Les Paul Custom going rate/buying advice

Epsilon

I'm forever in a conundrum about my LP Custom. 1979 and very much a fretless wonder. 

It's all original and I'm loathe to mess with the frets. Losing the nibs is a big deal to some people and I do have an eye on the value of it as something to pass down to the kids one day. It would no doubt would get more use if I got it refretted, but I have two other Les Pauls with modern frets if I need to do big bends on an LP. 

Bit of pointless musing for you there OP. In answer to your question, I think a range of £2.5k - £4k is reasonable depending on condition, originality, colour etc.

TeleMaster

Epsilon said:

I'm forever in a conundrum about my LP Custom. 1979 and very much a fretless wonder. 

It's all original and I'm loathe to mess with the frets. Losing the nibs is a big deal to some people and I do have an eye on the value of it as something to pass down to the kids one day. It would no doubt would get more use if I got it refretted, but I have two other Les Pauls with modern frets if I need to do big bends on an LP. 

Bit of pointless musing for you there OP. In answer to your question, I think a range of £2.5k - £4k is reasonable depending on condition, originality, colour etc.

You can keep the nibs, you just need a skilled enough person to refret it and be willing to spend the money. 

topdog91

Voxman said:

topdog91 said:

Voxman said:
Aside from the double binding, Grovers, ebony board, diamond etc they do feel, sound and play very different to a Standard. Neither is better or worse than the other, they are just different.  I have a 1990 Custom that I love but I'd also like to get a Standard too... Perhaps a gold top or lemomdrop. 

*Very* different? How so?

I think you're just going to have to try one of each to answer that. 

Well, I was asking why you think they are "very different", so doubt that will help.

Mike58

I have a 90s LPC and a CS R9 Murphy, they are different in a few ways ( to me)
LPC feels slicker, refined but powerful.
R9 feels raw, louder shoutier.
which one would I grab in a house fire…
Both.

guitars4you

Epsilon said:

I'm forever in a conundrum about my LP Custom. 1979 and very much a fretless wonder. 

It's all original and I'm loathe to mess with the frets. Losing the nibs is a big deal to some people and I do have an eye on the value of it as something to pass down to the kids one day. It would no doubt would get more use if I got it refretted, but I have two other Les Pauls with modern frets if I need to do big bends on an LP. 

Bit of pointless musing for you there OP. In answer to your question, I think a range of £2.5k - £4k is reasonable depending on condition, originality, colour etc.

In my opinion a quality refret will not detract from any resale value whatsoever - If anything it can make the guitar more desirable to a player - Imagine you are now the potential buyer - You plug it in and give it a test drive - You like many factors of the guitar, but it plays/feels so bad - Now try the same guitar a couple of weeks later, after it has spent time with a good tech for a refret  - It now plays far better - Which is the more desirable example to most buyers

I recall such a scenario a number of years ago, with a local customer - He now owned a number of nice guitars, but he still had strong feelings for his late 70's LP Custom - Apparently I sold it to him in 1978 - But he just hated the whole feel/playability, compared to other guitars - But as it was his first pro-grade guitar he was sentimentally attached to it - But it just sat in its case these days

After finally listening to me, many months later,  he had it re-fretted - He now thanks me for putting life back into his old fav - It has come back to be his #1 again 

Even with top end vintage pieces from the 50's and 60's 'golden era' then only a few would ever object to a good re-fret - But all will object to worn, small, crap and knackered frets 

Again I've only known a few players/customers ever go down the route of wanting a re-fret on a Gibson and keep the nibs - I'm sure techs like @FelineGuitars and @SteveRobinson  etc will pass additional comment on this - Personally I prefer the frets over the binding with no nibs - Think JoBo does as well 

Epsilon

@guitars4you interesting! So of you were selling two identical LPCs - one with original frets and nibs and one that had been refretted over the binding - would you price them the same?

Loobs

I'm not super worried about nibs. If it's a nice refret, I couldn't care less. 

guitars4you

Epsilon said:

@guitars4you interesting! So of you were selling two identical LPCs - one with original frets and nibs and one that had been refretted over the binding - would you price them the same?

Based on 2 identical guitars, regarding condition etc, then yes, same price - I certainly would not price it lower and if it played so much better, as I'd expect it to, then I'd be even thinking about charging a touch more as IMO, and others it is a more desirable piece to a player - Most would do likewise, be it a private sale, or a dealer - I can understand originality having an impact with regards to finish, headstock repairs, changed pick-ups etc - But not to the frets 

With regards to pots, even saddles and tuners it can depend on how 'workable' they are - Original pots, that are scratchy and worn are neither use nor ornament - But I would accept that it might have an impact on value - Depends on rarity/vintage/collectability - even with a Gibson this can have a negligible impact - ie a new loom with 500K good pots is more desirable, to many, than an original loom with 300k pots, especially if worn/scratchy  - This can also depend on how good. player it is 

 Ref a good refret to such a guitar - I think if you check out this forum and other forums, be it LP/Gibson, or others it is a bit of a debate about any impact to the value  - But to most players, worn frets and a poor player are a turn off - I've known, or heard before, of a potential buyer to such a guitar like yours, asking for a discount, to cover the cost of a good refret - I'm sure other FB members will throw in their 10 Kenneth about this topic - Create a fresh topic if you like - But a) a regret will improve how your guitar feels/plays and that is almost 100% set in stone and b) the re-fret will have no impact on the value on such a guitar  

FelineGuitars

If you have small or worn frets on a bound neck and intend to go larger then the existing nibs will be too small anyway to keep, so you would have to start building them up with melted down binding material. It's heck of a lot ore work to convince someone that you had no work done, and making a huge assumption that people care oh so much about that - other than the perpetuated internet logic which always goes unchallenged and is a crafty way for dealers to knock you down on price IMO if you have a guitar that has ben reworked.

The assumption that your kids will fully appreciate all the vintage correct intricacies of your guitars (unless they are guitar nerds) that they will inherit. 

They may get sold on to fund whatever the future holds in a world as yet unknown. 

Whether they stand their ground to impress someone it's still got it's nibs is another thing.

Personal opinion here

I strongly feel that people should enjoy the things they own to the max - be it guitars, golf clubs or a sports car.

That means playing that guitar so much that you put genuine mileage on it enjoying playing killer riffs solos and tunes

The sports car should be driven, not just washed and waxed on a Sunday to keep the mileage down for the next guy

We get one time round on this ride - concentrate on having fun

Guitars are meant to be played, not just kept like exhibits in a museum

We get players who spend say £365+ on a refret, but then play that guitar for an hour a day every day for the next year 

The upgrade for their great pleasure cost them £1 a day and after the first year that cost falls and falls.

You can't buy a coffee for that much on a daily basis if you get what i mean

Sorry for further sidelining the OP's thread

rockmonster

I had a 76 black custom many many moons ago. Weighed a ton and sounded terrific. Being young I sold it! -mistake! Had a white one I forget what year. Weighed a ton and sounded terrible! Sold that too- no mistake! I don’t play Lesters any more live coz they don’t stay in tune- neither do V’s nor explorers

Loobs

This is lush, more than I'd spend but very cool and not too heavy.

https://www.bigfoot-guitars.de/portfolio-items/1974-gibson-les-paul-custom-20th-anniversary/?portfolioCats=92

Musical_Mystery_Tour

rockmonster said:

I had a 76 black custom many many moons ago. Weighed a ton and sounded terrific. Being young I sold it! -mistake! Had a white one I forget what year. Weighed a ton and sounded terrible! Sold that too- no mistake! I don’t play Lesters any more live coz they don’t stay in tune- neither do V’s nor explorers

They do if you put one of these on them.

Loobs

Man alive that thing is f**king ugly. 

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Loobs said:

Man alive that thing is f**king ugly. 

Yup, and it goes over the Les Paul logo in an annoying way too, but it does work. Depends on whether your priority is to look cool, or to stay in tune.

Loobs

Neither/both 

TeleMaster

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

rockmonster said:

I had a 76 black custom many many moons ago. Weighed a ton and sounded terrific. Being young I sold it! -mistake! Had a white one I forget what year. Weighed a ton and sounded terrible! Sold that too- no mistake! I don’t play Lesters any more live coz they don’t stay in tune- neither do V’s nor explorers

They do if you put one of these on them.

They do an the acrylic/see through one too, but I use the one that replaces the Truss rod cover and it's much better than that one, but it still doesn't hold tuning as well as my Fenders. 

stickyfiddle

You can always just cut & file the nut properly you know... 

TeleMaster

stickyfiddle said:

You can always just cut & file the nut properly you know... 

Yea, because no one's ever tried that before.  

stickyfiddle

TeleMaster said:

stickyfiddle said:

You can always just cut & file the nut properly you know... 

Yea, because no one's ever tried that before.  

LOADS of people do it wrong... 

Loobs

Yeah, this is all pretty new for me, I'm quite surprised at the number of people moaning about tuning stability. I gigged a Tokai LPC, an SG and various others for a long time and don't remember it being such an issue.