1979 Gibson "The Paul" Modded Electric Guitar
While this guitar looks like a straight-to-the-point Les Paul, it's not! I'm familiar with "The Paul" model LPs from the late '70s from a local friend's guitar and then some others that have been through, but this is the most modified one I've seen.
Let's start with the first obvious thing -- it's been refinished and some "comfort contours" were added here and there. The job was homespun but decently-done and it looks relatively authentic at a glance. I mean, the original finishes on these let the grain pop through in a porous fashion, too.
Next-up is the "retro" bit -- it's had an aftermarket brass bridge and tailpiece fit. This is par for the course on guitars of this era.
Lastly, it's been revamped in pickups and wiring in a very good way. It has a pair of fancy Gibson humbuckers fit that replace the old open-topped "T-Top" pickups. The harness looks normal on the face but each volume pot is a push/pull. As "standard," the signal from each pickup is coil-tapped and thus a little cleaner/less-output than the full humbucker is capable of. In this way they sound a lot like '60s Gibson buckers in "normal" configuraiton. One of the push/pull pots, when engaged, adds the extra length of coil and so one gets a volume/bass boost to "full bucker" mode. The other push/pull pot, when engaged, puts both pickups out of phase with themselves and this gives a bit of a "faux-single-coil" sound.
Suffice to say, all of these options make for a bit of a 3-in-1 guitar and it seems like one could adapt the sound of this instrument to just about any music you're playing. It's a pretty spiffy solution and I imagine tracking a session just on this guitar would be a breeze.
Ancel gave this a level/dress of the frets and some setup work and it's now playing on-the-dot and ready to roll.
Repairs included: a fret level/dress and a setup. Much has been done to the guitar in the past, too -- it's been refinished and the whole wiring harness and pickup assortment has been replaced. The hardware got '70s/'80s swapouts, too, and it features an old brass bridge and tailpiece.
Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz
Scale length: 24 5/8"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
Neck shape: slim-medium C
Board radius: 12"
Body width: 13"
Body depth: 1 1/2"
Body wood: walnut
Bridge: ABR-style aftermarket brass
Fretboard: rosewood
Neck wood: walnut/mahogany
Pickups: 1x Gibson Classic '57 (neck) and 1x Gibson Classic Plus (bridge)
Neck relief: straight
Fret style: wider/medium height
Condition notes: it's hard to even fill this out -- it's like someone took the guitar and remade it into a better image of itself. All of the late '70 schtick was removed (save the neat brass bridge and tailpiece) and in its place it got a set of modern Gibson pickups and a high-quality, fresh wiring harness. The whole guitar was refinished, however, at one point and some "comfort bevels" appear to have been added at the same time. It's finished in a brushed-on poly, it appears, and looks relatively similar to what the original finish would have looked like when it was new. The headstock logo decal is a replacement of similar style to the original.
It comes with: its original hard case.
Consignor tag: DF
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