased hugely & I'm sure this will continue.

 

Glad I have one of the first run....but doubt I will be parting with it!! #-o

[pippy]

In a couple of generations guitars won't even exist' date=' or at least if they do, they will be tuning/playing themselves, and who wants that? [/quote']

 

It's always difficult predicting what will happen.

 

The 'Electronic Keyboard' in it's many guises - especially the synthesiser - had pretty much replaced the guitar in 'Popular Music' by the beginning of the 1980's but fast forward to 2010 and the humble 'Pianoforte' is still very much with us whereas the likes of the VCS-3 and the Moog have been swallowed up by the mists of time.

 

There will, undoubtedly, be further advances in the electronic and computer-generated guitar world but I doubt the Electric Guitar as we know and love it will disappear altogether.

 

Before the world had the means to record and replay music everyone had to settle for 'live' performance. Nowadays we can listen to pretty much anything we want to hear at any time of the day or night but there are still quite a few people who resort to the old-fashioned 'Do-It-Yourself' approach to music!

[mcmurray]

what's more in the past 10 years Bucketheads popularity has increased hugely & I'm sure this will continue.

 

 

Exactly.

[rockstar232007]

You are of course joking!!!

Yes' date=' I was![cool']

 

 

 

 

Disagree...anything produced in small numbers will eventually prove to be collectable, what's more in the past 10 years Bucketheads popularity has increased hugely & I'm sure this will continue.

 

Glad I have one of the first run....but doubt I will be parting with it!! [biggrin]

Just because somethings produced in small ("Limited") numbers, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be collectible. Gibson has produced more than a few guitars in relatively small runs (Smartwood Studio, Spotlight Special, etc), and people can't give those things away! Popularity determines collectibility, not quantity, and outside the BH community, these guitars will be nothing more than "novelty" (or "boutique") guitars. The BH sig (as with a number of other Gibson LPs of today) is aimed at a VERY specific market (BH fans), which means they will ONLY be collectible within that market.

[bucketbot]

Just because somethings produced in small ("Limited") numbers' date=' doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be collectible. Gibson has produced more than a few guitars in relatively small runs (Smartwood Studio, Spotlight Special, etc), and people can't give those things away! Popularity determines collectibility, not quantity, and outside the BH community, these guitars will be nothing more than "novelty" (or "boutique") guitars. The BH sig (as with a number of other Gibson LPs of today) is aimed at a VERY specific market (BH fans), which means they will ONLY be collectible within [i']that[/i] market.

 

Fair enough...valid point. :)

[mcmurray]

The BH sig (as with a number of other Gibson LPs of today) is aimed at a VERY specific market (BH fans)' date=' which means they will ONLY be collectible within [i']that[/i] market.

 

Yes, but that market is increasing daily.

[rockstar232007]

Yes' date=' but [i']that[/i] market is increasing daily.

Yes it is, but how many people IN that market (which is comprised of mostly teenagers) are going to be able to afford this guitar?

 

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's' parade, I'm just being realistic, and I know A LOT of people who are into BH...heavily, and THEY don't even like the guitar! The funny thing is, they have the same hang-ups that everyone else has "whats with the all killswitches?". As a matter of fact, I showed a picture of it to a guy I work with who is a die hard, BH fan, and his first reaction was "that is one UGLY LP!", and I was like[blink] . When I told him who's it was (he was used to seeing BH's "Custom" LP), he took another look at it and said "that is still one ugly LP!".

 

As I said, it's a cool looking guitar (killswitches aside), and if it were a standard sized LP it would be that much more cool (I'm a very average sized guy), but I still don't think that they are going to be as popular as some think.

[mcmurray]

Yes it is' date=' but how many people IN that market [u'](which is comprised of mostly teenagers)[/u] are going to be able to afford this guitar?

 

This is a common belief around here but imho a baseless one. Sure, he has a lot of teenage fans, but I doubt they'd make up the majority. I know I'm not a teenager, and bucketbot sure as hell isn't one

[bucketbot]

I know I'm not a teenager' date=' and bucketbot sure as hell isn't one [biggrin']

 

Indeed!!! I try my best to act like one & still try & pick up women a lot younger than me with some success thankfully!!

 

But at 52 it's not getting any easier!! [biggrin]

[rockstar232007]

This is a common belief around here but imho a baseless one. Sure' date=' he has a lot of teenage fans, but I doubt they'd make up the majority. I know I'm not a teenager, and bucketbot sure as hell isn't one [biggrin']

 

 

Indeed!!! I try my best to act like one & still try & pick up women a lot younger than me with some success thankfully!!

 

But at 52 it's not getting any easier!! [biggrin]

ROCK ON!

 

I meant to say "many teenagers"' date=' not "mostly". My bad!

[Skulltower]

Here's a good one WHEN ARE YOU GUYS GONNA FINISH MY ORDER? three months for a signature is stupid.

[mcmurray]

Here's a good one WHEN ARE YOU GUYS GONNA FINISH MY ORDER? three months for a signature is stupid.

 

Going by how long I waited, I reckon you've got another 6 months at least.

[bucketbot]

Switched the Arcaded Buttons on mine to white & the switch tip. I reckon it looks much better!

 

[Rick]

I prefer the red arcade buttons

[hamstertheducky]

I know this post is old but I was wondering where you got the info saying that there was a limited first run of 60. Did an official Gibson representative confirm this? I have this guitar and it is exactly as you describe. Mine has the binding as described, the Grover tuners and an ebony fret board. It was ordered before they were produced and I had to wait months.

 

I'd also like to comment to the guy below who said it will never be worth more than when they were purchased. You're wrong. I could sell mine for more than double what I paid for it in 2009. Good luck finding one of the original (not studio) models for sale at all, anywhere, period.

 

 

It turns out that the first 60 Buckethead signature guitars are different to the rest.

 

The differences are the binding and the tuners. I expect the first run to become collectors items with a large price tag in the future.

 

Here's one on ebay:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Buckethead-Les-Paul-First-Production-Baritone-/260617280016#ht_500wt_965

 

Gibson Produced a limited first run of 60 of these guitars and sent one to various Gibson dealers. The First run of the 60 guitars has two differences from the current Buckethead Les Paul's produced. First it has a different binding. This one features the Gibson custom binding on the front of the guitar. This means it has a (thick) White- (thin) black- (thin) white- (thin) black- (thin) white. The newer production ones have a different 4 ply binding, consisting of a (thick) white- (thick) black- (thin) white- (thin) black. The second difference are the tuners. The first production Buckethead Les Paul's have Grover locking tuners, as stated on the website. The newer ones come with a Shaller, type unmarked locking tuner set.

 

Now THAT is what I call a rare Les Paul :)

 

If you're a collector, that particular example would make a good investment.

 

I must say I'm a little pissed that I didn't get one of the first run instruments, I had my order in pretty much as soon as the guitar was announced.

[khobi64]

Howdy,

im toying with the idea of selling my original Gibson buckethead. It is from the original run of 60. Best of all it is never been played, it has remained in its box since purchase. I’ve only taken it out for condition check and for photos. 

How would I gauge how much it’s worth. Because everything ( the only 2) out there are played and not from the run of 60.

mines never played and from the 60 run so I’m a little stuck. Who do I approach to get an appraisal or find collectors?

cheers

[Eracer_Team]

10 hours ago, khobi64 said:

Howdy,

im toying with the idea of selling my original Gibson buckethead. It is from the original run of 60. Best of all it is never been played, it has remained in its box since purchase. I’ve only taken it out for condition check and for photos. 

How would I gauge how much it’s worth. Because everything ( the only 2) out there are played and not from the run of 60.

mines never played and from the 60 run so I’m a little stuck. Who do I approach to get an appraisal or find collectors?

cheers

 

Tricky.

You really need to find someone that

a) really digs Brian the Buckethead

b) really wants a Les Paul in 27" scale length,  with kill switch in alpine white

I think pretty much a niche market 

And only a hard core collector I think would care that it's part of the first run

Good luck