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"1956" Les Paul Burst eBay Identify

mashtone

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2020
Messages
1
Congrats on the punt, I'm very jealous as I got out of the bidding at around $16k - I was eventually planning on getting it shipped to the UK (via family in NY), and with added expense of import duty I couldn't take the risk on those PAFs with only blurry pictures to go by.

Could you tell me about the inlays please - they looked rather wild and cool in hue to be 1950s? It may well have been a bit of daylight creeping into the shot throwing the white balance of the photo, but I'm very interested to know?
 

Hotlanta 29

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2017
Messages
13
So I came across this listing on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/174740246887?hash=item28af549167:g:D8YAAOSwol5gf0Q8) that claims to be a 1956 Les Paul with an original sunburst finish. The seller obviously does not know much about the guitar. The serial number is 67353 and it does have a sunburst finish, not necessarily the original finish. It also has Grover tuners, which I guess would not be impossible but it is also odd for the year. I am curious what you guys think this guitar actually is--one off, custom order, reissue, fake, Gold Top conversion, authentic, etc.? I am not an expert on these, but there is a 1956 Les Paul out there with P90s that claims to be the first burst ever made (lot of controversy with that guitar).
Back on eBay…
What happened?
 

jrgtr42

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
Maybe the original buyer got it, had it inspected and it's not what they're saying?
Or they flaked as far as paying or something.
But I'd want to see it in person, with people who know a lot more than me, for a full inspection before I shelled out more than $5 and a handful of picks for it.
 

DutchRay

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 15, 2015
Messages
872
Maybe the original buyer got it, had it inspected and it's not what they're saying?
Or they flaked as far as paying or something.
But I'd want to see it in person, with people who know a lot more than me, for a full inspection before I shelled out more than $5 and a handful of picks for it.
If you look at his post on page 1, you'd see that boogie already stripped the guitar.
The new ebay listing is clearly a fake listing and I hope someone has flagged this with ebay.
 

jrgtr42

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
2,308
If you look at his post on page 1, you'd see that boogie already stripped the guitar.
The new ebay listing is clearly a fake listing and I hope someone has flagged this with ebay.
My bad - I totally missed that one, of forgot about it.
Yep, definitely fuzzy activity going on here.
 

ronedee

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2016
Messages
2
If you look at his feedback, on the new listing...it's over a year old. My guess is, someone hacked his account and is trying to get a WU or bank transfer payment?
 

MapleFlame

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 3, 2005
Messages
14,044
The white vinyl insulated cable is soldered to the center lug and comes from the switch. The black cloth from the pickup is visible and is soldered to the correct terminal.
View attachment 14136

I ended up buying this guitar. I asked the seller 3 times for pics and finally on the last day of the auction I got the pics. I was pretty sure from the pics I received that I knew what it was. It is definitely a 56 that was converted. The S/N on the guitar is the original S/N. The pickups are original PAF's with untouched solder joints & tool markings springs & screws. One double black and the second on a zebra. Lots of original parts: ABR1 bridge, Stop tailpiece, Studs, switch ring, switch, truss rod cover, 2 of the pots input jack.
5(12).JPG


Original S/N
11(9).JPG


I wanted to make sure that the neck had never been out of the guitar so I took the fretboard off with my heat blanket. There's no indication that the neck had ever been removed. The neck is original to the guitar.
8(12).JPG


The dot on the MOP was covered up when it was finished.
18(11).JPG


No break on the headstock.
19(9).JPG


This will make a great player once I'm done with all the work.
Definitely a late 56 with the Smile tenon. Great score. This guitar was close to being a 57 Gold top.
 
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