Where are they now...

[Norton]

Thanks for confirming Randy! Looks like you signed the inside of the cavity as well, it's great to confirm and see the record. While it's not necessarily the most collectible bass from Gibson I'm a sucker for the 80s and couldn't pass up adding it to the collection. I always find it interesting too when the prototypes vary from the production versions. This one weighs nearly 1.5 lbs less than it's production counterpart and appears to be an alder body if I'm not mistaken. The headstock is even longer and pointier than the stock, between that and being Pink you cant get more 80s! ha

 

[Nick-O]

This is easily one of my favorite threads on the web! I feel left out my guitar was not built by you Randy!

 

[Strings Jr.]

It's been over a year since I've posted any new pics here, so I figured it was about time.

It was extremely rare to see a LP Artisan in Nashville. I only remember seeing maybe two. This was a mid 80's special order, and was the only Cherry Sunburst Artisan I ever saw.

 

[PermissionToLand]

That reminds me of this funky 1982 SG I presume was a custom order (there was no SG Custom at all in 1982):




Any chance that crossed your path?

 

[Strings Jr.]

That reminds me of this funky 1982 SG I presume was a custom order (there was no SG Custom at all in 1982):

Any chance that crossed your path?

Sorry, that's a Kalamazoo guitar. I worked in Nashville. And what's funky about it? Pretty sure it was a special order and not intended to be an actual SG Custom. Cool head veneer, crank tuners, 24 frets. I bet she's a screamer.

 

[El Gringo]

It's been over a year since I've posted any new pics here, so I figured it was about time.

It was extremely rare to see a LP Artisan in Nashville. I only remember seeing maybe two. This was a mid 80's special order, and was the only Cherry Sunburst Artisan I ever saw.

View attachment 14314

Wow , a stunning and most beautiful Les Paul Artisan ! I would assume this was a one off special order ? TP6 tailpiece as well , with the pre war logo .

 

[El Gringo]

Sorry, that's a Kalamazoo guitar. I worked in Nashville. And what's funky about it? Pretty sure it was a special order and not intended to be an actual SG Custom. Cool head veneer, crank tuners, 24 frets. I bet she's a screamer.

Can you tell me if it was black paint or a Holly veneer on the Heritage Flying V Reissues from 1982 ? Where the raised Gibson logo was affixed ?

 

[PermissionToLand]

Sorry, that's a Kalamazoo guitar. I worked in Nashville. And what's funky about it? Pretty sure it was a special order and not intended to be an actual SG Custom. Cool head veneer, crank tuners, 24 frets. I bet she's a screamer.

I meant "funky" as in unusual and interesting, not in a bad way. 24 frets and the deeper set neck joint have never been done on an SG Custom, and it strangely retained the old switch location despite the switch moving on all SGs after 1980.

Here's an '84 custom order that's more of a typical Custom and has the new switch location, but curiously a Harmonica bridge quite a few years after Gibson stopped using them:





Maybe you ran into that one?

 

[Steve Craw]

Hi Strings! Do you think the folks at Gibson will ever allow the register books to be accessed? I'd love to know the ship date of my 1964 lefty ES-345. #17465*

 

[Strings Jr.]

I meant "funky" as in unusual and interesting, not in a bad way. 24 frets and the deeper set neck joint have never been done on an SG Custom, and it strangely retained the old switch location despite the switch moving on all SGs after 1980.

Here's an '84 custom order that's more of a typical Custom and has the new switch location, but curiously a Harmonica bridge quite a few years after Gibson stopped using them:

Maybe you ran into that one?

That's a very unique SG. Did you buy it new?

I know it has a Nashville serial number, but the body could have been part of the leftover Kalamazoo "work-in-process" stuff that came to Nashville when they closed. I don't remember Nashville making any SG's with the harmonica bridge bushings. Do you know if the knobs are original? It was very rare to see a set of those in Nashville at that time.

Also, I didn't have that number in my records, but I noticed the date stamp is the same as another Custom Shop guitar in post number 352 of this thread. I'm surprised this one doesn't have a Custom Shop decal.

Great guitar!!

 

[Strings Jr.]

Can you tell me if it was black paint or a Holly veneer on the Heritage Flying V Reissues from 1982 ? Where the raised Gibson logo was affixed ?

Since I wasn't a finish guy, I can't say that I remember for certain. But two out of the three braincells I have left say it was paint

 

[Strings Jr.]

Hi Strings! Do you think the folks at Gibson will ever allow the register books to be accessed? I'd love to know the ship date of my 1964 lefty ES-345. #17465*

Hey Steve, They have the records, it's just a matter of getting someone to get off their ass and go check them. I sent an email the last time we spoke, but got no reply. I'll try again with another guy that I know much better.

 

[El Gringo]

Since I wasn't a finish guy, I can't say that I remember for certain. But two out of the three braincells I have left say it was paint

Thanks Strings Jr.

 

[Capn Rory]

I have reset my password now, so I can now post that I have an '82 Gibson 335 dot made 2 days after the one posted on page 21, same finish. Thanks to Randy for building such a great guitar!! Serial # 81982542. I have it's birthday as July 18th 1982, but that was a Sunday ? I'm not sure the BD is correct, with the factory likely being closed on a Sunday.

 

[Strings Jr.]

I have reset my password now, so I can now post that I have an '82 Gibson 335 dot made 2 days after the one posted on page 21, same finish. Thanks to Randy for building such a great guitar!! Serial # 81982542. I have it's birthday as July 18th 1982, but that was a Sunday ? I'm not sure the BD is correct, with the factory likely being closed on a Sunday.

Hello Capn!!
Sorry but I didn't have your number in my records. Those early Dots are just the best!

Your guitar was neck-fit and stamped on Saturday, July 17th, 1982. We worked many Saturdays back then.

Thanks!!

 

[LyleGorch]

How about these?

I have a L5C, Oct, 18 1989. Ser. No. 82439558, the one in your right hand looks like the back of my L5C.

 

[El Gringo]

Hello Capn!!
Sorry but I didn't have your number in my records. Those early Dots are just the best!

Your guitar was neck-fit and stamped on Saturday, July 17th, 1982. We worked many Saturdays back then.

Thanks!!

wow and mind blowing that you guys worked Saturday's . Was this overtime ? If so what was the need or justification ? I know I am being nosey , but that just seems so out of the norm ? Large back orders ? Certain new runs or limited edition runs ?

 

[Strings Jr.]

wow and mind blowing that you guys worked Saturday's . Was this overtime ? If so what was the need or justification ? I know I am being nosey , but that just seems so out of the norm ? Large back orders ? Certain new runs or limited edition runs

Sorry for the late reply El Gringo. The justification was usually because of the Finishing Dept. They were always the bottleneck of the process, which caused Final Assembly to miss their production numbers. And yes, it was overtime. But that wasn't always a bad thing, especially when I got paid with a guitar. Remember this thread: https://www.lespaulforum.com/index.php?threads/no-time-like-overtime.209016/

 

[El Gringo]

Sorry for the late reply El Gringo. The justification was usually because of the Finishing Dept. They were always the bottleneck of the process, which caused Final Assembly to miss their production numbers. And yes, it was overtime. But that wasn't always a bad thing, especially when I got paid with a guitar. Remember this thread: https://www.lespaulforum.com/index.php?threads/no-time-like-overtime.209016/

I sure do remember that thread and that awesome beauty of yours ! I wish I had a job that afforded me the opportunity to get a Gibson guitar ! How cool is that ? Very Cool as is your awesome Gibson !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Strings Jr.]

As I mentioned in Post #1 of this thread, I not only wanted to share photos of some of the instruments I built, but also some excerpts from my log book / serial number ledger. Now, after about five months of data entry sessions, I finally have every serial number record that I could find of instruments that I built entered into a spreadsheet. The list is definitely not 100% of everything I did. I've found a couple of gaps of missing numbers during dates that I know I was building. But even with the gaps, there are over 10,700 numbers in the list, ranging from September 1978 thru April 1987. Along with being able to instantly search for specific serial numbers, I've found many "hidden" secrets in all that data by applying various filters. Here's a couple of examples.

I actually noticed this while I was entering numbers one day. Apparently, on December 11th, 1984 (Julian day 346) whoever was doing the neck-fit job, set the fifth digit of the serial number to "5" when it should have been "4". They began stamping Explorer Basses with the wrong year number. I built six of these with numbers ranging from 506 to 523. My guess is that there were at least 25 stamped wrong before they caught it.



Another bit of info that I never realized was with the LP Reissues, or Prehistorics. Beginning in 1983 they started being pretty consistent about using the first digit of the serial as the last digit of that year. For example, 3 0001 for 1983, 4 0001 for 1984, etc. always starting back at 0001 each year. But at the beginning of 1986, they did not start back at 0001. The serials started with a 6 but continued in sequence from 1985. It looks like somewhere around the 6 0350 mark is when the 1986 models started.



I've spent hours looking at this stuff and found many irregularities, anomalies, and other unknown facts about that era that would otherwise never be known. So glad that I finally got this project completed. Starting to think twice about putting all these facts in a book. What do you think?