stumblinman Posted May 12, 2009 Posted May 12, 2009 Hey guys, looking at picking up a 56 reissue goldtop from a guy on Craigslist. Anyone know how many factories made the goldtop? I know Unsung did, but not sure of any others. Anyone with a goldtop or knowledge of such matters would be very helpful if they posted here. Also, he's asking 300, but I might have him talked down a bit, that seem fair? Thanks!
mbrooks0711 Posted May 13, 2009 Posted May 13, 2009 I don't know much but if its in good condition for $300 it is a GREAT deal. I wanted to buy one recently and $300 was about $5O less than the cheapest one I could find. They go for about $400 on ebay and $500 new. They are now discontinued, so grab it if you can. BTW nice tag my fav verse is COL 3:17
lpfan Posted May 13, 2009 Posted May 13, 2009 If its in good shape then you better take it at 300. They are starting to get harder and harder to find. I've had a new on layaway for like 4 months now and I haven't seen a used one on craigslist locally. Get it while you can.
dcooper830 Posted May 13, 2009 Posted May 13, 2009 All I can say is..... I LOVE my Epi 56 Goldtop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .
Goldie Posted May 13, 2009 Posted May 13, 2009 The one I have was made at the Saein(sp) factory in Korea, '04.
clarkuss Posted May 13, 2009 Posted May 13, 2009 I'm more of a Galatians man... just wrote 15000 words about it.
stumblinman Posted May 13, 2009 Author Posted May 13, 2009 Clark, nice. I just went and looked at it, and didn't buy it. He said he'd take 250 for it but I couldn't pull the trigger. His "daughter" had knocked it off the stand, and there was about a 1/2"x2" chip out of the top edge of the guitar about where your right elbow rests, the D string tuning peg was tweaked at about a 45 degree angle, and there were some awful gangsta script "Orange County" stickers stuck to it. Looked like either bad binding on the neck joint or a little bit of nail polish to cover a potential crack from the drop. Sounded great, and had an EE serial number, but I have a hard time buying dropped guitars. It's still listed on Portland Craigslist though if anyone is interested. If you had the time to invest it's probably a great deal, but I wanted one that didn't have issues. Thanks for the input everyone http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/msg/1166681175.html
mbrooks0711 Posted May 13, 2009 Posted May 13, 2009 Yeah, I think we were all envisioning a used goldtop with a ding here and there, some belt buckle rash, kinda guitar; not one that somebody put Orange County stickers on and let the daughter knock over. Oh well someone will buy it. I went into my local shop (Fender and Godin only dealer) and saw that apparently it is cool (and more expensive) to get a guitar that is "new" but has had the crap beaten out of it. Fender must be sponsoring "Bring your daughter to work day" and be letting them knock over all the guitars they can!
lpfan Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 Man that sucks. You should offer him 100 or 150 if it doesn't sell.
clarkuss Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 That's a real shame. Would have been a great bargain! All I can say is..... I LOVE my Epi 56 Goldtop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! . Loved your Youtube video! You get some amount of comments as well!
stumblinman Posted May 14, 2009 Author Posted May 14, 2009 Talked him down to 200, getting it in the next few days whenever I can get back down to Portland. I'll post some "present condition" pictures before I replace tuners and get that awful lettering off. Thanks guys!
Guest icantbuyafender Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 great going. I just got mine new. cant seem to crack the seriel # code to find factory info though...
stumblinman Posted May 14, 2009 Author Posted May 14, 2009 Oh! I forgot to say I asked him about the neck. He said it is just a cosmetic defect. I'll double check before handing over the cash, but damn, it still sounded so nice I might have to believe him.. Getting it tomorrow (Friday) so I'll try and get some pics by the weekend, at least of the "before".
zombywoof Posted May 14, 2009 Posted May 14, 2009 . That is one of the worst looking relic jobs I have ever seen. Sure makes you appreciate a relic finish by guys like John Black, Tom Murphy and Vince Cunetto.
midiman56 Posted May 15, 2009 Posted May 15, 2009 All I can say is..... I LOVE my Epi 56 Goldtop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! . Coop ... how've you been, brother? You are the audio/video source for Epiphone Les Paul GAS! One question ... why didn't you use the Teletubbies clip? Jim
stumblinman Posted May 15, 2009 Author Posted May 15, 2009 I did notice the neck pickup is significantly louder than the bridge. I haven't adjusted P-90's before, do the soapbars have an overall adjustment, or is it just individual pole pieces?
HarpBoy Posted May 15, 2009 Posted May 15, 2009 I did notice the neck pickup is significantly louder than the bridge. I haven't adjusted P-90's before' date=' do the soapbars have an overall adjustment, or is it just individual pole pieces?[/quote'] I just raised each pole piece on mine (which I no longer have). If you want to raise the whole pickup, you might have to remove it and put some foam under there that pushes the pickup upwards against the screws. Enjoy; those are sweet guitars.
stumblinman Posted May 15, 2009 Author Posted May 15, 2009 Just picked it up, played it some more. The neck is fine, it was just where the gold paint and the binding met. My bad on that. I'll post some pics later after I mow the lawn. Harp, thanks for the info :-&/
stumblinman Posted May 15, 2009 Author Posted May 15, 2009 Here's the earlies.. I already took the Orange County stickers off, but haven't taken new photos yet. Took these right before I left for my daughter's softball game. Just took lettering off before I logged on. Enjoy! http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/stumblinman_lp/?action=view¤t=DSC00540.jpg http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/stumblinman_lp/?action=view¤t=DSC00541.jpg http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/stumblinman_lp/?action=view¤t=DSC00543.jpg http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/stumblinman_lp/?action=view¤t=DSC00545.jpg http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu153/stumblinman_lp/?action=view¤t=DSC00547.jpg If someone could tell me how to imbed them in the message, that would be great. Thanks!
pohatu771 Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 I'll say, it doesn't look as bad as I expected. I was expecting it to look like the Strummer Telecaster that was posted.
stumblinman Posted May 16, 2009 Author Posted May 16, 2009 For 200 bucks, I'm not complaining. I love the sound, just had a hard time paying that much for that big of a ding on it and the broken tuner.. at least he replaced it with one from his acoustic before the transaction. Now I just need to find someone with one Grover tuner for the bass side of the headstock that will sell it cheap so I don't have to buy a whole replacement set for one stupid tuner. The stickers came off easy enough, so that was a no brainer. Probably my most frugal purchase to date.
bluesman345 Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 Nice looking axe there, brother. The "EE" specifies that it is from the Epi factory in Qing Dao, China. Quite a ding - oh well, at least you know it's made out of mahogany, not particle board!! You can adjust the height of the soapbar P90's with the 2 offset screws that are between the A/D strings and the G/B strings, in addition to the individual pole screws. I also have the neck pup on my Gold Top lower than the bridge pup, as it is bassier/louder than I like. Otherwise, these P90's sound great Here's a bigger picture of my LP (the picture has been altered a bit, as I used it to make an iron-on transfer for a t-shirt): My Gold Top was made in the Saien factory, Korea, in 2004. It is much heavier than any Chinese Gold Tops that I have picked up. I'm not sure if the latter is made from a lighter wood and/or weight relieved (chambered), which is certainly easier on the back and apparently the tone isn't affected much. By the way, to imbed a photo, just SELECT and COPY the IMG (image) Code in the bottom slot under your picture, then PASTE it onto the Reply box on the Forum. Cheers
Doth Posted May 16, 2009 Posted May 16, 2009 Stumblinman - Looks like a great guitar for the money. That is a big ding, but maybe a qualified luthier could do something with it to make it less noticeable. Either way, you still won't have the anxiety you get when you get the first ding on a new guitar. That aged Tele is a replica of Joe Strummer's. Joe's looked just about identical (but with a ton of stickers which I think come with the guitar). It is a MIM guitar. I played it several times, Sounds good, but feels like the finish was silk screened on. Joe had spray painted the original several times. I guess if you are a Strummer or Clash fan it might be cool, but it is not for me. dcooper, I always love watching your videos. It seems you can play any genre! Doth Doth
stumblinman Posted May 17, 2009 Author Posted May 17, 2009 Ok, so far I've removed stickers, bought/installed a used grover tuner to replace crappy replacement he put on (got it for three dollars), installed straplocks and new strings, and she already feels like she's mine all mine. Now I just need to work on a solution for that chip and I'll be set. I'll post some new pics and do a before and after so you guys can see. I'll just have to get to it sometime lol, it's my 34th birthday today, and I'm in no shape to fiddle with it. Woohoo! Oh, also. I like the relic look of some guitars, but that just looks like neglect on that tele. Treat your guitars like you treat your women.. Joe Strummer!
jcwillow777 Posted May 17, 2009 Posted May 17, 2009 That doesn't look as bad as I thought it was gonna, pretty nice. Congrats on the score and happy birthday! If you are looking for a tuner, check out GFS, you can get a whole set for about $25. I put as set of Grover Vintage Green Keystones on mine, I just like the looks of them over the kidney Grovers that come on Epis.
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