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Those 1960 Les Paul/SGs where can they be?

Melodyman

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
191
Mine is a 4 digit 61, but it has a stepped neck joint and the original brown alligator case with yellow trim inside..Came with the maestro side to side trem but also with the stop bar tailpiece inserts already drilled and came with the studs and stop bar as well..A few years ago it was valued at around $30k. I know they have dropped alot since then, but any idea what the going rate for one is now? Gonna have to sell off some of my axes as I am retiring from the music scene and moving away soon. Thanx!
 
Last edited:

blueline

Active member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
186
Here is the control cavity, looks like one ceramic cap, possibly original and one later period poly type cap which may have been replaced when the pickups were swapped. IIRC the pickups are early 70's vintage, I will check later to verify this. I'm unfamiliar with "wireless bridge" but if someone explains it, I can check on that as well. Neck is rather thin and fast, plays great. I used to gig with I a lot in the 90's, but have since semi-retired it out of caution...


By wireless I mean a bridge that does not have the little retaining wire that holds the saddles onto the bridge. Sometimes the wire gets lost but the holes for the wire remain. Your guitar should have no wire and no holes. If you flip it over it says abr-1. You can submit a close pic of the bridge if you like. It is easy to see if it is there. So the pickups tuning pegs and this bridge are favourites to plunder on these early Les Paul/SGs.

I see that round brownish poly cap but I have not seen anything like that before in a LP. Others more knowledgeable may help with that. The pickup wires look modern but we already knew that the pickups were changed.

If you can, can you submit another shot of the heel to get a better sense of the repair.
 

blueline

Active member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
186
Mine is a 4 digit 61, but it has a stepped neck joint and the original brown alligator case with yellow trim inside..Came with the maestro side to side trem but also with the stop bar tailpiece inserts already drilled and came with the studs and stop bar as well..A few years ago it was valued at around $30k. I know they have dropped alot since then, but any idea what the going rate for one is now? Gonna have to sell off some of my axes as I am retiring from the music scene and moving away soon. Thanx!


Hi Melodyman can you post some pictures? My first thought is that the stop tail holes are not likely original to the guitar but a picture would help. Secondly, the case typically would be a brown hard shell with pink lining. Or possibly a later case, black with yellow lining. So send a pic of that to check out. So value would depend on the parts being original especially those PAFS pickups. Prices are around half of that 30K figure for a all original 61 with no cracks or repairs. But that was a 3 years ago and I see trend for these guitars going up recently.
 

Dr. Jimmy

New member
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Messages
7
By wireless I mean a bridge that does not have the little retaining wire that holds the saddles onto the bridge. Sometimes the wire gets lost but the holes for the wire remain. Your guitar should have no wire and no holes. If you flip it over it says abr-1. You can submit a close pic of the bridge if you like. It is easy to see if it is there. So the pickups tuning pegs and this bridge are favourites to plunder on these early Les Paul/SGs.

I see that round brownish poly cap but I have not seen anything like that before in a LP. Others more knowledgeable may help with that. The pickup wires look modern but we already knew that the pickups were changed.

If you can, can you submit another shot of the heel to get a better sense of the repair.

Thanks for the explanation, makes sense now that I think of it. I'll try to snap a few pics of the bridge in a day or so.

Here's a closer view of the neck repair:
 

Melodyman

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
191
Heres a few shots. The Stud tailpiece was originally custom ordered from the factory as were the posts for it. I am using the real one on another vintage les paul so the one pictured is not the one it came with.. I have the vibrola saved but as you can see by the darker red under where it was, it was on there for a long time.. No cracks or repairs and the finish is almost like new.. Smells like a photo booth! The case is the original case sold with the guitar. its black alligator with a yellow inside..











 

blueline

Active member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
186
Thanks for posting your photos. Yes , that looks like the correct case. Although I love those sideways vibratos, I am not sure I would put it back on. I am pretty sure it left the factory with it installed but the stud holes are there so you might as well use them. From your pics it looks to be in good shape..has colour..very nice. I see the pick guard is the shorter rounded one that seems to appear in this serial number range. The brown cases also becomes less frequent from what I can tell, but that heel join did not change from the 1960 model. All looks good...are you keeping it?
 

blueline

Active member
Joined
Mar 31, 2005
Messages
186
Thanks for the explanation, makes sense now that I think of it. I'll try to snap a few pics of the bridge in a day or so.

Here's a closer view of the neck repair:


I can see what you mean now about the ridge being less pronounced. Was the strap button moved? I am just wondering about that round spot below the strap button. is it stable now?
Just gotta find some PAFS for that guitar.
 

Dr. Jimmy

New member
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Messages
7
I can see what you mean now about the ridge being less pronounced. Was the strap button moved? I am just wondering about that round spot below the strap button. is it stable now?
Just gotta find some PAFS for that guitar.

Since the work was done before I bought it, I assume the strap button was moved around the time of the repair. It's very stable, I did many, many gigs with it and never had any tuning issues or any other instability problems. It's very light and resonant as hell, but yeah, some PAFs would be awfully nice in there!
 
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