I've had a 1974 Les Paul Goldtop Deluxe come in for repair this week. According to the serial number and some database it is a 1974 model anyway.
Just minor repairs;
Broken jack plate
Scratchy Pots
Broken pickup ring
Loose machine head
Clean, re-string and set up
Its a nice guitar, sustains for days. I thought i'd take some pics as people may be interested, there are some joints visible in the body which surprised me and a sandwhiched(?) piece of timber along the whole body which i presume is purposefully there.
On the whole the mahogany is beautiful as is the build quality, the electronics are neat and tidy too.
Here's some pics...
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:46 pm
by BobArsecake
Very nice! :D I'd like a Les Paul at some point, but I think it'd have to be a bit of a dirty secret D:
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:49 pm
by stewart
i do quite like gold tops, i'd just worry i'd start playing like i was in guns 'n' roses if i had one...
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:54 pm
by BoringPostcards
That's a beautiful Paul. I pretty much only dig the goldtops and the DCs. I find them too ass heavy. I had one for a few years, but had to sell it, it just wasn't doing it for me. Mostly because of the assheavyness and the cherryburst flame maple .. :X
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:13 pm
by Viljami
My "next i'm gonna get a..." list only gets longer and longer every time I read these posts here. Damn you for having gear that is just way too cool!!
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:27 pm
by mezzio13
BobArsecake wrote:Very nice! I'd like a Les Paul at some point, but I think it'd have to be a bit of a dirty secret D:
exactly.
Thanks for the pics Fran.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:40 pm
by James
What makes that one a deluxe? The pickups?
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 6:58 pm
by benecol
Yep, they would have been mini-hums originally, but this will probably have been routed for full sized ones sometime since.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:01 pm
by finboy
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Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:06 pm
by timhulio
Tim got there before me, but yeah it'd be nicer with the original mini-humbuckers.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:50 pm
by More Cowbell
Gold top would be the only one I'd want.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:03 pm
by Fran
benecol wrote:Yep, they would have been mini-hums originally, but this will probably have been routed for full sized ones sometime since.
Ng, there is no evidence of routing on this baby. I had the pups out, examined its insides (as you do with teh Vintagez).
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:13 pm
by James
Replacement truss rod cover?
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:16 pm
by benecol
Then I put it to you, Francis Yngwie Shortscale that it does, in fact, have a non-original trussrod cover.
Ha!
EDIT: Zut, all that fannying around finding a suitable Holmes picture and Moriarty James gets there before me.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:19 pm
by James
benecol wrote:EDIT: Zut, all that fannying around finding a suitable Holmes picture and Moriarty James gets there before me.
I might dig them pups out again tomorrow seeing as we have decided to order a new part (will have it here until wednesday) for closer examination. If it was routed it was done way back and the bastards knew what they were doing, excellent job, all the screening paint is there and the like.
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:28 pm
by hotrodperlmutter
i thought 70's deluxes came with the black buckers? like the slash model?
i found this '75:
Wikipedia wrote:DeLuxe
The DeLuxe was among the "new" 1968 Les Pauls.[27] This model featured "mini-humbuckers", also known as "New York" humbuckers, and did not initially prove popular. The mini-humbucker pickup fit into the pre-carved P-90 pickup cavity using an adaptor ring developed by Gibson (actually just a cut-out P90 pickup cover) in order to use a supply of Epiphone mini-humbuckers left over from when Gibson moved Epiphone production to Japan. The DeLuxe was introduced in late 1968 and helped to standardize production among Gibson's USA-built Les Pauls. The first incarnation of the DeLuxe featured a one-piece body and three-piece neck in late 1968. The "pancake" body (thin layer of maple on top of two layers of Honduran mahogany) came later in 1969. In late 1969, a small "volute" was added. 1969 DeLuxe's feature the Gibson logo devoid of the dot over the "i" in Gibson. By late 1969/early 1970, the dot over the "i" had returned, plus a "Made In USA" stamp on the back of the headstock. By 1975, the neck construction was changed from mahogany to maple, until the early 1980s, when the construction was returned to mahogany. The body changed back to solid mahogany from the pancake design in late 1976 or early 1977. Interest in this particular Les Paul model was so low that in 1985, Gibson canceled the line. However, in 2005, the "DeLuxe" was reintroduced with more popularity due to its association with Pete Townshend[2] and Thin Lizzy.
In 1978 the Les Paul Pro DeLuxe was introduced. This guitar featured P-90 pickups, instead of the "mini-humbuckers" of the DeLuxe model, an ebony fingerboard, maple neck, mahogany body and chrome hardware. It came in either Ebony, Cherry Sunburst, Tobacco Sunburst or Gold finish. Interestingly it was first launched in Europe, rather than the USA. It was discontinued in 1982.
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 12:33 am
by Fran
No, no, no Rod. Tim and Tim are right, all records and databases are wrong.
It seems i've got to gut this bastard to prove the trc is correct
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:54 am
by hotrodperlmutter
ha ha, i've got to say, it's not the first gold top i've seen without p90's. i was pretty sure epiphone made a deluxe gold top with exposed bobbins in the 80's/90's..
I'd like a Les Paul at some point, but I think it'd have to be a bit of a dirty secret D:
