Where are they now...

[Strings Jr.]

Randy,

Here is a crazy one. Do not own the guitar any longer but in the past I was told it was a Gibson "Employee" guitar. I wish I still had the serial number and I can not see it in the picture. However there is a secondary number in the middle of the headstock that looks like 0012? Crazy part about the guitar is the block inlays like a LP Custom but the traditional logo on the headstock. The guitar was a 1982-83 model.Thanks for looking.

That's a cool guitar. Unfortunately, without the serial number it's hard to know it's history. Might even be a Kalamazoo guitar.

It could have been an employee guitar, or, with the secondary serial number, could have been a small run for a dealer. Who knows?

In my experience, employees rarely deviated too far from normal. Maybe a three pickup Standard every once in a while. I did find one record for a mix-n-match guitar I built. It was a LP Deluxe, mini-hum in the neck position and super hum in the bridge position, with a complete LP Custom neck.

Thanks for sharing :salude

 

[EdmundGTP]

Awesome thread!! Any chance that one of my ES-335's passed through your hands? SN: 81722513

 

[Strings Jr.]

Awesome thread!! Any chance that one of my ES-335's passed through your hands? SN: 81722513

Yes sir! In fact, a 100% chance.

I built your guitar on July 16th, 1982. I'd love to see some pics. Hope you like it :salude

 

[EdmundGTP]

Yes sir! In fact, a 100% chance.

I built your guitar on July 16th, 1982. I'd love to see some pics. Hope you like it :salude

No way! That is too damn cool! Here she is just hanging out around the house.

 

[deytookerjaabs]

That's a ****in' incredible looking dot.

 

[EdmundGTP]

That's a ****in' incredible looking dot.

Thanks! While not a "classic" finish per-se, she's a pretty sharp looking axe.

Just for the hell of it I popped out the pickups to see if any RFL initials were present. No luck, but found this instead. Looks like "JHaron Schott" , or maybe "Aaron Schott" and a "6#".

 

[Strings Jr.]

Thanks! While not a "classic" finish per-se, she's a pretty sharp looking axe.

Just for the hell of it I popped out the pickups to see if any RFL initials were present. No luck, but found this instead. Looks like "JHaron Schott" , or maybe "Aaron Schott" and a "6#".

LOL

That would be "Sharon Schott".

She married my good friend Bobby who worked in Whitewood. Reminds me of several couples who met at Gibson and lived happily ever after.

Thanks for sharing :salude

 

[brandtkronholm]

That's a ****in' incredible looking dot.

+1

Those '80s Dot-ES335s can be really spectacular guitars. (Even into the early '90s, too.)

 

[EdmundGTP]

LOL

That would be "Sharon Schott".

She married my good friend Bobby who worked in Whitewood. Reminds me of several couples who met at Gibson and lived happily ever after.

Thanks for sharing :salude

Hah! Super cool! Now that I look back through some old links here, she was one of the ones mentioned in the Korina Explorer Sex Goddesses thread! Wonder if she knows that she's quasi-famous now?

 

[jimwoodard]

Hi, Strings Jr. New to the forum and the thread. I have 2 questions. (1) Were you possibly involved in the build of my Gibson Flying V2, serial # 80721023?

(2) I know you haven't worked there in a while, but do you know how a guitar that was marked "Heritage Cherry Burst" would come from factory and get through with this color? It would seem to me someone would have noticed it was never "cherried" or "bursted". I'm not slamming, I love the guitar! I just wonder if maybe there was some way it would have been missed.

I've included it's "Baby picture" to show I didn't have it altered in any way. *edited to add* I spoke with our Gibson rep and he had not seen that color. At first he thought it might be an 'unburst', but they have a slight amount of burst to them. This is a single color. </edit>

 

[wmachine]

(2) I know you haven't worked there in a while, but do you know how a guitar that was marked "Heritage Cherry Burst" would come from factory and get through with this color? It would seem to me someone would have noticed it was never "cherried" or "bursted". I'm not slamming, I love the guitar! I just wonder if maybe there was some way it would have been missed.

I've included it's "Baby picture" to show I didn't have it altered in any way. *edited to add* I spoke with our Gibson rep and he had not seen that color. At first he thought it might be an 'unburst', but they have a slight amount of burst to them. This is a single color.

Looks like a standard lemon burst to me. BTW, love the V.

 

[jimwoodard]

Looks like a standard lemon burst to me. BTW, love the V.

Thanks, wmachine. I had a V like that when I was 19. Sold it to fund another guitar a year later and regretted it ever since. It's an '81 and I bought one new when I was in the Navy. I've spent the better part of the last 20 years wanting to get a replacement, but they are nigh impossible to find without replacement pickups, etc. All the things that others rant about about are the things that endear it to me.

As far as my question regarding the LP Standard, that really wasn't the gist of what I was trying to find out. My guitar is a (relatively) new 50's Standard, which is only available in Gold Top, Heritage Cherry Burst, and Tobacco Burst. It's obviously neither of these. This is likely the result of it never getting completed in the finish shop or it could have been finished in a color not yet expected to be released. I did a little video, which I'll link here.

Not long after I brought it home, Gibson announced the Slash models and in them, the Appetite Burst, and mine looks almost identical to this one @ Sweetwater and this one @ Parkway Music (my old mom and pop when I lived in NY). I was only wondering from someone who did work in the shop if it's possible that either it appeared it never went to complete its journey through finishing or if it would be possible that I got one where they tested the new Appetite look and someone took that guitar and just complete the build as a 50's Standard.

Either way, it's an anomaly, a unicorn, a one-off, whatever, and it's mine.

 

[Grog]

Randy, Do you recall any info on the Gibson 20/20 Bass? Ned Steinberger designed it shortly after Gibson acquired his company. They were produced in low numbers in 1987. We think somewhere between 50 to 100 basses were sold. Being somewhat Fugly, they didn’t really sell well, but it was an interesting piece of Gibson’s history of making basses.

 

[Groover]

Such a cool thread.

I have an 82 335 Serial 83092544

What are the chances ?:hank

 

[garywright]

Randy, Do you recall any info on the Gibson 20/20 Bass? Ned Steinberger designed it shortly after Gibson acquired his company. They were produced in low numbers in 1987. We think somewhere between 50 to 100 basses were sold. Being somewhat Fugly, they didn’t really sell well, but it was an interesting piece of Gibson’s history of making basses.

those are a new one to me..I like that unique shape

 

[Strings Jr.]

Hi, Strings Jr. New to the forum and the thread. I have 2 questions. (1) Were you possibly involved in the build of my Gibson Flying V2, serial # 80721023?



(2) I know you haven't worked there in a while, but do you know how a guitar that was marked "Heritage Cherry Burst" would come from factory and get through with this color? It would seem to me someone would have noticed it was never "cherried" or "bursted". I'm not slamming, I love the guitar! I just wonder if maybe there was some way it would have been missed.

I've included it's "Baby picture" to show I didn't have it altered in any way. *edited to add* I spoke with our Gibson rep and he had not seen that color. At first he thought it might be an 'unburst', but they have a slight amount of burst to them. This is a single color.

Hello Jim and welcome to the forum!

Your V-2 was made in Kalamazoo, so I would not have been involved with it.
That being said, I do have one record for a V-2 with an 82 Kalamazoo serial number. Why it was sent to Nashville to be completed I can't say.

That's a very nice LP you have. There has to be a logical explanation as to what happened with the color. Whatever the reason, I do not believe that it was simply a skipped process in finishing. When I was there, the color designation marked in the pickup cavity was subject to change right up until the minute it was sprayed. Schedules could change daily, and often did. These days, things are a lot more automated, using bar codes, etc. So it's anybody's guess as to what happened. Was the guitar originally put in the "system" as a sunburst, then the color got changed for whatever reason, and the label printed out with info stored in the system for that serial number? Who knows? Either way, it's a great guitar with a unique story. Enjoy :salude

 

[Strings Jr.]

Randy, Do you recall any info on the Gibson 20/20 Bass? Ned Steinberger designed it shortly after Gibson acquired his company. They were produced in low numbers in 1987. We think somewhere between 50 to 100 basses were sold. Being somewhat Fugly, they didn’t really sell well, but it was an interesting piece of Gibson’s history of making basses.

Yes I do remember the 20/20. Barely. They were so un-impressive I believe 100 being sold may be too high.
IMO, they weren't much more than a "flavor of the month" before they disappeared.

 

[Strings Jr.]

Such a cool thread.

I have an 82 335 Serial 83092544

What are the chances ?:hank

Thanks!

The chances would be great. I built hundreds of those.

I would have bet money that I built it, but I didn't see your number.

I found 83092540, 542, and 547. But not 544.

Thanks for checking!!

 

[El Gringo]

Thanks, wmachine. I had a V like that when I was 19. Sold it to fund another guitar a year later and regretted it ever since. It's an '81 and I bought one new when I was in the Navy. I've spent the better part of the last 20 years wanting to get a replacement, but they are nigh impossible to find without replacement pickups, etc. All the things that others rant about about are the things that endear it to me.

As far as my question regarding the LP Standard, that really wasn't the gist of what I was trying to find out. My guitar is a (relatively) new 50's Standard, which is only available in Gold Top, Heritage Cherry Burst, and Tobacco Burst. It's obviously neither of these. This is likely the result of it never getting completed in the finish shop or it could have been finished in a color not yet expected to be released. I did a little video, which I'll link here.

Not long after I brought it home, Gibson announced the Slash models and in them, the Appetite Burst, and mine looks almost identical to this one @ Sweetwater and this one @ Parkway Music (my old mom and pop when I lived in NY). I was only wondering from someone who did work in the shop if it's possible that either it appeared it never went to complete its journey through finishing or if it would be possible that I got one where they tested the new Appetite look and someone took that guitar and just complete the build as a 50's Standard.

Either way, it's an anomaly, a unicorn, a one-off, whatever, and it's mine.

Very beautiful Les Paul . My 2 cents is that the packing carton was simply mislabeled . No conspiracy theory or need to worry . Stranger and far worse things have happened to peoples guitars than that . Sometimes we look for logical explanations and there are none .

 

[jimwoodard]

Hello Jim and welcome to the forum!

Your V-2 was made in Kalamazoo, so I would not have been involved with it.
That being said, I do have one record for a V-2 with an 82 Kalamazoo serial number. Why it was sent to Nashville to be completed I can't say.

That's a very nice LP you have. There has to be a logical explanation as to what happened with the color. Whatever the reason, I do not believe that it was simply a skipped process in finishing. When I was there, the color designation marked in the pickup cavity was subject to change right up until the minute it was sprayed. Schedules could change daily, and often did. These days, things are a lot more automated, using bar codes, etc. So it's anybody's guess as to what happened. Was the guitar originally put in the "system" as a sunburst, then the color got changed for whatever reason, and the label printed out with info stored in the system for that serial number? Who knows? Either way, it's a great guitar with a unique story. Enjoy :salude

Thanks for the info, Strings Jr. I know that Gibson 'recalled' some of the V2's for a face lift (consisting of new colors for finish) in an effort to make them more sale-able, and that might be why you got a Kalamazoo in Nashville. I don't know how Gibson might have handled that process. The '82's had ditched the boomerang pickups for regular humbuckers and didn't have the cutout (because there was no need) in the fretboard. They also had a lot of new colors.

It's funny, because my V2 was purchased a few years ago by the last owner in Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. Funny how small the world is.

Yeah, the story of the Les Paul remains an enigma, but at least I can say that it is truly one of a kind. The only colors for this model were gold, heritage cherry, and tobacco; so mine is not only beautiful, but an albino unicorn.