Early 70s lp deluxe with 65 pots?

[Damixa]

Hi all,

Im brand new here, so would appreciate any advice you guys could give.

I bought a LP Deluxe advertised as a 70-72 . I asked Gibson to give me their opinion, they said :

 

>>The guitar looks original to us. The serial number and picture you provided refers to a guitar Gibson LP Deluxe made in the period 1970-72 or 74-75. We suggest you checking at the electronics (if possible) of the guitar, if they are originals the potentiometers should have a 7 digits code starting by 137, the 4th and 5th digits refers to the production year of the potentiometers and can refers to the production year of the guitar. yes, the original pickups are the mini humbuckers. Hope this helps.

 

I have looked at the pots (137651*) (cant see the last digit) and they look to be from early 1965?!! Hows this?

Did Gibson keep the pots for 5 years and then put them in, or did they wait 10 years?

Any ideas...Im baffled! How old is my LP Deuxe?

[Holmis]

Fender did that trick, bought a huge batch of pots from CTS 1966 and mounted them in their gits the coming 5-6 years, but i don´t think Gibson did that. Maybe someone swapped the pots at some point in the guitars life, or they where out of pots at the moment of assembling the guitar and found those 65s in some spare drawer at the factory.

[Damixa]

Thnaks Holmis,

Ive asked Gibson the same question. Ill post their reply here.

Cheers

[Damixa]

I sent Gibson pictures of my pots, in my 1970-72 or 1974-75 LP Deluxe and Gibson said:

 

We received pictures, and pot code refers to 1965 as production year of the pot. Strange, I mean the serial number configuration, (Of the Les Paul) 6 digits with MADE IN USA below the serial refers to the periods I mentioned before.(70-72 /74-75) Gibson started using the MADE IN USA below serial from 1970.

 

This is about as clear as mud to me....Can ANYONE help explaining why I have 65 pots in a post 70 guitar? Was it commonplace to use 5 -10 year old pots????

 

Hope you guys know the answer

[Damixa]

Ok received a final answer from Gibson and although helpful in the first instance just couldn't grasp the details and intricacies of this LP Deluxe.

They remain adamant that it could be a 74/75, but I think not. They said:

 

"It would be necessary compare guitar specs from every year in the period 70-75, probably checking this on old catalogs etc.. But this is probably a job for a vintage specialist."

 

 

After I showed my LP to a guy I know and I received this from him, a trusted guy whos been selling vintage Gibson for 35 years.

 

"There is no way this guitar is a 74-75. First off, a '75 would have a sticker for the serial number, not the impressed 6 digit serial number. And, yours has Sprague Black Beauty caps which also clearly indicates 1970/71. Also, your Deluxe came with from the factory with patent sticker mini-humbuckings which disappeared in '72. The 74/75 would have had patent number mini-humbuckings as opposed to the patent stickers. Also, the case is definitely 1969-1971"

 

whooda thunk!?

[BobB]

It was later in 1975 when the decal 8 digit serial numbers were used. There are instruments built in 1975 which would have had the impressed 6 digit serial number with "Made In USA" impressed below the serial number. Gibson would purchase bulk quantities of potentiometers, so it may be possible there were some older ones that got installed at the factory, but if could also be possible the pots were added later. The patent number decals were used into 1975. During 1975, pick-ups did start transitioning to the stamped patent number.

[Damixa]

It was later in 1975 when the decal 8 digit serial numbers were used. There are instruments built in 1975 which would have had the impressed 6 digit serial number with "Made In USA" impressed below the serial number. Gibson would purchase bulk quantities of potentiometers, so it may be possible there were some older ones that got installed at the factory, but if could also be possible the pots were added later. The patent number decals were used into 1975. During 1975, pick-ups did start transitioning to the stamped patent number.

 

So it "could" be 75?....

Thanks BobB

[stein]

You could post pics here on the thread to try and get the wisdom of the forumites.

 

Also, pots and pickups are never 100% sure. They COULD have been replaced for some reason, OR, if they are origonal, they could have been built earlier than the guitar by different amounts of time for some reason.

 

When we look at date codes for pots, we assume they are origonal IF the dates match up with what should be in the guitar, then we can use them as one of many clues. This goes for any replaceable items on the guitar. In some cases, there are features which indicate a RANGE of years, and some features which are definite. For example with the pups, decals still appear on pups for many years after the stamped number appears. But something like the "made in usa" stamp on the back of the headstock would not appear before a certain year for sure.

[Damixa]

You could post pics here on the thread to try and get the wisdom of the forumites.

 

Also, pots and pickups are never 100% sure. They COULD have been replaced for some reason, OR, if they are origonal, they could have been built earlier than the guitar by different amounts of time for some reason.

 

When we look at date codes for pots, we assume they are origonal IF the dates match up with what should be in the guitar, then we can use them as one of many clues. This goes for any replaceable items on the guitar. In some cases, there are features which indicate a RANGE of years, and some features which are definite. For example with the pups, decals still appear on pups for many years after the stamped number appears. But something like the "made in usa" stamp on the back of the headstock would not appear before a certain year for sure.

 

Thanks Stein, Great idea I will post some pics.

I cant post for a couple of weeks ...Im off to Turkey on vacation, but will post after.

 

Thanks everyone.