1977 Custom Blonde

[mikeslub]

It's a 1977 Les Paul Custom with maple fretboard, built in the Kalamazoo plant, with volute. Not a lot were built with a maple fretboard, so that is a novelty. Pickup covers removed, pickups could be replacements since I don't believe they were using double whites (white coils) at that time. Knobs are not original, and netiher is the case. The spot on the top is where (I am guessing) a coil tap switch or some other switching arrangement was done and removed. Kalamazoo plant is a plus, since most high volume Les Paul production had moved to Nashville by that time, and Kalamazoo was doing more limited runs. The 2024 Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide puts the value of an all original, excellent condition model with those specs at $5k low to $6.5k high. This one could go for less given the changes I described above. That is retail price, not what a dealer will offer you. If you decide to consider dealers to talk to, Gary's Classic Guitars is a Forum sponsor and is a vintage guitar expert. True Vintage is also a Forum sponsor and a reliable source. Chicago Music Exchange and Wildwood guitars are also Forum sponsors. All four companies are first rate, and I've had good experiences with all of them. You can attempt to sell yourself by listing free on our website, but you'll have all the challenges of selling by owner. Sorry for the loss of your husband.

 

[short053117]

Very nice. What country are you in? Someone here will be able to offer you a sensible idea as to value - they'll be along soon no doubt - and the Members Classifieds here are as good a place to sell it as any (and better than most). Good luck with the sale and sorry for your loss.

Thank you so much , i noticed this morning . What is in the front if it where there is 4 knobs. There is a spot. was one removed what is that circle on there? And thank you . He is greatly missed.

 

[1allspub]

Super cool guitar. Love the Blonde Beauties! The pickups are likely replaced. The double cream bobbins wouldn’t have been available from Gibson in 1977. Likely DiMarzio aftermarket pickups if I had to guess.

$6000 is probably a bit steep for one of these at this time. Personally, I’m thinking more around $4k-5k. If you still have the original Gibson T-tops pickups it came with (and the rest is factory stock) then more towards the $5k range.

You can go out to Reverb and see that there is only one for sale at present… for $4900… and has been for sale for a month. It’s located in Thailand though and that certainly affects its sales potential.

These are niche guitars. Some people really dig them (I am in that group… I love them, hope to get one someday), but others don’t care for them because they are not the traditional LP build. That said, they are definitely desirable and will only get more so as time passes (IMO).

GLWTS!

 

[short053117]

Super cool guitar. Love the Blonde Beauties! The pickups are likely replaced. The double cream bobbins wouldn’t have been available from Gibson in 1977. Likely DiMarzio aftermarket pickups if I had to guess.

$6000 is probably a bit steep for one of these at this time. Personally, I’m thinking more around $4k-5k. If you still have the original Gibson T-tops pickups it came with (and the rest is factory stock) then more towards the $5k range.

You can go out to Reverb and see that there is only one for sale at present… for $4900… and has been for sale for a month. It’s located in Thailand though and that certainly affects its sales potential.

These are niche guitars. Some people really dig them (I am in that group… I love them, hope to get one someday), but others don’t care for them because they are not the traditional LP build. That said, they are definitely desirable and will only get more so as time passes (IMO).

GLWTS!

 

[short053117]

Thank you , all i know is there were 26 guitars in his closet that i had no idea about. I did find in the case a shipping label. he got it out of Missouri but otherwise, new or original parts i would not know. If you are interested in this one. Im happy to sell it to you. I came on the forum because i was seriously taken advantage of while still grieving but as long as the people on here feel i am getting a fair price is all I care about. It should be played not sitting in the closet. It is beautiful indeed

 

[1allspub]

Thank you so much , i noticed this morning . What is in the front if it where there is 4 knobs. There is a spot. was one removed what is that circle on there? And thank you . He is greatly missed.

What Mike is referring to is something like this:

That switch between the knobs is an aftermarket modification done to create different sound options with the guitar. To add it, a hole had to be drilled into the guitar to install the switch, and the wiring then modified (to hook it up). This looks to have been done to your guitar at some point, but then someone decided to remove the switch and patch the hole with a filler plug… the round “scar” is the result. I hadn’t originally seen this is my initial assessment, and unfortunately this likely will knock a few dollars off the price. Additionally, as Mike also noted, the knobs and case aren’t original either. This isn’t “bad” per se, but guitars that retain their originals tend to garner a high price. Also, it looks like it may have been re-fretted and had the nut replaced. These are good modifications from a playability standpoint (ie, worn out frets and a bad nut don’t make for a great playing guitar), but again will likely also detract a bit from its ultimate resale value… as these changes further depart it from “original”.

At this point, given these mods, I’d say you’re at about a $4k asking price (how flexible how want to be when entertaining offers is up to you). There wasn’t a lot of these “Blonde Beauties” made, so you have that in your favor. However, as I said in my previous post, they are also not necessarily to everyone’s taste as they are a departure from the traditional Les Paul build scheme (ie, the maple fretboard is atypical).

As for selling it to me… well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted, but seeing as I have been advising you as to its value, it’d be improper for me to then try to buy it as well, I think. GLWTS

 

[short053117]

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me with this. I appreciate the kindness and for taking the time.