Opinion on '58 Les Paul Special please

GibbyLover · Mar 26, 2020

Hi,

I'm looking for opinions on this Special.
I found:
- switch ring is '58
- switch is original
- wear is honest, color seems OK
- braided wire on the pickup is 2 strand weave. The other wires are strange with a red and blue core. Strange anyone would use other wire.
- volume pot of the bridge pickup is changed?
- 1 bumblebee gone
- bridge pickup cavity slightly altered
- are those period correct tuners?

GibbyLover · Mar 26, 2020

AA00475Bassman · Mar 26, 2020

[/IMG]Whats not to Like ?

GibbyLover · Mar 26, 2020

Well, those things aren't cheap. For the price I would hope it is as original as possible. That's why I'm asking :dude:

Tom Wittrock · Mar 26, 2020

Keys look right, although the buttons look replaced [which is normal].

Colored wires don't look right. Hopefully so others will reply also.

GibbyLover · Mar 27, 2020

Thanks Tom. I guess those buttons are pretty fragile and time and wear damage them.

The colored wires do have the period correct 2 strand weave. According to a website the newer ones use 3 strand weave (a weave with 3 cables at a time). I hope the pickups are original since they are important pieces...

fakejake · Mar 27, 2020

R&F Charle, Paris?

GibbyLover · Mar 27, 2020

G-C Paris, but I guess we're talking about the same :spabout

au_rick · Mar 27, 2020

Tom Wittrock said:
Keys look right, although the buttons look replaced [which is normal].

Colored wires don't look right. Hopefully so others will reply also.

Heat shrink ??

fakejake · Mar 27, 2020

GibbyLover said:
G-C Paris, but I guess we're talking about the same :spabout

OK, yeah. I recognized the beautiful floor tilings and the arcade!

GibbyLover · Mar 27, 2020

Possible, but why resolder the cables to the switch? If the pickups were changed, the cable could have been cut and need to lengthen, but not to the switch?

2002standardmat · Mar 27, 2020

au_rick said:
Heat shrink ??

That's what I thought, heat shrinked or coloured sheath over the ends to identify them during work?

Betting the colour does not extend to under the weave?

Tom Wittrock · Mar 27, 2020

GibbyLover said:
Thanks Tom. I guess those buttons are pretty fragile and time and wear damage them.

Actually, the buttons deteriorate over time because of the chemical mixture when the plastic [for the buttons] was mixed. The slowly shrink and eventually crumble. Not all of the buttons do this at the same rate of time, as the plastic was [probably] hand mixed and varied enough that some lasted longer than others. It is so common no [60+ years later] that we expect original keys to have replacement buttons.

GibbyLover · Mar 27, 2020

Thanks again Tom.

I got some info from the seller:
- it had a refret, which is pretty normal
- all soldering has been redone, I don't really know why. I asked about the cables but the heat shrink makes sense
- original tuners (no mention of the knobs, but thats no big deal)

I asked if there is a case.

Can anyone verify the pickups are original?

Now I need to think about the price. It would be my first vintage and expensive guitar, which makes it even more stressy :hank

poor man's burst · Mar 27, 2020

Both volume pots may have been changed as they are not the same as the tone pots. Probably at this time that heat shrink has been put on, and the reason why the neck pickup volume knob is broken.
The tuners may be original but this guitar had some other tuners (Grovers?) for a while as show the washer's inprints around the eyelets. In this case, the tuners holes were probably enlarged. Depending on the way the holes have been (or not) restored, it may affect tuning stability as well as tuner's longevity. If I were considering buying this guitar, I would like to see what's going on under these tuners.
The pickups look ok to me.
With all due respect, I am not sure I share Tom's opinion about the tuners's buttons (on this very instrument, not on the matter of the way some deteriorate)

Tom Wittrock · Mar 27, 2020

poor man's burst said:
With all due respect, I am not sure I share Tom's opinion about the tuners's buttons (on this very instrument, not on the matter of the way some deteriorate)

I wouldn't be surprised if you're correct.

sws1 · Mar 28, 2020

I could be wrong...but does it look like the neck has been out? The cavity wall is not flush, and there is a wood chip missing at the bottom with no finish on it.
Maybe it's the pic.

GibbyLover · Mar 29, 2020

I hope you're wrong, but I see what you mean.
Now I notice a covered screw hole on the right of the neck.

sws1 · Mar 29, 2020

GibbyLover said:
I hope you're wrong, but I see what you mean.
Now I notice a covered screw hole on the right of the neck.

I saw that too. Wondered if maybe there used to be a Standard pick guard on it.

marshall1987 · Mar 29, 2020

Looks like a very nice vintage LP special. I don't see anything wrong with the bridge pickup cavity. Plenty of vintage Specials look just like yours. There's no good reason why the guitar neck would have been removed in the past.

Unless I'm mistaken, the small chisel marks in the neck pickup rout are there to accommodate the taped pickup wiring bundle at the base of the P-90. This was needed so the P-90 could be mounted flush in the rout.

Opinion on '58 Les Paul Special please

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