arwokc Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 A co-worker asked me if I could help her identify two guitars that were her uncles. He passed away over 20 years ago, and her aunt stated that she bought both guitars for him in the late 50's. This first one I can't identify. Can any of you guru's educate me on the model and approximate vintage? I'll post the other guitar tomorrow when I get pictures. Thanks folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Looks like it might be an L50, possibly from the 50's, and possibly refinished. Has she looked inside the guitar for any stamped numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arwokc Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Looks like it might be an L50, possibly from the 50's, and possibly refinished. Has she looked inside the guitar for any stamped numbers? I have looked extensively and cannot find any stampings. Since I'm an aircraft mechanic by trade, I have access to, and used a borescope that displays to a computer screen. All I found was lint. I don't think it has been refinished. It's scratched and checked pretty well. It looks like the end by the strap peg is cracked as well. That yellowing is from being in an extremely smokey environment. Her uncle smoked excessively. You should smell the thing. Better yet, you should see the back of the neck on the Les Paul Junior that I'll be asking about next. Very yellowed neck paint. It was bought in the late 50's as well. EDIT...............After further research, I've yet to find any pictures of a L-50 finished like this. You may be right! This is probably an older re-finish. Probably kills the value, that and the cracked tail. But the wood on this is different than any of those pictured across the internet. It's an odd one evidently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I can,t wait to see the Junior..... It should be very 'date-able' from the serial# on the back of the headstock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 My first thought was an L-50 prior to 1955 (19 frets if I counted right) and definitely refinished but I'd like to get a closer look at the top. Is it spruce with a light stain or is it mahogany? I can't tell from the pic. Didn't most L-48s have mahogany tops? Which would make it even weirder, refinish or not, an L-48 with L-50 inlays.... And is there no binding on the neck? Can't tell. Which would make it even weirder again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 ....I have access to, and used a borescope that displays to a computer screen. I'd love to have something like that. I wouldn't need anything fancy and it would have to be dumbed down and something I could just USB to the laptop but MAAAAN would that be nice to check out loose braces and such. Oh God I'm getting excited... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arwokc Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 My first thought was an L-50 prior to 1955 (19 frets if I counted right) and definitely refinished but I'd like to get a closer look at the top. Is it spruce with a light stain or is it mahogany? I can't tell from the pic. Didn't most L-48s have mahogany tops? Which would make it even weirder, refinish or not, an L-48 with L-50 inlays.... And is there no binding on the neck? Can't tell. Which would make it even weirder again. Yep, 19 frets! The wood grain on the body looks very similar to the Sitka Spruce top on my Taylor 314CE, except a darker finish. The neck has no binding, only the body. It doesn't stay in tune at all, and to be honest, it sounds terrible. I don't know if it is a "curable" guitar or if even worth the effort and expense, but I just love old stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arwokc Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 I can,t wait to see the Junior..... It should be very 'date-able' from the serial# on the back of the headstock! I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. From what I've been able to research, it is probably either a '54 or '55 model. The wrap around tail piece posts are leaning forward toward the pickup. From what I researched, this was common on 54 & 55 models because of the shallow post binders. They corrected that in 56 with longer binders. Also, there is no serial number to be found. The uncle evidently liked Fender Seafoam green and painted the guitar. Not a bad job, but.........! Both guitars need to have the tuning knobs replaced. They are very old and brittle, which I learned is pretty commmon also. I wonder what painting does to the value of such a cool guitar. My co-worker is suppose to bring in an amp, that her aunt purchased with the LP Jr. back in the 50's. That is what got my heart to pitter-patter. Should be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Think of it this way. 30 years ago a '57 Chevy was hot stuff as long as it was a 2 door hardtop. A 4 door sedan was less desirable to the point of it being worth 1/10 as much as a 2 door. Now that gap is much closer. There was a time when a pristine Junior was desirable but a refinished/modded one was cheap. Very cheap and pariah-like. Now I'm not saying a modded one is worth a lot, but you will find it much easier to unload nowadays than 10 years ago. The originals are priced so far out of reach of the average player that someone who WANTS a Junior will make many concessions as to originality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Re: the archtop. If you look at a profile view of the headstock and it appears to have a taper, that would date it around 52 or earlier. Not sure when they made the switch, I'm thinking '52. Now I'm just poking around here but there was a time right after the war when L50s went through many changes. I think they hung onto the old script logo longer than most and I've seen them as late as '47, '48 with script. Yours has the newer logo. About that same time they went from dot inlays to trapezoids and also they added neck binding. It's possible some had trapezoid inlays but no neck binding. I always figured they would have made that switch all at once but it's plausible there could be some transitional ones out there.... and yours could be one. That's one of those details that no history book will tell you, and given the dynamics of a factory, all bets are off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. From what I've been able to research, it is probably either a '54 or '55 model. The wrap around tail piece posts are leaning forward toward the pickup. From what I researched, this was common on 54 & 55 models because of the shallow post binders. They corrected that in 56 with longer binders. Also, there is no serial number to be found. The uncle evidently liked Fender Seafoam green and painted the guitar. Not a bad job, but.........! Both guitars need to have the tuning knobs replaced. They are very old and brittle, which I learned is pretty commmon also. I wonder what painting does to the value of such a cool guitar. My co-worker is suppose to bring in an amp, that her aunt purchased with the LP Jr. back in the 50's. That is what got my heart to pitter-patter. Should be cool. Since the Junior has been altered so much, I will keep my fingers crossed on the amp... I can speak from recent experience on the Junior (I recently acquired a '55 original with repair issues that you speak of)....they can be fixed! The paint job, however, is another story! I love seafoam green on a Fender, however! Here is a link with pics (another forum) to show the repairs that I made.... http://fretsnet.ning...-paul-jr-repair I absolutely love this guitar... Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arwokc Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 Since the Junior has been altered so much, I will keep my fingers crossed on the amp... I can speak from recent experience on the Junior (I recently acquired a '55 original with repair issues that you speak of)....they can be fixed! The paint job, however, is another story! I love seafoam green on a Fender, however! Here is a link with pics (another forum) to show the repairs that I made.... http://fretsnet.ning...-paul-jr-repair I absolutely love this guitar... Rod Hey Retro, That was a great read! After seeing the pictures of the cracked treble side post, I just realized that this LPJ is cracked as well. I saw those tell-tale two lines eminating from the post, but it didn't register as a crack until I saw your pictures. I'm afraid I don't have good news for her on either guitar. That's just too bad. Thanks for the info guys! I'll try to get pics posted on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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