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No time like Overtime

Strings Jr.

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670
Since retiring in April, I’m actually finding time to do some of those things you never have time to do. I’ve been wanting to share some pics of another guitar I acquired from Gibson. This guitar is date stamped March 3[SUP]rd[/SUP], 1988 so it just turned 30. In that time, it has never been gigged. It’s only been out of the case about five or six times. It still has the original strings on it.
The body is a LP shape, but thin and beveled like an SG. It’s a one-piece mahogany body and a one-piece mahogany neck with an ebony fingerboard and graphite nut. There is no binding and no peghead veneer.






The one-piece body has a lot of nice color variation on the front and back.







It has a Steinberger tremolo and three Bill Lawrence humbucking pickups. The front and rear pickups were used on other models, but I don’t think the smaller, center pickup was ever used in production (help me out here Big Al). The smaller width of the center pickup creates a unique sound when used with the front or rear pickup, or even alone. I’m not a fan of the Steinberger, it feels heavy on this lightweight guitar. However, it works great when set up properly, and it has a simple locking mechanism that holds everything tight when not in use.

The controls are a Master Volume, Master Tone with push-push coil tap, three pickup on / off switches, and a “Lead pickup only” switch.
I never got around to putting a truss rod cover on it. Now, I think it’s kinda neat. How many Gibsons have you seen that were never drilled for a truss rod cover?




We were well into the HJ era by then, and things were really taking off. One Friday, our bright, young Plant Manager who was trying to impress his boss (HJ) by hitting the weekly production numbers, ask me to come in on Saturday. “Oh, but I can’t pay you overtime.” At that point, the ball was in my court, and after a little negotiating, I came in Saturday, and got paid with this guitar.




Kinda sad that this guitar doesn’t get played since it sounds so good. I guess I’ll be content with it being a time capsule, without so much as a surface scratch, for a few more years.
 

J.D.

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
Another great guitar and story! I've never seen anything like this before.
 

DaveSG

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
126
Great story! I was not expecting the employee angle. Short, fun read - and lovely guitar! I'm a big fan of SGs (no surprise, eh) and I love seeing bevels of any type on Les Pauls as it truly makes them more comfortable.
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
I thought this was a thread congratulating Croatia for its overtime win against England. :hmm
 

El Gringo

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Strings Jr. , you are a Treasure and really appreciate all of your insider unique and special stories and knowledge and information from my favorite guitar maker . Awesome guitar -my compliments !
 

deytookerjaabs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,592
!Re: No time like Overtime

At which point I'd consider coming in every Saturday, that's a reasonable payment for a days work!
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
Since retiring in April, I’m actually finding time to do some of those things you never have time to do. I’ve been wanting to share some pics of another guitar I acquired from Gibson. This guitar is date stamped March 3[SUP]rd[/SUP], 1988 so it just turned 30. In that time, it has never been gigged. It’s only been out of the case about five or six times. It still has the original strings on it.
The body is a LP shape, but thin and beveled like an SG. It’s a one-piece mahogany body and a one-piece mahogany neck with an ebony fingerboard and graphite nut. There is no binding and no peghead veneer.






The one-piece body has a lot of nice color variation on the front and back.







It has a Steinberger tremolo and three Bill Lawrence humbucking pickups. The front and rear pickups were used on other models, but I don’t think the smaller, center pickup was ever used in production (help me out here Big Al). The smaller width of the center pickup creates a unique sound when used with the front or rear pickup, or even alone. I’m not a fan of the Steinberger, it feels heavy on this lightweight guitar. However, it works great when set up properly, and it has a simple locking mechanism that holds everything tight when not in use.

The controls are a Master Volume, Master Tone with push-push coil tap, three pickup on / off switches, and a “Lead pickup only” switch.
I never got around to putting a truss rod cover on it. Now, I think it’s kinda neat. How many Gibsons have you seen that were never drilled for a truss rod cover?




We were well into the HJ era by then, and things were really taking off. One Friday, our bright, young Plant Manager who was trying to impress his boss (HJ) by hitting the weekly production numbers, ask me to come in on Saturday. “Oh, but I can’t pay you overtime.” At that point, the ball was in my court, and after a little negotiating, I came in Saturday, and got paid with this guitar.




Kinda sad that this guitar doesn’t get played since it sounds so good. I guess I’ll be content with it being a time capsule, without so much as a surface scratch, for a few more years.

I would have been all over that guitar!!!!!! That is a well executed, great idea and looks like a very workable guitar!!! I redid a Jr and Melody Maker kinda like that and they worked well for me. EXCELLENT!!!

I seem to recall a bright Lemon Yellow guitar similar with a skinny pickup like that in the neck slot. I cannot recall if the bridge was a hum bucker or the single coil. I do not believe it was built like this one either, but had a similar shape. Long time ago and my memory is foggy.
 

Strings Jr.

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2016
Messages
670
I would have been all over that guitar!!!!!! That is a well executed, great idea and looks like a very workable guitar!!! I redid a Jr and Melody Maker kinda like that and they worked well for me. EXCELLENT!!!

I seem to recall a bright Lemon Yellow guitar similar with a skinny pickup like that in the neck slot. I cannot recall if the bridge was a hum bucker or the single coil. I do not believe it was built like this one either, but had a similar shape. Long time ago and my memory is foggy.


Thanks for your comments Big Al.

There was so much going on at that time with pickups. Makes me dizzy when I think about it :spabout
 
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