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Did Gibson ever fit ceramic tone caps in the last 20 years or so?

Orson Cart

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Jul 25, 2020
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Hi. This is my first post here so I hope it's in the right place?

15 years or so ago I bought a used Les Paul Standard built sometime around 2001/2002. All seemed well enough with it but at some point I removed the control cover plate and was slightly surprised to find that the capacitors in there seems to be ceramic disk types.

The reason that I was surprised was because I also have a Les Paul special that I bought from new in 1975 and I compared the controls in that to those in the new standard. The caps in the Special are larger and look similar to the Sprague paper in oil capacitors.

My first fear was that maybe the Standard that I'd bought was a fake. Other things I've seen recently make me wonder though. Does anyone on here know if Gibson routinely fitted ceramic disk capacitors to Les Pauls in recent-ish years?

By the way I've attached a photo showing the ceramic caps in the LP standard but I'm not sure how well it will come out.
 

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AJCR

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May 2, 2018
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Yep, perfectly normal.

In fact the first instance of these ceraminc discs was in the 60's SG's.
 

Minibucker

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Jan 12, 2003
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Yeah they were used quite a bit.


gibson+lp+studio+pp+control+cavity.JPG


Especially in guitars like the semi-hollowbody ES's where they often soldered the little discs to the pots to tuck them out of the way since the whole harness had to go in through the pickup cavity or f-hole.
 

Orson Cart

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Jul 25, 2020
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Yeah they were used quite a bit.


gibson+lp+studio+pp+control+cavity.JPG


Especially in guitars like the semi-hollowbody ES's where they often soldered the little discs to the pots to tuck them out of the way since the whole harness had to go in through the pickup cavity or f-hole.

Thanks for the info. Nice clear photo too. That puts my mind at rest to a great degree :)
 

AJCR

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May 2, 2018
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Caps should never be something you rely on to judge authenticity though.
They are easily swapped, especially if you buy a used guitar as you did.....like the pickups that have been swapped in your standard.

The headstock and its various features are key aspects to tell genuine vs fake
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
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Both my 2000 Murphy and 2012 Lee Roy Parnell Goldtops came stock with ceramic caps. They sounded fine but there was a subtle dimension that seemed to be missing so they were both soon replaced with PIO.
 

Orson Cart

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Jul 25, 2020
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Caps should never be something you rely on to judge authenticity though.
They are easily swapped, especially if you buy a used guitar as you did.....like the pickups that have been swapped in your standard.

The headstock and its various features are key aspects to tell genuine vs fake

You say "like the pickups that have been swapped in your standard". Are you saying that because of the soldering?

Also specifically which headstock features do you have in mind?

Thanks
 
Last edited:

AJCR

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May 2, 2018
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124
Soldering and pickup cable lengths are giveaways that they've been swapped.
Sometimes though the old owner will buy a set that would have originally come in the guitar so it seems more stock. But who knows, you might have lucked out with what is in there now.

Headstock feature tells:
Shape
Length
logo type
logo position
logo angle
les paul model script thickness
serial number stamp format, font and size
tuner positions
 

au_rick

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Mar 18, 2010
Messages
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Both my 2000 Murphy and 2012 Lee Roy Parnell Goldtops came stock with ceramic caps. They sounded fine but there was a subtle dimension that seemed to be missing so they were both soon replaced with PIO.

Did the PIO caps change the tone noticeably ?
 

Orson Cart

New member
Joined
Jul 25, 2020
Messages
5
Soldering and pickup cable lengths are giveaways that they've been swapped.
Sometimes though the old owner will buy a set that would have originally come in the guitar so it seems more stock. But who knows, you might have lucked out with what is in there now.

Headstock feature tells:
Shape
Length
logo type
logo position
logo angle
les paul model script thickness
serial number stamp format, font and size
tuner positions

I've no idea why the PU cable runs are so long, same goes for the dodgy soldering. They are certainly the PUs that were in the guitar's spec.

Anyway, I've dug a little further and the lingering doubts I had about its authenticity have gone.

Thanks to all for their help and advice.
 
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