R7BB Mickey Baker Mastertone

Hammertone · Jun 27, 2014

Anyone here know more about them?
LPB3-MB is the correct designation, I believe.
It's an interesting guitar, wired like a Gibson ES-5 (3xvolume, 1x"master tone").
One piece body, old-school circular wire rout, thin finish.
I believe @25-40 of them they were made between 1998 and 2004?
Here's a 2003 that Lark St. had awhile back.

chuckNC · Jun 27, 2014

I like! Please post pics of yours. I'm not familiar with these too much. Pickups all in phase on this one?

Hammertone · Jun 28, 2014

My understanding is that the pickups are in phase, but that it's the placement of them that helps create a honky sound when they are combined in the neck/middle or bridge/middle combinations. Similar to positions 2 and 4 on a strat 5-way switch. Very similar to what happens with the Gibson ES-5.

Previously noted elsewhere on this forum:

TM1 said:
It's only magnetically out of phase and that is due to the middle pickup being in such close proximity to the neck and bridge pickups. It's like the in-between sounds on a Strat. Even though the pickups sound OOP, they are actually not. It's magnetic interference causing the OOP tone.

Face:

Hammertone · Jun 28, 2014

One-piece body circular cable channel:

rockinlespaul · Jun 29, 2014

Hammertone said:
One-piece body circular cable channel:

Gotta like that! Congrats!

chuckNC · Jun 29, 2014

Thanks for the reply! That's a beautiful LPC. I have a project Univox Ripper (strat copy with 3 buckers) and was not expecting it to sound so strat-like in the in-between positions. All three in phase, but I was expecting it to be real muddy for some reason.

Having three individual volume controls will make for some great experimenting on that guitar, I'm sure.

Enjoy! :salude

zhivago · Jun 29, 2014

These are really interesting guitars...I once saw a picture of a vintage one, that had the three knobs in a triangular format

Hammertone · Jul 5, 2014

Not so easy to find…John Willard Gray (Johnny Gray) with Don McNeil & the Breakfast Club - Chicago:

fender69 · Jul 5, 2014

:hmm Oh man...now that would be a delight to own.

KennyY · Jul 5, 2014

Hammertone said:
Not so easy to find…John Willard Gray (Johnny Gray) with Don McNeil & the Breakfast Club - Chicago:

Rumble Seat Music NY had one with the Johnny Gray setup. If Gibson Historic reissued that in the P90 format, I'd order one. I love 3PU customs (I've got 2) and have the 3 volume 1 tone setup on mine.

mbowen · Jul 5, 2014

Here is the Rumble seat Guitar.Elliot does get some really cool guitars.Way to go Elliot.Mike B.

Pat Boyack · Jul 5, 2014

Nice pic MB! Mickey Baker is one of my favs.

mbowen · Jul 6, 2014

Thanks Pat ,not many photo's of that guitar out there .Here is Mickey's original 1957 LP Custom with HIS set up.Rumor has it that it was the very first 1957 Les Paul Custom fitted with the brand new PAF Pick-ups.[not totally proven last i knew]By the way did you listen to Mountain and Lesile West at all? Thanks glad you like the photo's M.B.

Stoj · Jul 6, 2014

That's a beauty, these sure are interesting guitars :dude:

Pat Boyack · Jul 6, 2014

mbowen said:
Thanks Pat ,not many photo's of that guitar out there .Here is Mickey's original 1957 LP Custom with HIS set up.Rumor has it that it was the very first 1957 Les Paul Custom fitted with the brand new PAF Pick-ups.[not totally proven last i knew]By the way did you listen to Mountain and Lesile West at all? Thanks glad you like the photo's M.B.

That's cool Mike!!

No, not much of a Mountain fan. At that time I was just a young kid into my mom's Elvis records. Later it was Kiss, Ozzy and the like. Around '85 a friend gave me a Stevie Ray Vaughan cassette and the rest is history.....

mbowen · Jul 7, 2014

Pat the only reason i ask ,I loved Theme From An Imaginary Western by Mountain as a kid.Your Burrito Western made me think of the Mountain song -Not the Music but the song names.I do like your song almost as much as Mountain's.Thanks Mike B.

Pat Boyack · Jul 7, 2014

mbowen said:
Pat the only reason i ask ,I loved Theme From An Imaginary Western by Mountain as a kid.Your Burrito Western made me think of the Mountain song -Not the Music but the song names.I do like your song almost as much as Mountain's.Thanks Mike B.

Thanks Mike!!

Hammertone · Jul 7, 2014

Inerestingly, the triangular arrangement of pots on the Johnny Gray guitar is a conventional array of 4 pots with one simply missing. And on the MB version, the outer two pots are in the same place as on a regular 4-pot version. Clever, those Gibson fellas.

Here's another shot I found floating around the web of an LPB3-MB.

Hammertone · Jul 18, 2014

The whole thing:

Hammertone · Jan 31, 2015

KennyY said:
Rumble Seat Music NY had one with the Johnny Gray setup. If Gibson Historic reissued that in the P90 format, I'd order one. I love 3PU customs (I've got 2) and have the 3 volume 1 tone setup on mine.

It appears that the Rumbleseat one and the original in the picture of Johnny Gray are one and the same.
They are the third owners of the guitar.
Here:
http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?184806-3-P90-Les-Paul-Custom

R7BB Mickey Baker Mastertone

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