Lefty Archives #3 the Stroup Burst Exposed
- Thread starter Steve Craw
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Electric Lloyd
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Zorglub! What a fantastic site you have. What a huge asset of onfo! Thanks!:salude
steelknuckle
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That beauty was for sale about 3 years ago. I wonder if it's still on the block? According to the dealer that was peddling it, a righty collector bought it from Don and shoved in a safe, and it has only seen the light of day a couple of times after that. Of course, that was 3 years ago.
They say that Macenroe's '59 has major issues at this point. I saw MacCartney in Red Square in 2003 with his 1960. I got pretty close to it. It looked better than the other two and sounded great, which is sort of ironic considering that his is a factory second.
Thanks for the pics! Man I'd love to play that thing for a hour or so! :salude
They say that Macenroe's '59 has major issues at this point. I saw MacCartney in Red Square in 2003 with his 1960. I got pretty close to it. It looked better than the other two and sounded great, which is sort of ironic considering that his is a factory second.
Thanks for the pics! Man I'd love to play that thing for a hour or so! :salude
Tom Wittrock
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No irony involved. The "issue" of any 50's Les Paul [or any other model Gibson] being a "factory second" is overblown AND misunderstood.
The history of Gibson's marking guitars as "seconds" is complex, and probably will never be clearly understood. It did evolve to something that indicates a possible "issue".
I never passed on a Burst marked with a "2" because of the mark.
Electric Lloyd
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Have you seen many 'Bursts marked 2nd? How many, if ya had to guess?I never passed on a Burst marked with a "2" because of the mark.
Tom Wittrock
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zorglub!
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Glad you like it!
route66guitars
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These next photos show that Gibson clearly had other things on their mind the day this guitar was made. The mahogany back had been routed for wiring channels for a righty, note the bridge pickup channel that goes nowhere:hee
If not for the impeckable provenance on this guitar, it probably would be believed to be fugazzi by the experts these days.
the Stroup Burst was needlessly routed for more than the right handed channel!!! It has the right handed control cavity under there as well. This is why it weighs less than most Bursts. It also has other issues, including a weak neck pickup, and the back of the neck is splitting from someone getting agressive with the truss rod.
B
bharat.k
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Route66guitars, that's interesting. Years ago, I was retopping a 50's goldtop (of course I would never even think of that now) and under the original top was a control cavity shaped like on a Special!! I wish I'd taken photos. You seem to know lots about lefty guitars, so here's a question. Most original lefty Les Pauls I've seen have the wiring channel drilled like on a Custom or Special and the Stroup Burst is the only one I know of with this phantom righty channel. Do you know of others like the Stroup Burst, and do you know of original lefty Les Pauls with other types of wiring hole than the drilled one I mentioned already?
DANELECTRO
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HUH???? How can that be? The control cavity is routed completely from the backside of the guitar. It is not part of the topside routing operation that occurs prior to the maple cap being glued on. You're not saying that it has both left and a righthand control routs with covers like the photoshopped pic below are you?
I don't have any full back photos of the Stroup burst, however here is a control cavity pic. It's obvious that the routing was done manually without the template normally used on a right-handed Les Paul.
Steve Craw
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Thanks Scott, it's REALLY cool to get the inside scoop from someone who's been there.
Mike's Music
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Nuck, I have been making notes and researching the use of second, it seems alot of leftys have the 2 . I believe this mark may not mean a flaw as most believe but some sort of discount to a dealer or special order.
LeftyF
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A sad update on this guitar. One of the DOJ agents that seized this guitar in the raid of the then owner's collection broke the headstock. Really a shame given how clean the guitar was!
Tom Wittrock
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The Florida Burst [Lefty #4] was the one broken, and by the owner and not by the agent. It was shown at Arlington and sold by Heritage Auctions.
According to the Heritage rep, the Stroup is MIA. :wah
Big Al
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Steve Craw; Certainly the nicest of the three lefy bursts said:
Steve Craw
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It seems to be the survivor of the four, as the others all have issues.
Tom Wittrock
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What issues does Sir Paul's have? :hmm
Uncle Gary
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I think Steve means the McCartney burst is the survivor of the four.
Steve Craw
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Thanks, that's excactly what I meant.
Tom Wittrock
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I believe the Stroup is still alive. :wah