JimR56 Posted February 28, 2012 Posted February 28, 2012 1962 Johnny Smith 1963 L5CT 1966 L5N custom and one Gibson-made: 1962 Epiphone Sheraton
retrorod Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Man, that is a "minty" beast.... How did you find that?
j45nick Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Man, that is a "minty" beast.... How did you find that? Yeah, it's spooky clean, except for the ding next to the binding on the back that you can see in the photo. Screaming pair of non T-top early pat numbers. Virtually no play wear, and zero fret wear. Very, very light lacquer checking. An under the bed special from the upper midwest. I did have Ross Teigen do a neck re-set, as the bridge was cranked all the way down. But it's about as close to perfect as you get in a 45-year-old guitar. These two photos of the headstock pretty well sum up the condition.
Slim Chance Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Hey, all of the above ... VERY NICE. Always liked early 60's Epiphones ... '62 Coronet (to me, sounds better than '62 Juniors) ... and '65 Sheraton ...
Elmer Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 I don't have any to post but...I am from 1968...and that ES335 1968...is screeming my name, my address is...jealous I am, but in a possitive way! Thanx for sharing these nice pictures...realy: wonderful magnificent splendid superb gorgeous grand sumptuous fat of the land up to the nines
j45nick Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Your '68 ES 335-12 and mine must be almost exactly the same vintage. My serial number is 980494. Yours?
pfox14 Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Man oh man there are some pretty guitars in this post. I especially like the L5-N with the CC PU.
tvguit Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 This one just barely made it: 1960 Gibson Country Western DSC_0089 by tvguit, on Flickr
JimR56 Posted February 29, 2012 Author Posted February 29, 2012 Man oh man there are some pretty guitars in this post. I especially like the L5-N with the CC PU. Thanks Paul, it's really a wonderful guitar, and I feel fortunate to be the current caretaker. Hey, here's an idea. Why don't you start a thread for one or more of the earlier decades? I know you and some of our other members have some older gems. The "Post your 50's Gibsons" inspired me to start this one, but it would be great to see one for the 40's, 30's, 20's- or earler! I'd start one myself, but the only pre-50's Gibson I've owned was a 1940 ES-250, and I don't currently have any photos digitized.
j45nick Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 This one just barely made it: 1960 Gibson Country Western DSC_0089 by tvguit, on Flickr The early "Country Western" is really an SJ natural. Some of those from that year and the next are sleepers, and are really great guitars.
tvguit Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 This one had the Country Western Label (which I loved). It was a fantastic sounding and playing guitar. I loved it but I also loved my '53 J-45 and one of them had to go. 1960 Gibson Country Western by tvguit, on Flickr
Mr. T Posted March 1, 2012 Posted March 1, 2012 This one had the Country Western Label (which I loved). It was a fantastic sounding and playing guitar. I loved it but I also loved my '53 J-45 and one of them had to go. 1960 Gibson Country Western by tvguit, on Flickr That is in great condition! I recently picked up a 60's Country Western that is going to need some work, but still a great sounding guitar!
tvguit Posted March 1, 2012 Posted March 1, 2012 That is in great condition! I recently picked up a 60's Country Western that is going to need some work, but still a great sounding guitar! Let's see it then! Square shoulder I assume?
Grog Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 Your '68 ES 335-12 and mine must be almost exactly the same vintage. My serial number is 980494. Yours? Mine is 300XXX. The shipping total book show only 216 shipped that year, along with 124 in cherry. One would think that the serial numbers would be closer.
j45nick Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 Mine is 300XXX. The shipping total book show only 216 shipped that year, along with 124 in cherry. One would think that the serial numbers would be closer. My sources show yours as a 1965, rather than a 1968. That would also be consistent with the small F-holes, rather than the larger ones usually seen in 1968.
JimR56 Posted March 2, 2012 Author Posted March 2, 2012 and '65 Sheraton ... Very nice, Slim. Very similar to mine, of course. I have to ask... is your pickguard starting to "go", up near the top? It almost looks like there's some greenish corrosion of the gold finish at the tip of the Tremotone handle. If the guard is out-gassing, I hope you've already removed it. :unsure: That gas is nothing to mess around with, which I've unfortunately learned from experience (the pickguard in the above photo of my L5CT did the same thing).
Slim Chance Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 Very nice, Slim. Very similar to mine, of course. I have to ask... is your pickguard starting to "go", up near the top? It almost looks like there's some greenish corrosion of the gold finish at the tip of the Tremotone handle. If the guard is out-gassing, I hope you've already removed it. :unsure: That gas is nothing to mess around with, which I've unfortunately learned from experience (the pickguard in the above photo of my L5CT did the same thing). Thanks for the heads-up. The guitar is at the shop getting a fret dress and setup ... will check. Hey, is your '62 Sheraton the one that was for sale at Vintage And Rare (actually photos are still posted there) last year? If so, you just beat me to it.
Grog Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 My sources show yours as a 1965, rather than a 1968. That would also be consistent with the small F-holes, rather than the larger ones usually seen in 1968. I'll have to try to remember the details I used to date it, I've had it for over 10 years & dated it when I bought it. If it was a '65, it wouldn't have witch hat knobs & the hardware would be nickel I believe. It seems to me, how many pieces were laminated to make the neck was one way to determine the year. I never knew about the "F" hole size difference before, interesting.......... I'll have to try to read the pot codes again, if I can find my dental mirror & light I use for reading them through a "F" hole. The serial number seems odd for anything in the time frame that these were produced.
JimR56 Posted March 2, 2012 Author Posted March 2, 2012 Sorry about that, Slim. :) And yes, it's odd that they still have it listed as for sale almost a year and a half later. What's the nut width on your '65, by the way?
j45nick Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 I'll have to try to remember the details I used to date it, I've had it for over 10 years & dated it when I bought it. If it was a '65, it wouldn't have witch hat knobs & the hardware would be nickel I believe. It seems to me, how many pieces were laminated to make the neck was one way to determine the year. I never knew about the "F" hole size difference before, interesting.......... I'll have to try to read the pot codes again, if I can find my dental mirror & light I use for reading them through a "F" hole. The serial number seems odd for anything in the time frame that these were produced. It's really, really hard to date by hardware details, particularly in the transition years from '65-'69. Witch hats and chrome hardware actually started in '65, by my sources. I'm pretty sure all of the 335-12's would have one-piece mahogany necks, like mine. The straight 335 started multi-piece necks in '69, but since the 12 uses an entirely different neck, I don't know that this change would ever have been made in the 12. Since 12-string production crashed after the 1967 peak, they were probably using up earlier necks throughout the production run.
JimR56 Posted March 2, 2012 Author Posted March 2, 2012 Witch hats and chrome hardware actually started in '65, by my sources. Witch hats started in late '66 or early '67, according to my sources, memory, and experiences. Just as a random test, I just went to George Gruhn's inventory page. None of his '65's and '66's have witch hats; all of his '67's, 68's have them.
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