1952 Gibson Les Paul Prototype

[GibSinCity]

Some days on Craigslist are more interesting than others...

 

"Here is probably THE finest example of the earliest Gibson Les Paul model in existence. Only a handful of these were made for a couple of weeks when the guitar was launched in 1952, before Gibson made several changes, making this the rarest of all the vintage Les Paul models. This is the PROTOTYPE, THE FIRST AND EARLIEST VERSION OF THE LES PAUL, THE FIRST THING OFF THE DRAWING BOARD. After the first few of these were produced, Gibson made several major changes, and this guitar is distinguished from all later 1952 models by the following: (1) in the Gibson logo on the headstock, the dot over the i touches the G; (2) the control knobs are 5/8 inch tall instead of the 1/2 inch of all later models; (3) the control cavity has a straight diamond shape in the carve instead of the later cloverleaf carve of all Les Pauls since, right up to today; (4) notice that the wiring goes into the channel right above the volume pot in the prototype; it's been moved over between the volume and tone pots on all later 1952's (compare my cavity photo to the other 1952's and my photo of a regular 52 cavity, and you'll see the remarkable differences; these are truly extremely rare and unique); (5) the BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD FINGERBOARD, which is much older than even the first BURST wood of the late 50's, is unbound, with no plastic binding on the sides; the combination of much older prime wood, and the lack of binding (which means the fingerboard extends to the full sides of the neck) make for absolutely incredible tone; (6) because there is no white binding, the side dot markers are white instead of black, and set right into the neck; (7) the screws mounting the bridge pickup are located on diagonal corners of the pickup instead of between the magnetic poles as in all later 1952 through 1956 models. (8) Finally, this prototype version has a 1 degree neck angle rather than the later 3 degrees, giving it the lowest natural string tension and longest natural sustain of any Les Paul.

 

This guitar was purchased by me from the family of the original owner upon the owner's death. It is ALL ORIGINAL inside and out, never had any breaks, cracks or repairs, works perfectly, plays easily and sounds phenomenal. It has been so little played and so well kept that it is in almost factory mint condition, there is no greening or weather checking or dings to speak of except as shown; one corner of the thin jackplate is chipped as shown, but these are easily obtained off ebay if you want to restore it to truly mint condition. The condition of the top is what's so spectacular and unusual. I have looked at many dozens of 1952-56 Goldtops and have owned about eight of them, and this is the finest and most pristine example I've ever seen. This is a TRULY 'under the bed' treasure find, owned only by one very old man for all his life. This was a treasured family heirloom, not a gigging guitar, and the care taken with it plainly shows.

 

This is a MUSEUM QUALITY piece, straight from the one original owner. She plays effortlessly, and the tone is phenomenal. It is your chance to own a super rare and nearly pristine example of American guitar history.

 

This guitar comes in a very nearly pristine original case with the metal Gibson badge, original handle intact and all latches working, and something you will almost never see again---the original leather Gibson guitar strap, intact and perfect!

 

This guitar weighs---are you ready---only 8 pounds, 4 ounces! Wood of this quality hasn't been available for 50 years!

 

Finally, this particular example is even more desirable because, underneath the gold paint is something almost unheard of for a 1952 goldtop: A TWO PIECE CENTER SEAMED TOP! Most of these have three to five pieces of maple on the tops, to save cost, and as no one was going to be able to see it under the paint anyway; but the day this one was made, either luck was in the air or some craftsman had an ingenious idea which would not be seen again until the late 1958 Bursts appeared---A TWO PIECE CENTER SEAM TOP!

 

The combination of features, the rarity of the model, the two piece top, and the almost pristine condition of this lovingly cared for instrument make it, in my opinion, the finest example still around of one of the most unique, interesting, and unusual of all Les Pauls, and the very earliest version of the instrument; when you go back further than this, you are still on the drawing board.

 

JUST TO BE CLEAR AND REITERATE, THIS GUITAR IS ALL ORIGINAL; IT HAS NOT BEEN REFINISHED, REPAIRED OR HAD AFTERMARKET PARTS.

 

NO TRADES, SORRY."

 

[nosbig]

Yeh i got three of these ha hah ha!!!

[drew365]

It's been for sale for awhile now. There was a thread about it on mylespaul.com where there was some good info on why it's not quite so rare as is stated.

[GibSinCity]

Yeah.

That price seems low for all it claims to be.

[old mark]

I'm usually not much for gold tops, but I do like the color of that one...

Not enough to buy it, though.

 

mark

[blueslespaultone]

Or you could get this one

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/gibson-les-paul-60th-anniversary-electric-guitar

Fraction of the cost

[jimi55lp]

No one knows how many unbound early LPs were built but I've seen more than 20 and all 1952 GTs have no serial# ink stamped and they all had the taller barrel knobs because 52' used the brass unsplit shaft IRC (international resistor corp) pots that are a bit thicker than the 1953 model which had aluminum unsplit shafts that all had 1/2" barrel knobs. The taller barrels from a 52 will not fit tightly on a 53 or later IRC or Centralab pot split or unsplit and in most cases you'll crack a 1/2" vintage knob it you try forcing it on a 52 brass shaft. I own an unbound earliest issue 1952 GT with pots dates to week 18 and a later bound neck model with pots dates to week 38. The earliest 52 unbound GTs had sealed Kluson deluxe with Pat.Appld. stamped on the small smooth side without ribs of the gear houses and sealed meaning closed end on the worm shaft which are 1949/51 style Klusons. The Gibson logo with the dot of the I touching the G is also a style that was ended in 1951 on other models. These also came with hex shaped nickle plated brass tuner bushings which also appeared on the unbounds with the no line Klusons. The evolution of the first/earliest unbound neck models was the squared diamond shaped with flat sides in the rear control cavity which changed to the clover shaped while still being only unbound necks. The wire channel is higher entering the bridge P90 in the center of the body while the diaginal mounted pup was used and had a different route in that pup with a squared center route for the wire connections and tables above the route on bass side and below on the treble side and then Gibson transitioned to the center mounted screw P90 with the lower wire channel routed like all later bound model GTs had in the bridge possition. Gibson didn't list the shipping totals for unbound without including all the bound neck models in that total of 1716. The guy in Marrietta,Georgia with that unbound that been listed so many times on Ebay and Craiglist in many big cities around the U.S. doesn't understand these were not Gibsons prototype of the LP GT, but are just the beginning of the production models produced. He won't believe that he doesn't have the very first produced and includes many misleading quotes that he's picked up while searching the net seeking facts. The fact is that his unbound is the same vintage as mine and I tried to explain that I know 2 others collectors with the same features as his and mine which was just the beggining of Gibsons release of their solid body on the market with an unbound neck which was later bound. I have to think Gibson was hand building/making the unbounds because my neck feels Very different than some of the other unbounds I've handled, and also different than my later bound 52' GT. I don't agree that his shallow neck angle is only found on the earliest GTs as mine has the same angle on my bound model. I've seen original bound GTs that could use a wraptail piece like the later 1953s had without making the action too high, but that isn't the norm for 52 models. all 1952 GTs also had a jack channel entering the rear cavity reduced to only 3/8", and that guy in Ga. feels this is something particular to his guitar? He's not open to any info that makes his GT look main stream or production. I reffered him to another forums photo of the only know 1952 Gibson prototype that was converted to a Burst'like configuration in the 60s and more recent was restored back to close to the original state an color. The prototypes had a Gibson sunbursted finish called Cremona when first shown to Lester at the hunting lodge and he suggested Gold finish at that point to Ted on that viewing. The protypes had a pointed end on the horn of the single cutaway with no radius like the bound and unbounds have and the 3 way switch has no rear plate and it's accessed from the front of the body under a large rectangle plate. The heel of the neck has the body extended over it covering it flush with the back edge of the body like another 40s Gibson had. The edge of the maple cap extender around the whole top of the cutaway to the neck which was unbound and had round fret markers.

[Guest Farnsbarns]

No one knows how many unbound early LPs were built but I've seen more than 20 and all 1952 GTs have no serial# ink stamped and they all had the taller barrel knobs because 52' used the brass unsplit shaft IRC (international resistor corp) pots that are a bit thicker than the 1953 model which had aluminum unsplit shafts that all had 1/2" barrel knobs. The taller barrels from a 52 will not fit tightly on a 53 or later IRC or Centralab pot split or unsplit and in most cases you'll crack a 1/2" vintage knob it you try forcing it on a 52 brass shaft. I own an unbound earliest issue 1952 GT with pots dates to week 18 and a later bound neck model with pots dates to week 38. The earliest 52 unbound GTs had sealed Kluson deluxe with Pat.Appld. stamped on the small smooth side without ribs of the gear houses and sealed meaning closed end on the worm shaft which are 1949/51 style Klusons. The Gibson logo with the dot of the I touching the G is also a style that was ended in 1951 on other models. These also came with hex shaped nickle plated brass tuner bushings which also appeared on the unbounds with the no line Klusons. The evolution of the first/earliest unbound neck models was the squared diamond shaped with flat sides in the rear control cavity which changed to the clover shaped while still being only unbound necks. The wire channel is higher entering the bridge P90 in the center of the body while the diaginal mounted pup was used and had a different route in that pup with a squared center route for the wire connections and tables above the route on bass side and below on the treble side and then Gibson transitioned to the center mounted screw P90 with the lower wire channel routed like all later bound model GTs had in the bridge possition. Gibson didn't list the shipping totals for unbound without including all the bound neck models in that total of 1716. The guy in Marrietta,Georgia with that unbound that been listed so many times on Ebay and Craiglist in many big cities around the U.S. doesn't understand these were not Gibsons prototype of the LP GT, but are just the beginning of the production models produced. He won't believe that he doesn't have the very first produced and includes many misleading quotes that he's picked up while searching the net seeking facts. The fact is that his unbound is the same vintage as mine and I tried to explain that I know 2 others collectors with the same features as his and mine which was just the beggining of Gibsons release of their solid body on the market with an unbound neck which was later bound. I have to think Gibson was hand building/making the unbounds because my neck feels Very different than some of the other unbounds I've handled, and also different than my later bound 52' GT. I don't agree that his shallow neck angle is only found on the earliest GTs as mine has the same angle on my bound model. I've seen original bound GTs that could use a wraptail piece like the later 1953s had without making the action too high, but that isn't the norm for 52 models. all 1952 GTs also had a jack channel entering the rear cavity reduced to only 3/8", and that guy in Ga. feels this is something particular to his guitar? He's not open to any info that makes his GT look main stream or production. I reffered him to another forums photo of the only know 1952 Gibson prototype that was converted to a Burst'like configuration in the 60s and more recent was restored back to close to the original state an color. The prototypes had a Gibson sunbursted finish called Cremona when first shown to Lester at the hunting lodge and he suggested Gold finish at that point to Ted on that viewing. The protypes had a pointed end on the horn of the single cutaway with no radius like the bound and unbounds have and the 3 way switch has no rear plate and it's accessed from the front of the body under a large rectangle plate. The heel of the neck has the body extended over it covering it flush with the back edge of the body like another 40s Gibson had. The edge of the maple cap extender around the whole top of the cutaway to the neck which was unbound and had round fret markers.

 

This has been the most interesting post around here in ages. Thank you!