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a prehistoric called "Bernice" ??

B

birdsy

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Messages
209
Hi all.. just changed the pickup rings on my 89 prehistoric.. (the old rings were split and broken).. At the bottom of the neck pick-up cavity underneath the varnish someone has written the name "Bernice" !!.. nice copperplate handwriting too!.. It's just above the 'HCSB' stamp.......... cool!.. so now she's got a name!
Nice touch from someone at the factory I think.
 
B

birdsy

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Messages
209
No probs Rev.. I won't be restringing it until the weekend so I'll try and post one asap
 
27sauce

27sauce

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Jul 9, 2007
Messages
4,415
Old thread dig up.

A buddy of mine has a 1989 Standard that he purchased new, its pretty run of the mill, 3 piece top, Cherry sunburst...
He just sent me this pic (bad cell phone pic) of the cavity and asked if I had any info.

So, anyone have an idea about it origins? Seen any more like it?
Marc

GetAttachment-2.jpg
 
Headcase

Headcase

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Jun 24, 2008
Messages
292
I recently sold an '89 GoldTop Standard.
It also had "Bernice" in the PU cavity.
Owned it for 2 months & never took any pics...
(DUMB-ASS!!!)

My rings were split & broken too but were freshly changed by
it's previous owner. He put the wrong ones on...
didn't fit (DUMB-ASS!!!).
I fixed that.

Anyway, it was a killer guitar but the neck was
"a little" too thin for me. Needed a fret leveling too.
Ended up using it towards another acquisition.
 
Breakfastime

Breakfastime

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Apr 24, 2009
Messages
535
That's pretty weird indeed...Bernice is my middle name which makes it all even weirder.
 
27sauce

27sauce

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Jul 9, 2007
Messages
4,415
Employee maybe? I want to get to the bottom of this, I've seen so many LPs from this era and own a couple and have never seen this besides the above accounts.
Marc
 
audiocheck

audiocheck

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Jun 27, 2008
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88
I think Skynyrd had a song titled Bernice in 2000 something. Although it might have been the Allmans.
 
M

Magnum

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Dec 5, 2003
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1,514
Some of you may know this already but "Bernice" is the name of Gary Rossington's '59 LP that Gibson did the recreation of. It was named after his mother. So, my guess is that either there was someone named Bernice at Gibson at that time or there was a joker that worked there who thought they were funny.

breakfastime, where were you in '89???:lol :rofl
 
K

Kirill

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Oct 14, 2020
Messages
8
Hi, I'm from Russia. I apologize for my English. I have a gibson sg 1989 too with the bernice label under the bridge pickup. Did you find out what this means?kVU8QRiinsw.jpg
 
Strings Jr.

Strings Jr.

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
673
MikeSlub said:
My guess is someone who worked on the guitar in the factory wrote their name in the cavities. :hank
Click to expand...
As usual, you are correct Sir!!

Also cool to see where my Dad wrote his initials "FL" in the control cavity in post #16. That guitar must have a nice top. But I seriously doubt he wrote the "1959".
 
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