The serial number is 90305449. When I got it the paint was stripped, all
the wiring had been cut and all hardware was removed. The tuners, pickup
rings and control knobs were missing. The fretboard had been scalloped
by a previous owner(not the fellow I bought it from). I needed to find
gold tuners for this and one day while browsing through a guitar classified
site I saw an ad for a Les Paul. In the ad it stated that the original Gotoh
tuners had been replaced with Schallers. I sent an e-mail asking if the old
tuners were available. To my delight the tuners were shipped to me for
$50 and they look brand-spanking-new! Thanks Louis. As a sidenote, the tuners
got lost by the US Postal service, Louis went above and beyond the call of
duty to help me find and receive them, long after he had the cash-in-hand.
It's not finished yet, the top will be coated again and maybe one day binding will be
put on. It sounds and plays fantastic.
OK, this guitar is for sale now. I'll try to give as accurate a description as possible.
The kid who 'customized' this guitar, which I'm sure he performed all the work himself, stripped the finish, scalloped the neck, cut out the electronics and sold the tuners, pickup rings and control knobs.
The "Les Paul" decal was sanded off to the point that a dip was sanded into the headstock, I sanded this dip out as good as I could, taped over the "Gibson" decal then repainted the headstock black. There are extra holes in the back of the headstock from the original tuners. The neck is scalloped from the 8th fret to the 22nd fret.
I can 'feel' one of the woodgrain seams at the back of the neck/headstock, the may (or may not) be a crack, but I've had strings on this guitar for over 4 years without a problem.
I painted the front of the body black then put several coats of clear poly on it, the last coat ran so it looks bad up close.
The pickup rings are incorrect and ill-fitting, these, as well as the pickup mounting hardware will need to be replaced.
I ordered some after-market knobs which look like originals to me.
I took the guitar to a luthier friend of mine's shop to ask about replacing the fretboard, he told me I should try playing it first because I just may like it. So I re-installed the electronics temporarily by crimping, twisting and taping everything and put on new strings. I liked playing it so much that I never took it back apart, everything is still un-soldered inside the guitar.
It was my main gigging guitar for 1 1/2 years and then was my backup for the next 2 years. But then the bridge pickup started shutting off on me, I would have to bump the guitar to get it to come back on (as I said, it needs to be soldered).
The back of the guitar is still unfinished, the neck feels great that way.
The hardshell case is a very expensive, heavy duty case. The fellow I bought is from said it was either an SKB or and SKB type case, I don't remember which but I think it could survive a train wreck. We're talking $150 to $200 for a case like this.
Feel free to ask questions.
The day I brought this guitar home I was thinking my wife (Winnie) would
never know it's a new one. She doesn't even know what they look like out of
their case, much less just seeing a another black guitar case.
She was at the sink washing dishes when I nonchalantly walked in the door
and right past her like everything in the world was normal on this day.
"Where did that come from?" she asked. DRAT!!
"What?" I asked in my most innocent voice.
"Isn't that a new guitar?"
"What this?" I asked in my most guilty voice. PLAN B.
With excitement (which is supposed to be contagious) I said "Wait until you
see this!!! It's a LES PAUL!!! And I got it for only $250!!!"
It can be dangerous using the words 'only' and 'dollars' together in one
sentence around your wife, but I was willing to take the chance. Brave,
huh?
I was considering whining about how I was probably the only Dad on the
block without a Les Paul but she didn't say anything else about it.
However, she did take my car remodeling money and re-did our bathroom with
new curtains, rugs, towels, etc. What a waste of good money.
Close this browser page to return to the HOME page
