2018 50th Anniversary 1968 Les Paul Customs and Goldtops

Progrocker111 · Jun 14, 2018

Nice guitar, but low bridge pickup ring on 68 Custom? :hmm

Oh Gibson...

AA00475Bassman · Jun 14, 2018

A friend a 1968 LPC , had a tiny sticker on head stock with red script Fretless wonder , very nice guitar the frets made the guitar challenging for me to play he loved these fret's . These RI 68's look very nice really like the LPC !

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

Guys!

Detailed Websites are up, with MSRP:

Les Paul Standard:
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/Custom/Heavy-Aged-1968-Les-Paul-Goldtop.aspx

Les Paul Custom:
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Elec...om/50th-Anniversary-1968-Les-Paul-Custom.aspx

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

Progrocker111 said:
These can be very interesting!

Anybody with some info about 68 Custom humbucker?

Prog!

These are the Edwin Wilson designed custom winds to emulate T-Tops that he created for the 68 Reissue a few years ago (the one with the notorious binding color, although my original has very similar coloring). I believe these will have the thinner spec metal in the covers though. Cool!

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

Progrocker111 said:
Which in fact were on later 69 Customs, but its not surprising for Gibson. :hee

All early literature / pictures have nylon saddles. As do other models in the era. The saddles were crazy easy to swap out, and many did back in the day. Is it possible that some shipped with metal saddles? Maybe, but I believe that the vast, vast, vast majority shipped with nylon.

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

dleake said:
Better shot of the back plate. These are starting to roll out.

Cool! The final website promises a blank plastic one for those who don't like the medallion look.

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

I think we can all live without the original-style frets.

I know I can

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

I am seeing a D-shaped heel which is a cool feature. That plus hide glue plus the premiere of the orange-lined case outweighs the low pickup ring to me by a mile. A set of rings is like $15, I would not pass on this guitar for that!

El Gringo · Jun 15, 2018

Over all I like it , except for the 14 degree peghead angle, the witch hat knobs,the nylon saddles and nylon nut.I can take or leave the waffleback tuners .Other than that this reissue is a winner and slam dunk in my book and I love the lightweight stopbar tailpiece and I am most intrigued by the 68 Custombuckers that Edwin Wilson based on a set of T-Tops .If I did not have my early reissue Black Beauty I would be all over this instrument in a nano second as this was my first electric as a kid.Good job Gibson ! Kudos to Gibson for the wiring harness with the 500k pots and Sprague Black Beauty caps !

zombiwoof · Jun 15, 2018

I don't like the relic job on the Standard, they should have offered an NOS version for players who don't want relic-ing. I have seen original '68 Standards in better condition than the mess they made of the finish on the RI.
Al

dleake · Jun 15, 2018

Speaking of the finishes, I don't know why Gibson insists on putting that hazy goop on VOS Custom tops. 99% of vintage Les Paul Customs I've seen have had really hard looking glossy tops. Lots of dirt and checking but glossy not dull. :hmm

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

El Gringo said:
Over all I like it , except for the 14 degree peghead angle, the witch hat knobs,the nylon saddles and nylon nut.I can take or leave the waffleback tuners .Other than that this reissue is a winner and slam dunk in my book and I love the lightweight stopbar tailpiece and I am most intrigued by the 68 Custombuckers that Edwin Wilson based on a set of T-Tops .If I did not have my early reissue Black Beauty I would be all over this instrument in a nano second as this was my first electric as a kid.Good job Gibson ! Kudos to Gibson for the wiring harness with the 500k pots and Sprague Black Beauty caps !

Curious, did the 14 degree peghead, knobs, saddles, nut, & tuners bother you as a kid?

El Gringo · Jun 15, 2018

moonweasel said:
Curious, did the 14 degree peghead, knobs, saddles, nut, & tuners bother you as a kid?

Never even knew about the specs as a kid even though I despised the witch hat knobs because they did not look like those from my Guitar heroes vintage Les Paul's (sunbursts of course) With knowledge gained over the years we know what we want and how we want it as well . The waffleback tuners I hated with a passion as a kid ,because they did not look like my guitar heroes and they sucked staying in tune (honest ) I just feel that with all the thought that went into this reissue that they could have used the 17 degree headstock angle, metal saddles , maybe a bone nut? For tuners maybe Grovers or the plastic ivory colored Klusons . Other than that this reissue is a winner !

moonweasel · Jun 15, 2018

El Gringo said:
Never even knew about the specs as a kid even though I despised the witch hat knobs because they did not look like those from my Guitar heroes vintage Les Paul's (sunbursts of course) With knowledge gained over the years we know what we want and how we want it as well . The waffleback tuners I hated with a passion as a kid ,because they did not look like my guitar heroes and they sucked staying in tune (honest ) I just feel that with all the thought that went into this reissue that they could have used the 17 degree headstock angle, metal saddles , maybe a bone nut? For tuners maybe Grovers or the plastic ivory colored Klusons . Other than that this reissue is a winner !

Whatever makes you happy! Just remember, Gibson's effort was to make a 68 Reissue which had all of those features which you now dislike. Everything you mentioned has nothing to do with that year model. To each his own though! Rock on!

jimmyace2006 · Jun 15, 2018

I have owned 4 late 60s GTs - 2 68s and 2 early 69s. All were in better condition than that aged goldtop!

Bruce R · Jun 15, 2018

jimmyace2006 said:
I have owned 4 late 60s GTs - 2 68s and 2 early 69s. All were in better condition than that aged goldtop!

Were these guitars quite heavy? My friend bought his '68 Goldtop new and it was very heavy, so he eventually sold it. I bought a used '68 GT in the late 70's and it was extremely heavy. I kept it for a few years but got tired of the weight and traded it in for the '69 Custom I still own. It weighs 9 lbs 2 oz, but with Grovers (recently replaced by reissue green button wafflebacks). Before I got the GT I had a nice '68 Custom which was around 9 pounds. I have yet to hear of a GT from this era that was not heavy.

The 50th Anniversary '68 Goldtop is grossly overdone. Are they honestly all going to be issued like that?

moonweasel · Jun 16, 2018

BGReed2 said:
Were these guitars quite heavy? My friend bought his '68 Goldtop new and it was very heavy, so he eventually sold it. I bought a used '68 GT in the late 70's and it was extremely heavy. I kept it for a few years but got tired of the weight and traded it in for the '69 Custom I still own. It weighs 9 lbs 2 oz, but with Grovers (recently replaced by reissue green button wafflebacks). Before I got the GT I had a nice '68 Custom which was around 9 pounds. I have yet to hear of a GT from this era that was not heavy.

The 50th Anniversary '68 Goldtop is grossly overdone. Are they honestly all going to be issued like that?

Re: weight ---

They were not all heavy. They varied as much as 50's guitars did - across the same range of weights. I have seen in the 8's, in the 9's, and in the 10's for LSLPs. The "internet consensus" is that LSLPs in 68 were generally lighter than 69 guitars, and all LSLP's were generally lighter than 70's LP's. None of this is based on any data though, at least not across enough instruments to make a reliable statistical conclusion. Thus, the phrase "internet consensus".

My early '69 LPC is 9.4 lbs with Grovers. Would be about 9 with Wafflebacks. (there was a thread on the LPF ages ago where people weighed the various tuners).

These 50th Anniversary reissues are spec'ed on the website as being sorted for light mahogany.

jimmyace2006 · Jun 16, 2018

BGReed2 said:
Were these guitars quite heavy? My friend bought his '68 Goldtop new and it was very heavy, so he eventually sold it. I bought a used '68 GT in the late 70's and it was extremely heavy. I kept it for a few years but got tired of the weight and traded it in for the '69 Custom I still own. It weighs 9 lbs 2 oz, but with Grovers (recently replaced by reissue green button wafflebacks). Before I got the GT I had a nice '68 Custom which was around 9 pounds. I have yet to hear of a GT from this era that was not heavy.

The 50th Anniversary '68 Goldtop is grossly overdone. Are they honestly all going to be issued like that?

Depends on your definition of heavy. I believe the LP Custom was about 9.25-9.5lbs. The 4 Gold tops were all between 9.0-9.5lbs.

Grovers add about half a pound.

They only shipped out 433 LP Customs in 1968. When someone tells me they had a 68, I always want them to show me pics to prove it was a real 68 bc in many cases, it was built in 69 or later.

1968 models are not known to be any heavier than their 1950s counterparts. It is the ones made after mid 1969 that are usually the heavy ones. Some people blame it on the extra glue they used to put all the pieces together. I don't think that it is the glue. Likely the wood.

..........

Bruce R · Jun 16, 2018

Thanks, JimmyAce. Good info.

Extra weight because of more glue? Really?

moonweasel · Jun 16, 2018

BGReed2 said:
Thanks, JimmyAce. Good info.

Extra weight because of more glue? Really?

If they used lead glue.

There's no way it's glue that makes the difference between a 9lb LP and a 12lb Norlin guitar. It's the density of the bodies and later the maple (more dense than hog) necks.

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