Could this ’59-style Burst be another Kris Derrig?

[Gibsonian]

This is an interesting guitar that's currently up for sale locally.





It has the double-black PAF in the bridge position and the numbered PAF in neck. According to the seller it weighs 9.7lbs (4.4kg) and the neck is rather thin. It came in a beat-up '59(?) case with no paperwork when he purchased it through a dealer in 1988.

 

[Gibsonian]

When I saw the headstock, I immediately associated the clumsy Gibson logo with Slash's Derrig #9 0607. The font weight is different, but the style is pretty close. It's natural that these logos are slightly different from each other as, I assume, they were hand-cut and shaped.

 

[Gibsonian]

At the time of purchase he was told that it was made by Gibson on a dealer custom order in the early 80's. But if I'm correct, the Strings & Things, Guitar Trader and Leo's reissues done by Gibson all had a legitimate Gibson logo (and I believe they also had the short tenon) so this guitar cannot be one of those.

Another possibility is that this is one of the Guitar Trader's bootleg LP's which also had a long tenon as well as a weird Gibson headstock logo. The article below says that they made approx. 10 of those and shows a pic of the #9 1017 which is only 8 numbers away from the guitar in question.

Gibson’s First Reissue Les Pauls | Vintage Guitar® magazine

Strings and Things Les Paul Many articles have been written about how guitarists and dealers in the mid/late 1970s and early ’80s were asking Gibson to build a Les Paul that more closely conformed to ’59 specs. The following is not an attempt to rehash any of them, but rather to provide an...

www.vintageguitar.com

Information on Derrig or Guitar Trader LP's is scarce on the internet and I can hardly find good photos of them. If anyone has any info on these guitars, I'd very much appreciate your input.

 

[Gibsonian]

Slash's Derrig and the guitar for sale have different neck tenon shapes.

 

[Big Al]

Not a Derring. Just another counterfeit. BTW I have never seen a Guitar Trader, Leo's or any Gibson from pre 1993 with a long tenon.

 

[seafood]

try ....jim foote at music works....lawndale california....he was around those early...derring les pauls....way back in the day.

 

[Gibsonian]

try ....jim foote at music works....lawndale california....he was around those early...derring les pauls....way back in the day.

He came up in my head as the first guy to contact, but from Japan, he’s only reachable through an international call… His website doesn’t list an email address.
Music Works (edan.io)

I guess I’ll call him. Hope he’ll be there when I do.

 

[Gibsonian]

Not a Derring. Just another counterfeit. BTW I have never seen a Guitar Trader, Leo's or any Gibson from pre 1993 with a long tenon.

Hi Al. It’s also my understanding that Gibson didn’t make these 70’s/80’s re-issues with a long tenon.

What do you see in these pictures that gets you to say it’s not a Derrig? Are there tell-tale features on those real Derrig Bursts?

 

[seafood]

i've known Jim...forever...when he worked at the'' world of strings'' in long beach. i was around his shop on artesia ,,,in redondo beach when Kris worked in back.....the wood on the top of that guitar looks like a derrig.not much else. way back when Howie had his original ''guitars r us'' on sierra bonita in hollywood,,,,i met max..and was offered a burst as a gibson,,,not a ''max''..it was real fake looking to me.back in the day ...strings and things in memphis had ...tommy keckler and tommy stinson...they called them....""the two Toms"""..they bursted Norlin les pauls with the old style finish....but they also made complete burst copies that were outstanding. i had an old stripped gibson finished by them...they were the best at the time..in the late 70's it cost...$150.00.!!!!! i've seen the leo les pauls and the guitar trader les pauls and,,,,BIG AL..is right ...yours is nothing like those.......i hope this helps you ,,,on your quest.

 

[Big Al]

Every Derring I've seen had the mother of toilet seat celluloid inlay, like 70's Les Pauls. The off bias top is not something I remember Max or Derring using, (I haven't seen them all, but quite a lot), The top reminds me of early Canadian Mechanic attempts, saw quite a few, had similar inlay iirc.

 

[T.Allen]

I saw a goldtop on facebook the other day that had a similar goofy headstock. The owner thought it was a 50's Gibson and had a letter from Gibson to prove it, but the guitar is a fake. His had a vertical impressed serial number though but a similar shape and even had the white truss rod cover.

 

[Gibsonian]

The off bias top is not something I remember Max or Derring using, (I haven't seen them all, but quite a lot),

Off bias means chevron? Looks like Slash's second Derrig has that top!

 

[Big Al]

Look close. Chevron top grain and wood appear on bias bookmatch.

 

[NYCBURST]

Every Derring I've seen had the mother of toilet seat celluloid inlay, like 70's Les Pauls. The off bias top is not something I remember Max or Derring using, (I haven't seen them all, but quite a lot), The top reminds me of early Canadian Mechanic attempts, saw quite a few, had similar inlay iirc.

yeah, the inlays on a derig are easy to spot... That's what I first looked at when I read this post. Also, I doubt derig would have put that "les paul" logo so high up making it different from his other guitars. just some random counterfeit, I'd guess.