My LP Professional

[Pemorin]

Hello,

After many years of reading on this forum from time to time, I finally decided to register and contribute. The reason for it is that I have been struck with love again. My very own Professional has finally convinced me to take care of her once again.



I was fortunate enough to be given this guitar as a birthday present from my father at about 16 years old (I am 29 now, so this was around 1997 i guess). He had bought it from a long time friend who was (i would have to guess) tired of playing with it. This friend was knowledgeable in electronics and had modified it to output in Hi-Impedance. Short after receiving this gift I had asked the previous owner to modify it back to output in Lo-Impedance. He did so, but warned me that he did not recall exactly how it was originally wired. So while he did fix the impedance problem, it left the decade knob not doing what it was meant to do.

Anyway, all my young adult life I was having a Love/Hate relationship with this guitar. Mainly because it was my only real LP, but the sound was not really what I wanted for my alternative rock band. And it was soooo GD heavy ! At around 18, I got around to buying other guitars, mainly a Rickenbacker that i really liked. The sound was good for my band, and it had a nice vintage 'Je ne sais quoi' touch.



I also was given a freak guitar by my uncle, that i also enjoyed a lot (the sound was special) :


But I was only to enjoy them shortly.

About one month after i got the Rick, my apartment was robbed. All my guitars got stolen, except from an Epiphone junior guitar i used for practice, and my Professional. Being such a fool at the time, I was not insured.

So i was actually glad my LP did not get stolen (mostly because it was a gift from my father, one that was really nice for a 16 year old kid after all), but was really pissed because i did not have a real heavy sounding guitar anymore.

About a year later, I moved on and quit my band. I pretty much stopped playing guitar. For about the last 10 years, the guitar has been in my face right next to my computer, virtually never used.

Every 2 years, i would have the urge to take care of it. I'd buy a new bridge and put it up. I'd buy new knobs to give it a new look. I even tried putting a new nut once, to try and fix a little intonation problem i have with a string (I only made it worse )


So anyway, my good friend (with whom I've always shared a love for music and LPs) has started being really into building guitars from kits, and convinced me to do a Telecaster with him (they are much cheeper then Les Pauls ). I really got into it after the first day. And after a couple winks from the Professional, i finally decided to do it. I am gonna pay respect to the beauty that it is, and give it a well deserved face-lift.

I am not sure how far I'll go with the present finish and lacquer (it's not looking too bad as it is, just the head, really), but one thing's for sure, the electronics will be back to specs after I am done with it.

So this morning I took everything apart, and ordered a couple replacement parts.






One of my plan is to install a Bigsby also.

So i guess right about now, there's pretty much nobody reading this anymore ! I know it's a long post and it's not very useful to anyone but me, but i guess it felt good to share it.

Wish me luck !

[cowgard]

I read it. Very cool and unique Les Paul. Even cooler cause your Dad gave it to you. I have a 22 rifle my Dad bought for me in the 50's when I was 6 years old.My Dad's been gone for 30 years now but it makes me smile everytime I open the gun safe. I think it would look great with a Bigsby. David

[Nicky]

Love the LP Pro and the Ricky.

Bravo and welcome to MLP.

[planks]

Looks good, very cool guitars.

Welcome aboard!

[Torren61]

Originally Posted by cowgard

I read it. Very cool and unique Les Paul. Even cooler cause your Dad gave it to you. I have a 22 rifle my Dad bought for me in the 50's when I was 6 years old.My Dad's been gone for 30 years now but it makes me smile everytime I open the gun safe. I think it would look great with a Bigsby. David

Do not put a Bigsby on that gun. It would NOT look cool and would have no practical use.

[renthepen]

Originally Posted by Pemorin

So anyway, my good friend (with whom I've always shared a love for music and LPs) has started being really into building guitars from kits, and convinced me to do a Telecaster with him

Hey I know that friend of yours...

He's ME! I have also been a lurker for years and now that my buddy as officially joined the forum I'll do the same. I have one LP Studio on my lap and I am currently working on 3 home-made LPs.

About Pemorin's Les Paul Professionnal: I have never seen a guitar as heavy as that one. I know some mahogany bodies are heavier than others... but I am convinced that Pemorin's guitar is the HEAVIEST guitar ever created

I hope you will rebuild it to make it as great as it could be.

By the way, how come Gibson never made reissues of that model?

[Howard2k]

Never seen that model before. I love this forum, learn many new things every day. For sure - share pics as you go along, that would be great to see.

[Pemorin]

Will do !
I am just sad i did not take a picture of it just before taking everything out.
I'll try to find an old 'archive photo' of it

[cowgard]

Originally Posted by Torren61

Do not put a Bigsby on that gun. It would NOT look cool and would have no practical use.

Well Premorin, I guess we just got put in our place.

[Nils]

How about restoring the guitar like it used to be when it left the factory? I played a Les Paul Recording (which I guess is very close to the pro) and it was quite a lot of fun!
Very unique sound etc.

[JimmyT]

Hey, could one of you guys in the know shed some light on what Low-Impedance Pickups are/do/sound like, I haven't heard much about them other that they are generally not that liked. Sorry if this is a newbish question, but that guitar is the only one I know that has them, and trust me, it's a lot older than I am.

[planks]

Originally Posted by JimmyT

Hey, could one of you guys in the know shed some light on what Low-Impedance Pickups are/do/sound like, I haven't heard much about them other that they are generally not that liked. Sorry if this is a newbish question, but that guitar is the only one I know that has them, and trust me, it's a lot older than I am.

There are some infos here.

Les Paul Professional

[Pemorin]

Originally Posted by Nils

How about restoring the guitar like it used to be when it left the factory? I played a Les Paul Recording (which I guess is very close to the pro) and it was quite a lot of fun!
Very unique sound etc.

Apart from the possible Bigsby, I want to try and stay true to the way it was as much as possible. That' why i mentioned that i wanted to fix the electronics the way they were. But i cant seem to find the original knobs anywhere I guess they got lost after i changed them a couple years back...

[Pemorin]

Originally Posted by JimmyT

Hey, could one of you guys in the know shed some light on what Low-Impedance Pickups are/do/sound like, I haven't heard much about them other that they are generally not that liked. Sorry if this is a newbish question, but that guitar is the only one I know that has them, and trust me, it's a lot older than I am.

There is an awesome site i found about a guy and his personal (which is the Luxury model of my Professional, really). At the bottom of the first page, there is a link to a sample he made.

The whole site is an interesting read, and it is the only source i ever found about the wiring pattern of those guitars. That is excluding the Recording, as it wired pretty differently then my Professional.

Check it out !

Les Paul Personal

Edit : Also found a video : Testing the the 1969 Les Paul profesional

[renthepen]

Any development, Pemorin?

A few days ago I went to your place and saw the electronics from that LP pro.

You just HAVE to take a pic and post it here. I still can't believe the amount of wiring there is in that guitar. I'm pretty sure the guy who designed the electronics for the guitar made a time machine and hid it in the LP. That might explain why the guitar is that heavy!

[Pemorin]

She is currently getting refretted.

So this is the current state of the electronics :



And it should be looking like that at the end :


(minus the light grey wire that goes to the output)


One thing i am eager to know is the exact weight of it when it's all put back together. I never had the courage to weight it, i was too scared of the result.

[TheGalen]

That's a very cool and interesting guitar that I don't see too often.

[caucajun]

very niiiice!

[JoBeans]

I have always dug the Les Paul Professional and Personal; very cool guitars. They are heavy but have a totally unique sound, very hi-fi like Steve Hacket should be playing it. I have been outbid on a few lately but I would still love to add one to the stash.

[Pemorin]

Ok, it's time for a little update.
I was able to get a hold of a better camera, so i needed to put it to use

I've got a couple different subjects to discuss so i will break it down in different posts.

First up, the year of my guitar.

Since the serial numbers of that era are really messed up, i can't really figure out if the guitar is indeed a 1969.

I've tried reading info about serials and about the Norlin years specs, but I think i simply don't have the knowledge or experience necessary to really pin-point the year.

So if any of you can help me put this to rest i would appreciate.

Here's what i have to help :

Things that would indicate 1969 :

- Pancake Body


- 3 Piece neck


- Transitional Tenon


- Headstock does not have the "Made in USA"



Things that would point to 1970 :

- Serial number starts with 909xxx (ink stamp)

- Volute (not the most pronounced I've seen, but there seems to be one)




Here's the headstock :


MLP Norlin History

Blue Book


Thanks

[Pemorin]

Next up !

The infamous rubber grommet...

For this model, Gibson decided to use a big hole for the Pickup selector switch, like they did with the 1958 specials and like they still do with their L-5 models.



The problem with mine is that it is pretty dry and it doesn't hold the switch that well anymore.

So, i wanted to change it.
But this little piece of rubber is a nightmare...

Like many before me, i have looked everywhere for a replacement part.

Gibson won't provide me with one, even though they still use that grommet at the custom shop. I asked twice.

There is a part that is available at Allparts and another place. They advertise it as the rubber grommet for hollow bodies, but they have machined it incorrectly. They have switched the inside diameter measurements, so the part holding the switch in is way too low to be able to let it "get out of the body" properly.

Since there was no other option (i am not gonna pay 300$ for the ebay one, it's probably gonna break in 10 years anyway), I purchased one. I tried modifying it, but it's just simply not the correct part.

So I ended up ordering a minimum batch of 10 rubber grommet that have the same outside measurements, with the idea of making my own inside cuts. For a modest cost of about 80$ with the import charges (I'm from Canada)
I've received them today :


From left to right : Old Vintage - Poorly designed replacement parts sold online - Unmodified new rubber grommet

Like i said, a nightmare... all that for a worthless rubber part that Gibson must have thousands of at the custom shop...

[Pemorin]

So like mentioned before, the guitar got a full re-fret.




I am pretty pleased with the job, he was able to get some pretty low frets, like on the original.


Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to win the auction on eBay of an original pickguard. It was missing when i got the guitar, so i was pretty happy to find one. I am a little bit of a "pickguard off" kinda guy, but i think i'll keep it this time


The last thing missing is the original knobs. I had switched them in the past to change the look a little, and i can't find them anymore
I got some replacements, but I am still missing the decade knob... and i didn't win that auction. I should have bet more


Here are some other pictures of the pickups, the keys and the control plate.




I should be tackling the electronics soon, so wish me luck !

[Caribou]

I am enjoying the hell out of this thread. Keep the updates coming!!

[standard man]

Keep up the updates man! I like it so far!

[In Tune]

Me Too..Way to go.

[renthepen]

It must be horrible to have that guitar re-fretted but not being able to play with it until it is entirely rebuilt.

Now about the rubber grommet: did you find a way to transform the new ones you got (the batch of 10 units) ? If you find a way to shape it the way you need it you might probably be lucky enough to sell the other 9 units on ebay. I am sure there are other LP pro/rec owners here that would like to put their hands on your grommets since they seem to be impossible to find.

[Pemorin]

Originally Posted by renthepen

It must be horrible to have that guitar re-fretted but not being able to play with it until it is entirely rebuilt.

Now about the rubber grommet: did you find a way to transform the new ones you got (the batch of 10 units) ? If you find a way to shape it the way you need it you might probably be lucky enough to sell the other 9 units on ebay. I am sure there are other LP pro/rec owners here that would like to put their hands on your grommets since they seem to be impossible to find.

I was wondering how to cut a hole in rubber and found people explaining a technique : sharpening the edges of a metal tube that is the correct size for your hole, and slowly cut through the rubber by turning it in, with soapy water as lubricant.

Haven't got around to go metal tube shopping yet I'll post pictures when i do !

[Pemorin]

Well, i got some great news yesterday.

I found a thread on another forum started by Surfthrees. He was explaining his issues with finding a replacement grommet, and the stubborn Gibson approach about this issue.
Not very happy with Gibson right now.... - Les Paul Forum

Well, if you read all the way through, you will find out that he actually ended up landing 3 of them ! And he was offering one of his to anyone really needing it.
It turns out that I was lucky enough that not one contacted him for it. This generous man will soon send me a perfect replacement for my Professional.

Thanks JD !

I will still try to experiment making custom grommets. So if anyone reading this actually needs one for his guitar, send me a PM. Maybe i will have ended up making a decent enough replica to use.

[In Tune]

Awesome Score!

[circusboy28]

Great stuff mate.