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Changed Pickups on LPC. Any Expert Know what this is exactly?

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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852
So I have an older Gibson Les Paul Custom. I wouldn't consider it vintage, just a really nice old guitar. I paid $1800 for it in 2019.

It has always looked and played amazing. The sound left much to be desired but the playability is so good I just did my best with it. Through a friend I got some really old Gibson pickups to put in it and it has come to life. The pickups that were in it were shrill sounding and had way too much output. Almost like Telecaster pickups on steroids. When I pulled them out they were Thro-Bak models which was surprising because they're expensive and I didn't pay much for the guitar but also not surprising because a few years back someone gave me a set of their pickups and I didn't like them. Anyway, it sounds more like my old Les Paul guitars now.

The guitar had a headstock repair, so the serial number isn't legible. You can clearly see a 2 and I know that means second.

There is no pancake body (no visible seam anywhere on the guitar.

The i in Gibson is missing the dot.

It has a mahogany neck that looks like one piece. I know it's mahogany because the paint is worn through

The top is mahogany. I know the really old LPs were made this way but this one I figured would have a maple cap.

Does anyone know what this is?

Thanks!
 

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GlassSnuff

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I concur with PMB. Looks just like the side of my '75. Look in the control cavity; it might have less overspray.

That appears to be a "transitional tenon". If it were short, you couldn't see it at all; if it were long, there would be a longer rout and the tenon would have a "tongue" sticking into it.
 

Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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Thanks for the info! Either way with the new pickups in it I'm loving it. Thanks everyone!
 

GlassSnuff

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BTW, that '2' was applied to guitars that Gibson wanted to sell from the factory. If a rock star or rep was getting the red carpet factory tour and decided they wanted "that one!", they'd hit it with a 2 and charge them cost. With the '2', the buyer couldn't resell it for retail. ;)

You've probably seen pictures of the bonfires and steamrollers. Gibson is rather proud of the fact they don't sell factory seconds.
 

dwagar

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Apr 18, 2005
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4,451
does it have original pots? Can you get a pot code?

Zoom in on the trans tenon pic, you can see it's not a one piece neck. But with a trans tenon it is likely a mahogany neck.

Check in the control cavity, you should see if it is a pancake body (I assume it is, as PMB mentioned above).
 
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Amp360

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Feb 16, 2012
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A friend of mine who is a big Gibson collector looked at it for me today. He confirmed it’s a mahogany top. There is some flecks showing in the underside of the top. We actually put an old scrap of mahogany right next to the pickup cavities and it 100% matched what was showing before. In the control cavity there are a couple scratches that are really tiny missing paint and it’s clearly mahogany as well as a ding under the bridge post treble side.

Pots and caps are long replaced. The TRC and tuners are original. Once it had Grover pegs but the originals were with it so the place I got it put them back. It had new knobs on it but I found period ones and a poker chip at Dallas a couple years ago. I would like to find a stop bar or old gold Bigsby for it because the one on it is way too shiny.

It has Bournes pots in it so I’m going to put old CTS and some nos caps I have. I bought about 100 CTS pots and the parts to repair them nos about 10 years ago as well as about 1000 nos Cornell Dublier caps that were never used.

One piece neck (no seams showing through the paint) and it’s def mahogany, as the paint is worn off on spots. When I took the back plate off I discovered the serial number, which was put there after the repair 128934.
 
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guitplayer

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Mar 8, 2008
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Its definitely a 3 piece neck mahog neck. 1974 with that serial #.
It might have a mahog top, but I doubt it.
 

dwagar

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I think the only 70's Customs that didn't have a maple cap were the '54 Reissues (72ish?). But they didn't have that volute.
 

El Gringo

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Apr 8, 2015
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Pancake body , with volute . Mick Taylor/ Keith Richards ThroBak pickups, short A2 magnets ,neck 8.3 k , bridge 8.0 k. These are pretty nice pickups . Kluson waffleback tuners , maple top for sure . Transitional tenon .
 

GlassSnuff

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Given the repair, I wouldn't flinch at scraping away some paint from the end of the tenon and the side of the cavity. Else, this will go on for pages and pages. :)
 
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