Any thoughts on this 76 Les Paul?

sted

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a459/bigleemac/gibson_1976_lespauldeluxe_001346241_zpskjjdw99t.jpg

World guitars have restored it, refret etc.

has a pancake body, lovely worn look to it, feel strangely drawn to it but no idea if they are even remotely any good from this era, its used R8 kind of money.

ICBM

They can be great, but they vary.

The neck is maple, not mahogany as they state. (Normal for '76.) You may or may not like/prefer that. The apparent slight seam separation on the back of the headstock is normal and may not be anything more than finish lines, but I would maybe ask about that - it may have been fixed.

Be aware that it's been routed, which they do not mention - it was a Deluxe originally (which they do say), with mini-humbuckers - and that could have an impact on resale value if you ever come to that. The bridge pickup is in slightly the wrong place, which is a common mistake when routing a Deluxe for full-size humbuckers - that's why there is a gap relative to the pickguard. It's easier than putting it in the right place because you don't have to patch the existing hole. The front corners of the neck pickup rout will have been patched with extra wood.

*Everything* else has been changed as well, although to be fair they do say so. The only original parts I can see are the backplates!

If none of that puts you off - and it shouldn't necessarily, if you're buying a guitar to play - and the work has been done to a high standard (personally I'd like to see the pickup routs), then it should be a decent enough guitar.

IvisonGuitars

Overpriced in my opinion.

sted

ICBM said:

They can be great, but they vary.

The neck is maple, not mahogany as they state. (Normal for '76.) You may or may not like/prefer that. The apparent slight seam separation on the back of the headstock is normal and may not be anything more than finish lines, but I would maybe ask about that - it may have been fixed.

Be aware that it's been routed, which they do not mention - it was a Deluxe originally (which they do say), with mini-humbuckers - and that could have an impact on resale value if you ever come to that. The bridge pickup is in slightly the wrong place, which is a common mistake when routing a Deluxe for full-size humbuckers - that's why there is a gap relative to the pickguard. It's easier than putting it in the right place because you don't have to patch the existing hole. The front corners of the neck pickup rout will have been patched with extra wood.

*Everything* else has been changed as well, although to be fair they do say so. The only original parts I can see are the backplates!

If none of that puts you off - and it shouldn't necessarily, if you're buying a guitar to play - and the work has been done to a high standard (personally I'd like to see the pickup routs), then it should be a decent enough guitar.

Wow! Thanks for that mate, on that basis, think I'll leave it where it lies! Nice enough guitar like, thats just, well, a LOT of changes!

Dinosauria

You'd really need to try it. a friend of mine got a 70s Custom for a song (well under a grand) about 5 years ago. It was one of the really heavy ones and he only kept it for about 4-5 months. It was also a pancake body. The overall condition was a 9.5/10 the only issue was that the finish appeared to be sunken around a section of the pancake join from the forearm section round to the butt. 

He sold it on to another guitar player he knew who didn't mind the weight as he mainly wanted it for recording and the price was great. The last I heard of it the guitar is out of commission as the body is separating badly where the sunken finish was.

You can find some 70's gems tho. In fact 3 of the best guitars I've ever played were from the 70s (LP Custom, Strat and Mustang respectively).

I would say that guitar is overpriced for a modded 70's deluxe. If it's worth it to you tho that's all that really matters.

xmrchi

Wow that's a lot of changes, so from what ICBM has deduced you're getting a Les paul carcass which has also been routed (wrongly) , totally new electrics and hardware. So really it's the gibson equivalent of a partscaster (partsapaul?) and all for the tiny sum of 2k wow! That's madness,

sted

mrchi said:

Wow that's a lot of changes, so from what ICBM has deduced you're getting a Les paul carcass which has also been routed (wrongly) , totally new electrics and hardware. So really it's the gibson equivalent of a partscaster (partsapaul?) and all for the tiny sum of 2k wow! That's madness,

Haha! Well, when you put it that way!

Looks cool though, no?

John_P

I think it looks very cool.      In a shop with a little haggle room, the  price is only a little high imo - but that depends how well it plays and the quality when you have it in your hands.  You could buy a cheaper battered one and do similar upgrades to make it gigable but this has been done for you.  

ICBM

The thing that puzzles me is why they fitted it with all the Custom plastics - cream pickup surrounds would make the edge of the old neck pickup rout much less visible than the black one does - and especially that they put the pickguard on it… without that it would be much less obvious that the bridge pickup is in the wrong place.

Also I forgot to mention that the switch has the wrong flat nut instead of the correct recessed one and the switch sticks too far out of the guitar, so it's likely the switch cavity floor has been routed for a different non-original switch at some point, leaving it too thin. It's stuff like that which bothers me a lot more than the replaced parts, and I'd certainly want to see inside all the cavities - I don't mind mods but bad workmanship annoys me. (Not blaming the chap who restored it either - the routing was likely done a long time ago.)

£2K does seem a little high - although from a dealer, and if the work has all been done really well to make it a top-notch player's guitar it's maybe not *that* over the top. You don't see 70s Les Pauls for much under £1500 in any condition these days, and they often have playability issues which would cost money to fix.

I may be mad but I'd certainly consider this one at the same price as a used R8 - I just prefer the harder, more ringing tone these maple-necked 70s ones have and the feeling of solidity, as long as they're not more than about 11lbs.

Skipped

When someone mention a 70's Les Paul, I always ask the same question.
Why would you want a 70's Les Paul?

These are great reasons to want one:
1. Nostalgia. (I feel nostalgia for early 70's Customs and Deluxe models even though I can remember that they were not great IMO. And Nostalgia could induce me to buy one. WTF).
2. You were born in the 70's and you want a YOB Les Paul.
3. You are in a Thin Lizzy tribute band/You are a huge fan of (insert name).

But....if none of those reasons apply...why would you want one? Because a used Historic is a much better guitar.  IMO.

ICBM

Skipped said:

But....if none of those reasons apply...why would you want one? Because a used Historic is a much better guitar.  IMO.

4. Because you genuinely prefer the sound and feel of most 70s Les Pauls over modern ones, including most Historics.

p90fool

ICBM said:

I may be mad but I'd certainly consider this one at the same price as a used R8 - I just prefer the harder, more ringing tone these maple-necked 70s ones have and the feeling of solidity

Me too, it's potentially a great guitar. The price isn't too bad from a reputable shop if it really is ready to go - a decent refret will push most cheaper privately-bought examples into the same price territory anyway.

It may be a lifetime keeper or it may be a Norlin clunker, you really need to try it. The good ones are REALLY good though.

marantz1300

I had a routed 71 Deluxe and a Historic VOS 57 Custom at the same time.
Both were great.I loved the fat neck on the Custom.
The Deluxe was still my favourite though.
I preferred it's tone and feel.
It was lighter too.

GuitarMonkey

ICBM said:

Also I forgot to mention that the switch has the wrong flat nut instead of the correct recessed one and the switch sticks too far out of the guitar, so it's likely the switch cavity floor has been routed for a different non-original switch at some point, leaving it too thin.

More likely I'd have thought that the switch has a longer thread, as the short Switchcraft type does.

XWulfhere

I always feel sad when I see a deluxe routed for humbuckers. There ain't nuthin wrong with minis and you can do a quick p90 swap! Surely for the price of getting a cheaper deluxe, new pups and paying for the routing you could just buy a similar standard?

ICBM

Possible, but even at that the switch looks *very* far out of the guitar.

Sadly bodgery like routing/chiselling out the cavity for a Schaller switch or something was quite common 30 years ago when the average shop tech didn't have easy access to the proper parts - they would make whatever was available fit by hacking the wood. Same with the control cavities where cheap generic pots were fitted, or push-pulls which were not available with long bushings at all.

That's why I would want to see inside all the cavities...

Wulfhere said:

I always feel sad when I see a deluxe routed for humbuckers. There ain't nuthin wrong with minis and you can do a quick p90 swap! Surely for the price of getting a cheaper deluxe, new pups and paying for the routing you could just buy a similar standard?

Not in those days. Standards were not even made again until about 1975, and remained very rare until the 80s. You couldn't simply go and buy one.

57Deluxe

Play it... touch it... smell it... lick it... If it speaks to you then is right for you...

Bucket

Did they do Les Paul Standards in the 70s too? My dad used to have a 1972 (I think) Les Paul which was a heavily faded sunburst with a plain top, but it wasn't a Deluxe. And it had two humbuckers but it wasn't a Custom. I think I have a photo somewhere...

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af347/ConnorF1995/Dads old 72 LP_zpsfvov4so9.jpg

What is it? Kind of curious.

ICBM

Deluxe - it says so on the truss rod cover . There appear to have been some Deluxes made with full-size humbuckers from the factory though, so it could be one of those if you don't think it was routed. My guess is that it was because the neck pickup has a nickel cover not chrome, unless that was also changed.

If it was routed, the bridge pickup was at least done right...

Bucket

Hmm, thanks for clearing that up!

johnswiss

Mine is original, and cheaper