Opinions on Les Paul Deluxe?

welshboyo

Hi All,

Seen a 71/72 Les Paul Deluxe which has seen quite a bit of work over the years, has a few original bits missing, a ton of marks/playing wear/mojo. Has had a neck crack at some point in its life but looks to be a very minor one (no volute either, which I thought it should??)

It doesn't have the original case, pots and everything are original, knobs are not.

Also, can someone confirm the pickup set-up on these - the mini hums seem to be mounted in a ring within a full size ring - is this normal for this era?

What it does do though is play really really well, almost played itself (yeah I know old cliche saying..but it did) and I can't stop thinking about it..

The price is what is stopping me from going for it, its up at 1600 but I'm sure I could knock the guy down.

Opinions as ever greatfully received.

GuitarMonkey

It sounds like the pickups have "goof hiders" like this?

http://home.earthlink.net/~bigsbytracks/images/goofhider-pickguard.jpg

Price seems reasonable.

I had a tatty but original 73 deluxe here the other day. There aren't many guitars I see these days that I'd like to own but this was one.

impmann

Some had even weirder rings like those on Neil Finn's battered GoldTop DeLuxe... one of my all time fave battered guitars...

EDIT - oops beaten to it. :-) See Sunburst one above!!

welshboyo

impmann said:

Some had even weirder rings like those on Neil Finn's battered GoldTop DeLuxe... one of my all time fave battered guitars...

EDIT - oops beaten to it. :-) See Sunburst one above!!

these are the exact rings it has...

GuitarMonkey

welshboyo said:

these are the exact rings it has...

Quite normal, if a little undesirable.

They're colloquially termed "goof hiders" and are supposed to mask mistakes in routing the pickup cavities.

ESchap

Yes goof rings are normal for this era.  The Volute was probably removed when the neck break was fixed, not an uncommon thing to be done.   I know what you mean about these guitars, some of them are just great; they get slagged off because of the pancake body, paddle headstock, 3 part neck, volute etc.  but they can just be sooo right and exactly as a great Les Paul should sound and play.

 

If its any help on the price an unbroken one will have a street price £1,800 - £2,200 depending on originality and condition.  With a neck break I would have thought £1,500-£1,600 is OK as long as it's a good and and nearly invisible repair.  Don't think you'd ever lose money on it at that price.

welshboyo

hmm, ok guys, some nice info from you all here, I may take a swipe at it and see what deal I can sort out on it..

The break (well, its more of a laqcuer crack) is extremely minor and from what I've read this morning, many early deluxes didn't have a volute, the headstock angle is weird, but there again I've seen many a Norlin with the same angle - very shallow..

watch this space...

ESchap

Hmm ... never seen a 70/71 deluxe without a volute unless it had been removed.  Neck should be 3 piece mahogany at that year.  If it's not then it may have been re-necked ...?   Headstock angle should be 13/14 degrees, only 3 degrees, but it does look a lot shallower than the 17 degrees of the early 60's or modern Gibson's. 

welshboyo

yep, 3 piece neck, I'm sure I've read today about no volutes....I'll have to check

ESchap

I could be wrong but I've owned / or had loaned to me about 7 Deluxe's from that era and researched them to death ... never seen one without a volute that hadn't been removed on purpose.  But them was the Norlin years ..

welshboyo

hmm, got me doubting myself now, I'll take another look when I go down to try and secure a deal and take it from there...I'm sure there wasn't a volute...

ESchap

Sorry!  Just be sure there hasn't been major surgery round the back of the nut.  Then again, if it's stable, plays and sounds really well and the price is right ....

welshboyo

thanks mate, see this is the thing, there was no evidence of major surgery and looked to be a very minor crack..

perhaps the volutes on these aren't as prominent as I'm convinced I had on a 72 LP Custom - liek a real "thumb rest" almost..

ICBM

If there's no volute it's been removed.

It's relatively easy to refinish the back of the neck so it won't show, since the finish is nitro and especially if it was done a long time ago, it will have blended fairly well probably.

welshboyo

Unless it's a 69....I'll check pot dates..

ICBM

If it's a '69 and it's £1600, buy it as quick as possible!

Actually I very much doubt it, since I've never seen goof hiders that early.

ESchap

ICBM said:

If it's a '69 and it's £1600, buy it as quick as possible!

Actually I very much doubt it, since I've never seen goof hiders that early.

Router tools were still sharp in 1969 

impmann

I thought Neil finn's LP was a 69/70 model...

welshboyo

impmann;82338" said:

I thought Neil finn's LP was a 69/70 model...

Let's hope so...which means I'm on a buying trip tomorrow!!

ESchap

welshboyo said:

impmann;82338" said:

I thought Neil finn's LP was a 69/70 model...

Let's hope so...which means I'm on a buying trip tomorrow!!

Good luck, hope it works out.

marantz1300

I had a 72 with goof hiders,great guitars.
No volute then check if there's no "Made in USA" stamp,no dot above the "i" ,an open "b" and open "o".
If so its a 69.If it has a one piece body,then its a mid 69,long tenon an early 69.
Pics will help with identification and so will this site
..latesixtieslespauls.com

My old 72
[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/Gibson/SDC10874.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/Gibson/SDC10633.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/Gibson/SDC10644.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/Gibson/SDC10979.jpg[/IMG]
My 69
[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/SDC11296_zps50b747db.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/SDC11179_zps2f1c9cd2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii98/marantz1300/SDC11175_zps16f6647a.jpg[/IMG]