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Featured Article: Real or not? Factory Humbuckers on LSLP Standards

WBailey

Active member
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Messages
1,131
Guessing... special order humbucker with a leftover 1 piece neck
from earlier 69.

Thats what I was thinking.

Started earlier '69, finished later.

I doubt they dropped everything they were doing to build a 1- off. :hmm

I wonder what the turn around time was for special order ?

Aren't these ledgers still available ?
 

guitplayer

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
2,114
Probably average turnaround. But hoping someone at the factory said "Well if wants a
humbucker ,lets get a 1 piece neck." :)
 

bigbossman

New member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
11
Guessing... special order humbucker with a leftover 1 piece neck
from earlier 69.

Nope, 3-piece neck unfortunately..... all seems to be period-correct and pointing to a mid-series Deluxe. Except for the pickups that don't fit the bill.

I had hoped that moonweasel would chime in with a copy of the shipping ledger showing details of "my" SerNr......
 

Progrocker111

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
4,013
Interesting about this guitar, that it has 3 piece neck and early 69 pots (even serial number). Three piece necks occured massively in april - june 1969 though. :hmm
 

corpse

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
4,876
Until very late 69. :)

Wow.
I am so enamored with my 1969 HB conversion- just a do-everything guitar. I don't understand what they were thinking not having a standard-issue HB standard at that time.
The neck took some getting used to after a historic makeover which was very tapered, and thin, but not flat.
It has grovers but is close to 10 lbs. Just a great guitar.
 

moonweasel

New member
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
9,427
Definitely a mid-1969 guitar.

6902 pots took over after Gibson ran out of 6852's right about when the Standard to Deluxe transition occurred. Your guitar is a very early 8xx,xxx series, so the filler block makes sense.

Gold finishes can hide a lot, so I am hesitant to comment on the routes. The only ones I have come close to confirming (and the one I did) had transparent finishes or refinishes.
 

bigbossman

New member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
11
Hi moonweasel,

Thanks for chiming in, I was hoping for your expert opinion and advise!

Fully understand your hesitation to make any judgement based on older pictures with poor resolution. No problem to shoot high res images if that helps.

Here is my plea:
I bought the guitar in 1982 at a price which was typical for a used re-issue Les Paul back then.
The seller did not try to advertise it as a "real 57 Goldtop" so I exclude a fraud attempt.
And finally, such a sophisticated conversion job would not have made any financial sense in the 70s. Why would anybody have been crazy enough to pay a luthier for such a complex job without at least trying to make some money from it?

Applying that quick logic, the only conclusion is it must be a factory original. Never found any proof though.....

I learned in the Forum that Gibson stopped providing scans of their shipping ledgers. My hope was that somebody might have an older copy including details of "my" serial number.
 

bigbossman

New member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
11
Hi moonweasel,

Thanks for chiming in, I was hoping for your expert opinion and advise!

Fully understand your hesitation to make any judgement based on 10+ years old pictures with dodgy resolution. I am more than happy to shoot high res images of any detail if it only helps.

Here is my plea:
* I bought the guitar in 1982 at a price which was typical for a used LP Deluxe back then. If converted from Mini-Humbuckers, it must have been done between 69 and 82.
* The seller did not try to promote it as a "real 57 Goldtop" so I exclude a fraud attempt.
* Such conversion job would not have made any financial sense. Why would anyone be crazy enough to pay a luthier for such a sophisticated “fake job” without trying to get some money back?

Following that logic, my conclusion was (and still is) that this GT must be factory original. I would love to find proof finally……

I learned here in the Forum that Gibson stopped providing scans of their shipping ledgers long ago but hoped that somebody might have an older copy showing details of "my" serial number.
 
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