Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

warranty records 1970's


Hardcore Troubadour

Recommended Posts

hi,

 

does anyone know if Gibson kept good records of warranty repairs in the late 1970's?

 

I have been waiting a long time to buy a Les Paul standard and I am hoping I found mine a couple of weeks ago. It mostly all seems straight. It was a one owner and the gentleman passed away. The guitar had all of the original paperwork (except store receipt) down to the case card and the pink, laminated owners card sent by Gibson with his name, serial number, store purchased from etc.

 

I never quite understood if his wife gave the guitar to the family friend I purchased from or if he bought it from her, but regardless, he said he had had it a few months, it was too heavy and not really to his liking/style etc. etc. I grilled him pretty hard as to the what's and why's and he seemed to be pretty legit etc.

 

I am not very knowledgeable on vintage guitars but have read and researched quite a bit and the real guitar player in my band (I am a chord chunker) look at multiple photographs, although he could not be with me at the buy.

 

We both looked at extensive photos, compared to known 1978 LP Standards etc. and I bought it.....here is my big concern.

 

The pick-ups have the correct pat. number etc. but are dated Aug. 1980....all the pots except one seemed to be serialized for 1978 and that one seems to be dated 1980...the chrome covers are missing but the solider joints and the work/wiring etc. all seem to be from the factory. These are NOT T-Top pickups.....He also said and it appears to be a one piece back/body.

 

Is there a chance that this guy bought the guitar, had a problem and shipped it back for repair work in the first year and Gibson replaced the pickups and one pot? Would there be a record of this repair?

 

I am not really interested in the value of the guitar but do hope it is authentic.

 

Any thoughts from the "in the know" crowd would be appreciated....I will go read how to post pics and put some up.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why does it matter ,does it effect the guitar? its an old guitar and people change stuff all the time . Do you like the guitar,if the answer is yes then forget it and just play and enjoy it,if it bothers you that much then get rid and find another easy. There are plenty out there [confused]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

does it affect the guitar, No Is it a mystery and do I want to find out, yes.

 

Is it ok for me to want to know this information on an instrument I paid my hard earned money for?

 

You know it is.

 

The local repair shop I think would have been the place it was bought from and it has long since gone out of business.

 

Is there anyone that can look at the numbers on the pups and or pots and offer some information as to the correctness and dates?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi and welcome.

 

There is a pot date website. It's part of the guitardater project.

 

Regarding the one in the picture you posted, according to this site (and I cut'n'paste);

 

"This potentiometer was made by

CTS Corporation (Chicago Telephone Supply)

in the 25th week of 1978"

 

Is this the odd one out? Because (stating the bleeding obvious) this one would seem to be a '78...

 

Here's the link if you wish to check out the rest;

 

http://www.guitardat...codereader.aspx

 

As far as swapping-out parts goes; it has happened to many, many instruments. Parts can fail; it's as simple as that. As long as the replacements are of similar type and quality I wouldn't let it worry me. Even if they were swapped for rubbish, pots and caps are dirt cheap to replace and even p-ups are not ridiculously priced. If you are seeking a good player just enjoy the guit.

 

If you are seeking originality - parts-wise - then I wish you good luck in your hunt.

 

The '70s were a notoriously 'bad' time as far as record-keeping was concerned at Kalamazoo. Even serial numbers cannot easily be verified and the same serial number sequence was sometimes used more than once. Checking repairs might just be a bit too much to expect but it's worth an e-mail to Customer Services. Their details are around the forum somewhere if you look.

 

P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi and welcome.

 

There is a pot date website. It's part of the guitardater project.

 

Regarding the one in the picture you posted, according to this site (and I cut'n'paste);

 

"This potentiometer was made by

CTS Corporation (Chicago Telephone Supply)

in the 25th week of 1978"

 

Is this the odd one out? Because (stating the bleeding obvious) this one would seem to be a '78...

 

Here's the link if you wish to check out the rest;

 

http://www.guitardat...codereader.aspx

 

As far as swapping-out parts goes; it has happened to many, many instruments. Parts can fail; it's as simple as that. As long as the replacements are of similar type and quality I wouldn't let it worry me. Even if they were swapped for rubbish, pots and caps are dirt cheap to replace and even p-ups are not ridiculously priced. If you are seeking a good player just enjoy the guit.

 

If you are seeking originality - parts-wise - then I wish you good luck in your hunt.

 

The '70s were a notoriously 'bad' time as far as record-keeping was concerned at Kalamazoo. Even serial numbers cannot easily be verified and the same serial number sequence was sometimes used more than once. Checking repairs might just be a bit too much to expect but it's worth an e-mail to Customer Services. Their details are around the forum somewhere if you look.

 

P.

 

thanks for the info....that pot was not the odd man out it was one of the 3 that seemed to be correct.

 

do the numbers on the pups work the same way? If so then the pups seemed to be numbered 78 but stamped 80?

 

will it be hard to find the chrome covers from the time period or as long as I buy Gibson factory parts is it ok?

 

Does the guitar look right with the black washer around the switch and cream beauty rings around the Pups?

 

Any idea exactly what kind of Pups these are....no raised T, I do not think they have the correct numbers to be Shaws or Dirty Fingers but am not sure about that....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks for the info....that pot was not the odd man out it was one of the 3 that seemed to be correct.

 

do the numbers on the pups work the same way? If so then the pups seemed to be numbered 78 but stamped 80?

 

will it be hard to find the chrome covers from the time period or as long as I buy Gibson factory parts is it ok?

 

Does the guitar look right with the black washer around the switch and cream beauty rings around the Pups?

 

Any idea exactly what kind of Pups these are....no raised T, I do not think they have the correct numbers to be Shaws or Dirty Fingers but am not sure about that....

Taking the points you raise in order and just my best guesses...

 

The odd pot can be dated as per the link in the previous answer but as you seem to know it's a 1980 you've probably done this already.

 

No; AFAIK the p'ups serial number doesn't work in the same way as the pot-code (if that's what you are asking).

 

Chrome covers are readily available BUT you should be aware that some bridge / neck combinations share pole-piece spacing whereas others have a wider spacing on the bridge p'up to match the wider string spacing. Measuring the distance betweent the outermost pole-pieces of both the neck-most bobbin and the bridge-most bobbin is straightforward and will show you exactly what you require.

 

The guitar would originally have had all cream fittings. The 'Poker Chip' (as it's known informally) is an easy and cheap part to replace.

 

The fact that your guitar seems to date from 1978 but the p'ups are stamped 1980 suggests to me that they have most probably been swapped-out at some point.

The p'ups themselves are interesting and pose a bit of an enigma.

There seems little doubt they are from 1980 as per the stamp. What strikes me as being odd about them is their colour and the remains of solder on the underside of the baseplate....

 

Usually Gibson's humbuckers are what are known as 'double-black' : i.e. the bobbins are both black. As there are usually covers fitted no-one can see these. When exposed bobbins are used (for aesthetic reasons) they are usually either 'double-cream' or 'zebra' (where one bobbin is black and the other is cream). Certainly there were Gibson p'ups available at that time which look like the ones fitted to your Standard - as used on the Les Paul KM series from 1979/80, for example.

Yours, however, has solder residue in the place where it should be if the p'ups originally had covers fitted.Why would they use 'double-cream' bobbins and then put covers on them? I'm baffled.

As to what they are? I haven't a clue. According to one source, in 1979 Gibson made no fewer than 26 different types of humbucking pickup...

 

I've no idea about response time from C-S, I'm afraid. If you get back in touch with them it might be worthwhile sending them the serial number of the p'ups as well.

 

Good luck.

 

P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, you are most helpful.....

 

the odd pot that I felt like was an 80 date is unreadable due to soldier and wire right in that very spot (you can see this in the photo) I thought it was 80 but on closer look, I honestly can not make it out and the wire is a solid piece and will not move.

 

The pick-up also seem to have wax residue on the bottoms...I have heard of guitar players "waxing" their pups to cut feedback before I think....

 

I sent the serial when I sent the e-mail, I will give them a couple of more days.

 

again, thank you.

post-46943-069728000 1347462499_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...