Beauty of The Black Beauty - The "Alnico" Custom thread

[zhivago]

Very early Les Paul Custom have shorter headstock than later ones, though I don't know when the change happened. Any info on that matter will be welcome.

True...it is hard to put a finger on it...the guitars in my archive that claim to be '53s all have the shorter headstock...the bell cover goes literally over the bottom part of the split diamond decoration...I have some guitars in my archive that claim to be '54s...of these, some have the shorter headstock and some that don't...so I guess sometime in '54 is my best guess.

 

[darkwave]

It was always my understanding that the inlay was repurposed from a different model and they eventually changed the size of the inlay – not the headstock. I never confirmed this, just accepted it as gospel.

-Douglas C.

True...it is hard to put a finger on it...the guitars in my archive that claim to be '53s all have the shorter headstock...the bell cover goes literally over the bottom part of the split diamond decoration...I have some guitars in my archive that claim to be '54s...of these, some have the shorter headstock and some that don't...so I guess sometime in '54 is my best guess.

 

[maxwedge]

It was always my understanding that the inlay was repurposed from a different model and they eventually changed the size of the inlay – not the headstock. I never confirmed this, just accepted it as gospel.

-Douglas C.

The last 2 guitars clearly show the difference, the later head stocks are longer in the area just past the nut. Cool, never knew this!

 

[darkwave]

Just took another look and compared it to my ‘56. You’re right, guess I never knew that either – thanks!

- Douglas C.

The last 2 guitars clearly show the difference, the later head stocks are longer in the area just past the nut. Cool, never knew this!

 

[zhivago]

Thanks for all your input, gents! :salude

 

[Midnight Blues]

I’m sure you all know this, but I just found out that Koss’ ‘55 is for sale on Reverb. Duh... :##

 

[zhivago]

I’m sure you all know this, but I just found out that Koss’ ‘55 is for sale on Reverb. Duh... :##

I saw it the other day...some nice pictures of it in the ad...not many, or terribly detailed, but nevertheless some nice pictures :salude

 

[Midnight Blues]

I saw it the other day...some nice pictures of it in the ad...not many, or terribly detailed, but nevertheless some nice pictures :salude

Agreed Z. Not only is she a beauty, but given the provenance, I think it’s reasonably priced for those who can afford it.

 

[zhivago]

A gorgeous guitar for sure...just in case the auction disappears, here are the photos of the guitar. :hank

 

[Midnight Blues]

That she is for sure Z!

 

[dleake]

It's hard to believe how clean this '56 is. On hold at ATB Guitars right now.

https://www.atbguitars.com/store/product/mint-1956-gibson-les-paul-custom-1956lpcmint/

In case the ad gets taken down here are a few pics -

 

[zhivago]

Wow! You can eat your lunch off that thing!!!! :jim

 

[dleake]

Wow! You can eat your lunch off that thing!!!! :jim

Hard to believe the shape it's in! :bug

 

[Midnight Blues]

:bug Had to be a case queen.

 

[zhivago]

Here is an interesting guitar I came across a few weeks ago while looking through Facebook's classifieds section.

While I have seen a ton of 70s Greco copies of Sunburst Les Pauls, and humbucker Les Paul Customs, I've never seen one so close to an Alnico Custom...to be quite honest I was almost tempted to buy it! :yah

 

[PierM]

This thread always been my bible! :spabout

My Krieger, properly reverted. (hope it’s not a problem to post this here)

 

[El Gringo]

This thread always been my bible! :spabout

My Krieger, properly reverted. (hope it’s not a problem to post this here)

I like it and looks really cool

 

[zhivago]

Very cool...do we know anything more about the story on the Krieger guitar?

 

[PierM]

Very cool...do we know anything more about the story on the Krieger guitar?

I did my research and seems this was kind of “special setup”, that Krieger used only for sliding. Lately in its life, the staple stopped working, so instead fixing he mounted the SD SM1N. The GOTOH bridge (GE103) was an alterative to the ABR1 (does mount on 6-32 threads as the ABR) , probably helping intonation because of the much larger footprint. The original setup, that he used for LA woman and sometime during live, was also sporting a Bigsby. Honestly I don’t understand why Gibson replicated the post-LA setup, with SD mini and no Bigsby, instead the original version, with the stock staple. Anyway, I do love it.

 

[zhivago]

Thanks, Pier! A very cool guitar for sure! :salude