Brad Whitford
New member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2022
- Messages
- 6
Hey guys, long time lurker, finally joined LPF. Hope this is the right place to ask this question...
Decided to get back into serious guitar playing after years of noodling on my guitars and playing in a few bands. I have more equipment than talent but I'm close to retiring from my "day job" so thinking about getting back into performing live. I also have a 2020 SG standard, a Peavey Nitro III with a Floyd Rose, and decent LP Standard copy with Duncan Distortion in the bridge position. Recently bought a Mesa Mark V:35 combo to go with a few practice amps.
I bought my first serious guitar in 1984, a "natural finish", used LP Custom. in very good condition. I have always suspected the seller wasn't the original owner but not wanting to screw up the sale I went ahead and got it for $400 (including the OHSC with purple lining) which was quite a chunk of change for a poor college student at the time. 11 pounds, 2 ounces of backbreaking goodness. The neck pickup is stock (I took off the gold covers); the bridge pickup is now a Seymour Duncan JB, wired to a push-pull pot for single/HB operation. I swapped the Top Hats with the black speed knobs. It never had the toggle switch washer. (The "white" at the nut is just teflon tape that I wrap around the neck every string change. It seems to help keep the guitar in tune.)
I didn't realize it for a few years that the previous owner moved the strap button to the back of the guitar. I actually like that location a little better (I use a DiMarzio ClipLock strap):
Anyway, over the years I have tried to determine its age so I brought it in to an "expert" who said it was a late 70's/early 80's model. There is no serial number on the headstock (part of my suspicion) but everything else seemed period correct, including the volute. Recently I have started to investigate further and discovered the dates on the pots are from the 15th week of 1978. No dot over the Gibson 'I' either...
However:
The tuners look like these from the early to mid 70's (I have no idea what the two small screw holes are at the top of the headstock between the tuners):
The neck appears to be 3 piece mahogany and the body appears to be "pancaked" as I see two slabs of mahogany with a very thin dark piece between them and an obvious maple cap:
The pickups are Patent # T-tops. (I have the original bridge pickup mounted in another guitar)
The bridge is the ABR-1.
The frets are very low, flat and wide (and hardly worn).
When I search on Reverb my guitar looks more like the mahogany necked 73-75 Customs rather than the 76-79 ones.
Anyone have any ideas or other suggestions to try to figure this out?
FWIW, it plays and sounds fantastic and although my other two guitars combined probably weigh less than the LP, the Paul just fits me and my style of playing better.
Glad to be on board, finally...
-TC
Decided to get back into serious guitar playing after years of noodling on my guitars and playing in a few bands. I have more equipment than talent but I'm close to retiring from my "day job" so thinking about getting back into performing live. I also have a 2020 SG standard, a Peavey Nitro III with a Floyd Rose, and decent LP Standard copy with Duncan Distortion in the bridge position. Recently bought a Mesa Mark V:35 combo to go with a few practice amps.
I bought my first serious guitar in 1984, a "natural finish", used LP Custom. in very good condition. I have always suspected the seller wasn't the original owner but not wanting to screw up the sale I went ahead and got it for $400 (including the OHSC with purple lining) which was quite a chunk of change for a poor college student at the time. 11 pounds, 2 ounces of backbreaking goodness. The neck pickup is stock (I took off the gold covers); the bridge pickup is now a Seymour Duncan JB, wired to a push-pull pot for single/HB operation. I swapped the Top Hats with the black speed knobs. It never had the toggle switch washer. (The "white" at the nut is just teflon tape that I wrap around the neck every string change. It seems to help keep the guitar in tune.)
I didn't realize it for a few years that the previous owner moved the strap button to the back of the guitar. I actually like that location a little better (I use a DiMarzio ClipLock strap):
Anyway, over the years I have tried to determine its age so I brought it in to an "expert" who said it was a late 70's/early 80's model. There is no serial number on the headstock (part of my suspicion) but everything else seemed period correct, including the volute. Recently I have started to investigate further and discovered the dates on the pots are from the 15th week of 1978. No dot over the Gibson 'I' either...
However:
The tuners look like these from the early to mid 70's (I have no idea what the two small screw holes are at the top of the headstock between the tuners):
The neck appears to be 3 piece mahogany and the body appears to be "pancaked" as I see two slabs of mahogany with a very thin dark piece between them and an obvious maple cap:
The pickups are Patent # T-tops. (I have the original bridge pickup mounted in another guitar)
The bridge is the ABR-1.
The frets are very low, flat and wide (and hardly worn).
When I search on Reverb my guitar looks more like the mahogany necked 73-75 Customs rather than the 76-79 ones.
Anyone have any ideas or other suggestions to try to figure this out?
FWIW, it plays and sounds fantastic and although my other two guitars combined probably weigh less than the LP, the Paul just fits me and my style of playing better.
Glad to be on board, finally...
-TC
