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Les Paul Jumbo

abqjack

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
9
Here is the latest on my LP Jumbo. I just bought an original, used pickup on Ebay. I pulled all the components from the guitar and before swapping pickups, I checked resistance across both the pickup in the guitar and the one off ebay. Both are measuring slightly over 10 ohms across the 2 leads. I left the original pickup in place and cleaned all the components as best I could with contact cleaner, particularly the In/Out switch contacts. After re-assembly I am getting strong sound through my 15W amp, but only in the Out position. I am going through the Mic-in jack on the amp, using a generic XLR 3-pin to 1/4" adaptor. I wonder if I am getting a signal from the In-side of the switch through the adaptor? I have seen a lot of favorable comments on the Shure A95U XLRM adaptor, maybe I should try one? Is there any way to check the pickup, other than resistance? Does anyone know how the In/Out circuit works? Apparently the other controls, Decades, Bass and Treble only function in the IN position.
 

Elliot Easton

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2003
Messages
3,478
From 'Walk Hard': "Speak English doc, we ain't scientists!" Seriously, you may be one of a very select few here that even owns a LP Jumbo.
 

j45

Active member
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
LP Jumbo is one cool looking guitar IMO. But like Elliot said, good luck with anyone here knowing anything about it, though. I think this is the first I've heard one mentioned.
 

j45

Active member
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
OK.... did a little reading and good time to raise awareness of the guitar. I guess the reason we haven't seen much of them here is there were only 49 made. It's a really cool looking instrument and according to this I found on Elderley's site below, very hi-quality Brazilian rosewood guitar (??). It would be great if the OP could post a pic of his

From Elderley:

In 1968 Gibson issued or re-issued several Les Paul Models and wanted Mr. Paul to put his name on an acoustic guitar. Interestingly, the J-160e that the Beatles are seen playing early in their career was originally designated to be a Les Paul acoustic model. However Les would not put his name on the J-160e. Therefore, in 1969 Gibson came up with a brand new model to bear the Les Paul name, The Les Paul Jumbo.

The sales were dismal to say the least. Gibson records state that 43 were sold in 1971, 3 were sold in 1972 and 3 were shipped in 1973, the guitars final year.The guitar sold for $610 and came with a deluxe black Gibson case lined in red velveteen.

The guitar was and extremely well made instrument. The top was book matched spruce, the back and sides were book matched Brazilian rosewood.
The neck was made from 3 pieces of mahogany. The headstock was likewise mahogany and had no veneer covering. The Gibson logo was silk-screened on the top of the headstock and a 6 digit serial number was stamped in the back of the headstock. The truss rod cover on many units announced this is the Les Paul Jumbo.

The saddle was adjustable by two small wheels on either side of the rosewood bridge. The tuners were custom Schallers made for Gibson. Most L.P. Jumbo’s came with a tortoise-shell pickguard. On the bottom of the neck was a low-impedence pickup that was surrounded by a chrome ring. This pickup was designed to be clean and have little or no noise.

The guitar also came with a Gibson style toggle switch, which was strange because it had but a single pickup. This switched bypassed the two bass and treble controls. The bass and treble are third and fouth knobs mounted on the guitar tops lower bout.


The other two switches are a standard volume control, the first knob and an eleven position decade control that emphasizes either high, mid or low end and points in between, which was the second knob. If you recall the decade control was also utilized on the Les Paul Recording guitar.

The sound of the Les Paul Jumbo is much different than the piezo sound that is associated with most modern guitars. It is a more mellow sound and can be mixed with sounds generated from the guitar by use of a microphone.
Les recorded directly into the mixing console and was striving for a clean, natural sound. Most popular artists at the time were running through large Marshall amplifiers and looking for breakup and distortion. Hence the the result was low sales for the Les Paul Jumbo.

The Les Paul Recording Guitar is a fine instrument and due to low production, it is quite scarce.
 

j45

Active member
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
lpjumbo.jpg
 

abqjack

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
9
Here's a pic of my LP Jumbo

lp-Jumbo-96W.jpg
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Last edited:

wernerg

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
754
The Jumbo is a wonderful, yet underrated guitar.

I took mine to Gryphon Stringed Instruments where it was quickly dismissed as "plywood" guitar, but the brazilian rosewood makes it a collectible IMHO.

The construction is flawed, though: the placement of the pickup weakens the neck to body joint to the point where string tension pulls the entire neck up and sideways. At least that's what happened to mine. And a simple neck reset isn't going to fix the problem.

Here's a link to a web page I put up a while ago. Any Jumbo owners interested in discussing offline are welcome to email me at wernerg1431@gmail.com

http://www.wernerg.com/guitars/Jumbo/Les Paul Jumbo.htm
 

apossibleworld

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Messages
362
There was one in the recent Les Paul Estate auction. I was it in person, very interesting.
 

Prototype

New member
Joined
May 11, 2006
Messages
373
The construction is flawed, though: the placement of the pickup weakens the neck to body joint to the point where string tension pulls the entire neck up and sideways. At least that's what happened to mine. And a simple neck reset isn't going to fix the problem.

You're right, the neck pickup is right where you would expect a top brace to be. Combine that with the cutaway and I can see why it had problems.
 

apossibleworld

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Messages
362
what did it sell for?

I don't remember but it's all posted online. Some extraordinary amount. The sales prices had almost nothing to do with the value of the instruments, and everything to do with touching a bit of Les Paul's magic.
 

abqjack

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
9
My LP Jumbo is working fine now. I pulled the pots and switch and did a thorough cleaning of the contacts and rotating parts. Now both switch positions give a nice high volume sound. I don't think the Bass and Treble controls are quite right though. At least it wasn't the pickup as originally diagnosed by a local guitar repair shop. And now I have a spare pickup as I acquired one on eBay but never used it. The sound is quite nice. The neck is a little high but not terribly. I enjoy playing it. My amp has an XLR mic jack and I am going straight into that. I also have a Hosa adaptor setup that lets me go through the normal instrument jack but the sound is better through the low z mic jack. I had planned to sell it but am having mixed feelings, after all I have owned it 30 years without ever playing it before. FWIW, the LP Jumbo from Les Paul's estate went for $28 K including buyer's premium.
 

Axsimulate

New member
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
1
My Les Paul Jumbo came in a gold lined case and Gibson is Pearl inlay and not silk screened. My dad bought it in 1970 when we lived in St. Joseph Michigan. It has a 1970 Gibson brochure in the case with the Jumbo circled. It came with a special cord that had an inline preamp for the low impedance pickup. Without a preamp, you can hardly hear it through a amp even with the volume turned all the way up.


OK.... did a little reading and good time to raise awareness of the guitar. I guess the reason we haven't seen much of them here is there were only 49 made. It's a really cool looking instrument and according to this I found on Elderley's site below, very hi-quality Brazilian rosewood guitar (??). It would be great if the OP could post a pic of his

From Elderley:

In 1968 Gibson issued or re-issued several Les Paul Models and wanted Mr. Paul to put his name on an acoustic guitar. Interestingly, the J-160e that the Beatles are seen playing early in their career was originally designated to be a Les Paul acoustic model. However Les would not put his name on the J-160e. Therefore, in 1969 Gibson came up with a brand new model to bear the Les Paul name, The Les Paul Jumbo.

The sales were dismal to say the least. Gibson records state that 43 were sold in 1971, 3 were sold in 1972 and 3 were shipped in 1973, the guitars final year.The guitar sold for $610 and came with a deluxe black Gibson case lined in red velveteen.

The guitar was and extremely well made instrument. The top was book matched spruce, the back and sides were book matched Brazilian rosewood.
The neck was made from 3 pieces of mahogany. The headstock was likewise mahogany and had no veneer covering. The Gibson logo was silk-screened on the top of the headstock and a 6 digit serial number was stamped in the back of the headstock. The truss rod cover on many units announced this is the Les Paul Jumbo.

The saddle was adjustable by two small wheels on either side of the rosewood bridge. The tuners were custom Schallers made for Gibson. Most L.P. Jumbo’s came with a tortoise-shell pickguard. On the bottom of the neck was a low-impedence pickup that was surrounded by a chrome ring. This pickup was designed to be clean and have little or no noise.

The guitar also came with a Gibson style toggle switch, which was strange because it had but a single pickup. This switched bypassed the two bass and treble controls. The bass and treble are third and fouth knobs mounted on the guitar tops lower bout.


The other two switches are a standard volume control, the first knob and an eleven position decade control that emphasizes either high, mid or low end and points in between, which was the second knob. If you recall the decade control was also utilized on the Les Paul Recording guitar.

The sound of the Les Paul Jumbo is much different than the piezo sound that is associated with most modern guitars. It is a more mellow sound and can be mixed with sounds generated from the guitar by use of a microphone.
Les recorded directly into the mixing console and was striving for a clean, natural sound. Most popular artists at the time were running through large Marshall amplifiers and looking for breakup and distortion. Hence the the result was low sales for the Les Paul Jumbo.

The Les Paul Recording Guitar is a fine instrument and due to low production, it is quite scarce.
 

zombiwoof

Active member
Joined
Feb 22, 2003
Messages
3,565
My Les Paul Jumbo came in a gold lined case and Gibson is Pearl inlay and not silk screened. My dad bought it in 1970 when we lived in St. Joseph Michigan. It has a 1970 Gibson brochure in the case with the Jumbo circled. It came with a special cord that had an inline preamp for the low impedance pickup. Without a preamp, you can hardly hear it through a amp even with the volume turned all the way up.

You should be able to use a standard inline low to high Z mic transformer (like the Shure type with XLR on one end and 1/4" plug on other) to use the guitar into a regular 1/4" high Z amp jack. At least you could with the Low Z LP electric guitars and basses. My bass player friend had the early LP bass that didn't have a high Z transformer, and he just used the inline transformer for a while between the bass and the amp, later a tech installed it into the bass. The pickup on that acoustic looks to be the same pickup as the electric models, so I assume the same transformer can be used with it.
Al
 

garywright

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2002
Messages
15,586
My Les Paul Jumbo came in a gold lined case and Gibson is Pearl inlay and not silk screened. My dad bought it in 1970 when we lived in St. Joseph Michigan. It has a 1970 Gibson brochure in the case with the Jumbo circled.

this is a guitar you should always treasure ..you know when a man wants an item Plus circles an ad for that item ..that’s some serious stuff :salude
 
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