1957 Les Paul Goldtop Dark Back and Sides?

Nick21 · Aug 4, 2018

Hello!

Just curious if this is something that Gibson ever did. From the photos it looks like only the neck heel and body are dark, not the neck. Never seen it before on a LP.

https://www.gbase.com/gear/gibson-les-paul-model-1957

sws1 · Aug 4, 2018

I think you're just seeing how the light is reflecting (or not) of the flat back surface, vs the rounded neck surface. Both colors look right to me, just with different lighting angles. I bet in person, or turned ever so slightly, the brown would look fairly uniform.

T.Allen · Aug 4, 2018

fairly rare dark back and sides

That is from the description. If the photos are representative of the actual color, I haven't seen that before.

sunburst1 · Aug 4, 2018

I've seen a late 1956 & 1957 P90 GT with a darkback. Some 1958 GT's also had darkbacks . Sure a few GT's with PAF's made in 1957 have a darkback also.

The neck has a dark finish also , IMO, maybe faded a bit from ware , maybe not as many coats for finish on the neck?

If you look at the back of the headstock its dark with a yellow SN , which is how darkback LPS and single-cut LP Jr.'s made after 1954/55 were stamped.

Tom Wittrock · Aug 5, 2018

Dark back 57s are not uncommon. :ganz

Nick21 · Aug 5, 2018

Tom Wittrock said:
Dark back 57s are not uncommon. :ganz

Right. My question was about the difference in the color between the neck and body. In the photo the body looks much darker. Perhaps it’s just the lighting.

Rev.WillieVK · Aug 5, 2018

The beauty of a 1957 Les Paul Goldtops dark back*

*NOT the opaque chocolate-coffee mud they put on the reissues!

Nick21 - The link above shows a pretty radical difference, but the dealer is well-known enough that he probably knows what he's looking at. IMO it's either the lighting, or the difference in mahogany grains that catch the light differently

goldtop0 · Aug 13, 2018

Rev.WillieVK said:
The beauty of a 1957 Les Paul Goldtops dark back*

*NOT the opaque chocolate-coffee mud they put on the reissues!

Nick21 - The link above shows a pretty radical difference, but the dealer is well-known enough that he probably knows what he's looking at. IMO it's either the lighting, or the difference in mahogany grains that catch the light differently

The back of this one is a thing of beauty Rev............but that strap knob :hmm

zombiwoof · Aug 13, 2018

I wasn't even aware that there were '57 LP's with P90's!. I thought they were all HB's by that time.
Al

Rev.WillieVK · Aug 14, 2018

goldtop0 said:
The back of this one is a thing of beauty Rev............but that strap knob :hmm

It was almost 50 years old when I was asked to take the pic - can't control what people did in the past.

zombiwoof said:
I wasn't even aware that there were '57 LP's with P90's!. I thought they were all HB's by that time.
Al

Humbuckers were introduced in Les Pauls at the 1957 Summer NAMM - so that makes roughly half the year that they were still making P-90 Goldtops

:salude

sws1 · Aug 14, 2018

Rev.WillieVK said:
It was almost 50 years old when I was asked to take the pic - can't control what people did in the past.

Humbuckers were introduced in Les Pauls at the 1957 Summer NAMM - so that makes roughly half the year that they were still making P-90 Goldtops

:salude

There are some very high s/n P90 guitars in 1957, so they may have continued to make them throughout the year.

Think I've seen mention of a '58 P90 Gt as well.

Tom Wittrock · Aug 15, 2018

sws1 said:
There are some very high s/n P90 guitars in 1957, so they may have continued to make them throughout the year.

I don't recall any P-90 57's with high serial numbers. Can you give a couple of examples? :hmm

sws1 · Aug 15, 2018

Tom Wittrock said:
I don't recall any P-90 57's with high serial numbers. Can you give a couple of examples? :hmm

I saw one at the custom shop in Nashville. Was told it belonged to a big time collector whom I won’t name. Others who know him can validate if they want.

Tom Wittrock · Aug 15, 2018

What serial number range are you talking about ["very high"]? :hmm

Ken Fortunato · Aug 15, 2018

Wasn't Dickey's '57 GT originally a dark back? :hmm

sws1 · Aug 15, 2018

Tom Wittrock said:
What serial number range are you talking about ["very high"]? :hmm

I don't remember exactly, but it was definitely a number that made me think, "wow - that's really high". Well higher than the PAF GT I owned. Maybe 7 7xxxx

F-Hole · Aug 15, 2018

sws1 said:
I don't remember exactly, but it was definitely a number that made me think, "wow - that's really high". Well higher than the PAF GT I owned. Maybe 7 7xxxx

It is ATC's guitar, and the serial is well into the PAF range. Almost mint, with matching amp.

sws1 · Aug 15, 2018

F-Hole said:
It is ATC's guitar, and the serial is well into the PAF range. Almost mint, with matching amp.

Thank you

goldtop0 · Aug 16, 2018

Rev.WillieVK said:
It was almost 50 years old when I was asked to take the pic - can't control what people did in the past.

Of course not Rev.......... but it's a silly place to put it none the less:hmm

1957 Les Paul Goldtop Dark Back and Sides?

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