Rare early '52 unbound Les Paul?

[Rev.WillieVK]

I was traveling around recently and came upon a glass case in a music store containing a modified '52 unbound Goldtop and a stock/normal '52 Goldtop. Both guitars were not for sale, and the owner with the key for the case was not there so I couldn't take them out and examine them.

Besides the unusual tailpiece and bridge (presumably not factory?) I noticed BLACK pickup covers, including the bridge pickup with the diagonal mounting screws. AFAIK there was no other Gibson guitar in 1951/1952 that used P-90s with diagonal mounting screws. Additionally the mounting screws were flat-topped slot screws, as seen on other early '52s. The i-dot in the Gibson logo is attached to the G, as in other 1951/1952 guitars. I wonder what the pickguard looked like...

Has anybody else seen factory black plastic on an early 1952 unbound?

Location withheld for privacy; if somebody else knows and wants to post it, que sera.

 

[jimmi]

Rev, that is a potentially great find. As an aside, what's up with all the 52s all of a sudden?

 

[hoss]

Cool find, Reverend. I love the center seam "burl top".

 

[CDaughtry]

That thing is WAY cool!:dude:

 

[Rev.WillieVK]

One more

OK, another :biggrin:

 

[abalonevintage]

Since the corners and edges of those covers have some white on them...they are probably cream covers that have been painted black.

 

[hoss]

Since the corners and edges of those covers have some white on them...they are probably cream covers that have been painted black.

Reflection?

 

[MapleFlame]

Since the corners and edges of those covers have some white on them...they are probably cream covers that have been painted black.

Rev, great find, love the top. Can't believe that was Goldenized. Your right, I just enlarged the photo and see the original cover color underneath. Looks cool in black for sure.

 

[Rev.WillieVK]

Since the corners and edges of those covers have some white on them...they are probably cream covers that have been painted black.

Good eyes Eric! :dude: :salude

With all the reflections, I didn't notice the chipped paint. :##

 

[Tom Wittrock]

Since the corners and edges of those covers have some white on them...they are probably cream covers that have been painted black.

I was thinking the same.

Rev, go check it out again, when the owner is there.

 

[Rev.WillieVK]

Not going back to that locale any time soon, Tom. :dang

The paint job looked perfect, though I would have spotted it if I'd held the guitar.

 

[TM1]

Nice!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[zorglub!]

Really cool guitar, thanks for sharing!

 

[zhivago]

Very nice maple top, by the way

(I think we were all too busy looking at the pickups!)

 

[Kalamazookeeper]

That's the first separate bridge/trapeze tail conversion that I've seen that didn't make me feel a bit queasy, to look at it. Has a kind of Guild harp tailpiece kind of appeal.

And, of course, there's that top…

Beauty, all around.

 

[krapac]

The curly center seam top is amazing..!

 

[John Catto]

As always, it has a lightly figured centre seam top. Certain proof in my mind that Gibson made the gold decision very late in the day after the initial run was well underway.

 

[JIMI55LP]

I agree with that.

 

[darkwave]

I'm not so sure those are painted covers - if you look at the wobbliness of the edges from wear it seems much more likely that they are replacement black covers which someone drilled for the diagonal screws. Look at how rough the countersink is around the mounting screws - that is what I would expect of a home-done mod. Probably reused the screws. The white in the photo looks like highlights and reflections to me.

-Doug C.

 

[Rev.WillieVK]

Hi Doug! la

As much as I'd like to agree with you, I think Eric and the others are right about the paint, for 2 reasons:

1) There are no traces of the 'normal' P-90 mounting screw holes between the polepieces.
Only the original Les Paul unbounds got the diagonal screw mounting holes.

2) The upper left corner of the neck pickup cover sure looks like chipping paint to me:

Thanks! :salude