NGD: '78 LP Special DC Walnut

Picked up this Walnut (?) '78 LP Special DC the other day. Frets are super-low, but consistent. Has Lollar P90's installed currently. After a quick setup with some Ernie Ball 11's it plays great.


Running to GC at lunch today to get a black/gold toggle ring. Just looks wrong w/o it.

I've never seen the Walnut finish on those before. We sold quite a few of the earlier version of Single and Double cuts with the wrap tail bridge. Mostly in Sunburst, but we did get a few in a very good and proper looking TV Yellow finish that I thought were just lovely! We also had Wine Red Double Cuts but I can't remember if the Singlecut version came in that color too.

Pretty cool guitar in excellent condition. There cannot be many of these!!!

I must add that the pore filler looks unlike any other late 70's Mahogany Gibson I've seen from that time. They almost always show a grey/greenish tint by now, most commonly seen on Tobacco Bursts bodies and Goldtops as well as the SG's.

Looks like walnut to me. :hmm

And looks really nice. :dude:

I bet those P-90's sound great on that guitar Congrats!....:dude:

cincyguitar said:

I bet those P-90's sound great on that guitar Congrats!....:dude:

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They are Lollar Custom Winds and are actually really bright. I find I have to run the Tone knob about halfway back.

I'm looking to replace them with a set of Dimarzios, Virtual P90 in neck and a DLX-90 hum canceling P90 in the bridge.
I need at least one guitar with P90 tones with no hum. This one, not being all original, is a good candidate.

Tom Wittrock said:

Looks like walnut to me. :hmm

And looks really nice. :dude:

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Thanks Tom!

Big Al said:

I've never seen the Walnut finish on those before. We sold quite a few of the earlier version of Single and Double cuts with the wrap tail bridge. Mostly in Sunburst, but we did a few in a very good and proper looking TV Yellow finish that I thought were just lovely! We also had Wine Red Double Cuts but I can't remember if the Singlecut version came in that color too.

Pretty cool guitar in excellent condition. There cannot be many of these!!!

I must add that the pore filler looks unlike any other late 70's Mahogany Gibson I've seen from that time. They almost always show a grey/greenish tint by now, most commonly seen on Tobacco Bursts bodies and Goldtops as well as the SG's.

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I also have a sunburst '74 Wraptail. Both are cool for different reasons.

Is this discoloration in the neck-joint lacquer anything to be concerned about?

Tom Wittrock said:

Looks like walnut to me. :hmm

And looks really nice. :dude:

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It looks like Walnut COLOR too me, but nothing like the Black Walnut Wood they used on The Paul or The SG to my eye. Best comparison would be the back of a Les Paul Artisan in Walnut finish as it should be the exact same thing. No matter how you look at it, I think this must be a very rare variant of this short lived series and it is in excellent shape considering. I had a Sunburst 55 Singlecut Version from 76 I think that I loved. It had the Firebird Sunburst on its Mahogany body and was a center seam two piece body that was undetectable unless you looks at the side of the lower bout!! The discoloration is common on this joint area as the lacquer flexes and moves with the wood but not at the same rate. It is a tiny bit of air that gets under the finish and not any structural damage to the joint to worry about. Only cosmetic.

Allen Collins rocked a double cut like the OP's but I think it was sunburst. I swear there is something so right about Mahogany and P90's. I've had Goldtops and loved them, but the all Mahogany Customs and Specials and Jrs as well as the SG versions just frickin' rock my boat! I like bright and running the tone knob down is a good thing not a bad thing. So is turning down the Presence or Treble. It is amazing what tone controls can do. I find on almost all my guitars I have the tone turned down on the bridge pickup. It is how it's done.

Noise is the only real problem with a P90, I agree it is crazy bad on stages I've played in Bars and Clubs with lots of neon and fluorescent lights!!! BBUUUZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!

I have used the Duncan Vintage voiced stacked Humbuckers and the sound better than the P100's but not exactly like my vintage P90's. They are quiet and do sound very close so I'm happy. I've used older style Dimarzio DLX Soapbar Humbuckers and Bill Larwence dual Blade full size hum buckers in a soap bar size mount with good results but they didn't sound anything like a P90.

I've no experience with the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Noiseles P90 and would much appreciate it if you would post your impressions of them, if you get them. Cool Guitar!!!!

To be clear, I was assuming it’s a walnut colored stain on a Mahogany body/neck.

I have the Dimarzio noiseless P90s on order. Will definitely follow up with my impressions.

Here’s a pic of the sunburst ‘74.

Big Al said:

It looks like Walnut COLOR too me, but nothing like the Black Walnut Wood they used on The Paul or The SG to my eye.

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stilwel said:

To be clear, I was assuming it’s a walnut colored stain on a Mahogany body/neck.

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I thought the wood was walnut.
But I trust you guys know what you're talking about. :salude


Sure is nice! :dude:

stilwel said:

To be clear, I was assuming it’s a walnut colored stain on a Mahogany body/neck.

I have the Dimarzio noiseless P90s on order. Will definitely follow up with my impressions.

Here’s a pic of the sunburst ‘74.

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That's like the one I had. Can't wait for the pickup report. The Duncans sound close but lack some push. Not as much output and they are stacked so quite deep. Too deep for vintage but fit in my early 70's Deluxe, just fit.

SpencerD said:

I need at least one guitar with P90 tones with no hum


I'm quoting that because I have idea what it means. Seriously man,no idea.

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1. I love the basic tonality of P90s and I have a serious thing for slab mahogany LP Specials, but sometimes it would be nice to play one and not have single-coil hum.
2. I currently have 3 LP Specials with P90's. I don't really need 3 P90 equipped LP's. One of the reasons I bought this one was because it did NOT have the original P90 pickups which gives me free reign to make it my own (with clear conscience) and try out some hum-canceling P90 options. I have a set of Dimarzio Virtual P90s on order, which are hum canceling soapbar pickups that still attempt to retain the basic P90 sound.

Hell yeah, looks great, though that wraptail is still my favorite of yours.

I am SURE there are others out there, but these sound like a great P90 but are actually a stacked humbucker. They are call "Kikbuckers" from B&G guitars.

FWIW...An extremely reliable source says the body is mahogany with a walnut stain.

This guitar sat on my bench for the better part of 2 months while I figured out how to mount the bridge pickup. Real P90's mount in the middle of the pickup while these have the mounting holes on the outside edge. Finally just jumped in this week and (BAM!) it's done. I had to dowel some holes and then use a Dremel tool to route a new cable pass-thru around the treble-side dowel on the bridge pickup.


It came with some Lollar Custom Wind pickups that were too bright for this guitar. Replaced with Dimarzio Virtual P90 (neck) and DLX-90 (bridge). Both are hum-canceling "P90's". Since I have 2 other P90 equipped LP Specials I was wanting a bit more muscle and these pickups deliver. I bought a nice looking wiring harness with Bournes 500k pots and orange drop caps on Reverb for $35 and a set of aged top-hats from Creamtone.


I also replaced the Grover Rotomatics (which worked fin) with some Grover Deluxe keystones that just look much better to me and work equally well. I had to fill the original mounting screw holes as they were just out of alignment with the lower hole on the tuner body.


Mission accomplished as it looks and sounds great now.

stilwel said:

This guitar sat on my bench for the better part of 2 months while I figured out how to mount the bridge pickup. Real P90's mount in the middle of the pickup while these have the mounting holes on the outside edge. Finally just jumped in this week and (BAM!) it's done. I had to dowel some holes and then use a Dremel tool to route a new cable pass-thru around the treble-side dowel on the bridge pickup.


It came with some Lollar Custom Wind pickups that were too bright for this guitar. Replaced with Dimarzio Virtual P90 (neck) and DLX-90 (bridge). Both are hum-canceling "P90's". Since I have 2 other P90 equipped LP Specials I was wanting a bit more muscle and these pickups deliver. I bought a nice looking wiring harness with Bournes 500k pots and orange drop caps on Reverb for $35 and a set of aged top-hats from Creamtone.


I also replaced the Grover Rotomatics (which worked fin) with some Grover Deluxe keystones that just look much better to me and work equally well. I had to fill the original mounting screw holes as they were just out of alignment with the lower hole on the tuner body.


Mission accomplished as it looks and sounds great now.

Click to expand...

P90's come in two styles, soap bar (mounting screws through the pickup) and Dog Ear (base plates with legs for mounting screws). They are BOTH "real" P90's.
Al

stilwel said:

This guitar sat on my bench for the better part of 2 months while I figured out how to mount the bridge pickup. Real P90's mount in the middle of the pickup while these have the mounting holes on the outside edge. Finally just jumped in this week and (BAM!) it's done. I had to dowel some holes and then use a Dremel tool to route a new cable pass-thru around the treble-side dowel on the bridge pickup.


It came with some Lollar Custom Wind pickups that were too bright for this guitar. Replaced with Dimarzio Virtual P90 (neck) and DLX-90 (bridge). Both are hum-canceling "P90's". Since I have 2 other P90 equipped LP Specials I was wanting a bit more muscle and these pickups deliver. I bought a nice looking wiring harness with Bournes 500k pots and orange drop caps on Reverb for $35 and a set of aged top-hats from Creamtone.


I also replaced the Grover Rotomatics (which worked fin) with some Grover Deluxe keystones that just look much better to me and work equally well. I had to fill the original mounting screw holes as they were just out of alignment with the lower hole on the tuner body.


Mission accomplished as it looks and sounds great now.

Click to expand...

P90's come in two types, Soap Bars (screws mount through the pickup) and Dog Ear (base plate with ears for the mounting screws). They BOTH are "real" P90's.
Al