57 Reissue Black Beauty 3 PUP

[deadringer]

So I've had this 57 reissue black beauty for a few good years now and I've sorta feared it might be a fake. I bought it used off of ebay a while ago and I don't remember it coming with a COA. I think it's a 2000 model, but I could be wrong. The serial is 7 0537.

It doesn't have R7 stamped inside the control cavity. When did they start doing that btw?

It's got grover tuners, ABR-1 bridge and the pickups have the PAF sticker on the back. It had short shaft pots with the Gibson logo on them, as well as switchcraft jack and toggle. The bathroom scale puts it at about 10.2 lbs. I know all of these things point to real, but I'd like to be sure.

The ebony board seems like it wants to dry out quickly for some reason. I put lem oil on it like a mad man and it looks nice and black, but then white streaks show up a day or so later in the wood grain. The body route seems small to me compared to my other LPs, I had to run wires up to the pickups for the current wiring to all work because there wasn't enough room for everything. The original wiring was all vintage braided 2 conductor though.

I recently changed out the knobs for reflectors and put a vibramate bigsby b7 on it with a roller bridge so don't let that confuse you. As well as a MSP wiring rig from Jonesy. So put that out of your mind when looking at the pictures.

I repeat ignore the new wiring!

Any help to ease my fears would be greatly appreciated!

[RBA]

If that's a fake they sure did a convincing job

[lkft]

That's not an ABR1 bridge. And the black paint inside the routes doesn't seem right. Other than that seems legit. I've never had a painted LP, only bursts so maybe the paint inside the control cavities is normal for all I know. Can you get a closeup of the fretboard to see the inlays/nibs/grain?

[SKATTERBRANE]

A 2000? Black paint in pup cavities is normal. The route from switch should be round, like vintage Customs, and Specials. The GTs and bursts were channeled. It is a real Gibson.

[deadringer]

Originally Posted by lkft

That's not an ABR1 bridge. And the black paint inside the routes doesn't seem right. Other than that seems legit. I've never had a painted LP, only bursts so maybe the paint inside the control cavities is normal for all I know. Can you get a closeup of the fretboard to see the inlays/nibs/grain?

Yeah I know it's not a ABR1 bridge. I replaced it with a roller bridge when I put the vibramate and Bigsby on. I have the ABR1 wrapped up, along with the stop tail in the case pocket.

[deadringer]

Originally Posted by SKATTERBRANE

A 2000? Black paint in pup cavities is normal.

Hell I don't know man... What year is this thing? That's just what I had wrote down somewhere.

Maybe that was the year I bought it... I've drank a lot since then!

[rsrd]

Dunno but it looks HAWT to me.

[SKATTERBRANE]

It is a 2000, unless it is a 2010, which it is not, since it has Grovers. It is nice. You can sleep easily tonight.

[deadringer]

Originally Posted by SKATTERBRANE

It is a 2000, unless it is a 2010, which it is not, since it has Grovers. It is nice. You can sleep easily tonight.

Thanks man! That's what I figured. I think I might have actually bought it in '03 or '04 when I think about it now...

Just bought a big 'ole bottle of fret doctor to see if it will fix the dry spots in the board. Hopefully it's worth the hype.

Enjoy the pics then guys!

[CRobbins]

Long tenon neck also. Right on.

[Lowdown]

Nothing to worry about. It's as real as my creeping arthritis.
Overspray in the pockets,as already noted,is normal. That reddish/ochre hue you see underneath,is the mahogany.
Long tenon. Nibs.

It's a 2000 with '57s and obviously the wiring has been upgraded(Jonesy,right ).
I see you took the easy way out and spliced the mid pup wire
I understand completely why.

Grover's were the norm for early '57s as were the 57 Classic pups.
Don't know if you mentioned putting the reflectors on yourself,but they're not OEM.
Shame you put the can opener on it,though. Each to their own.

Nice wood. It's a Custom. Say no more

* edit: obviously,I should start reading instead of jumping in first(story of my life). Just saw your reference to the reflectors and wiring upgrade in your OP.

[fjminor]

Great looking R7 BB. Congrats, good luck and happy playing. I have a similar one and love it.

The body route seems small to me compared to my other LPs, I had to run wires up to the pickups for the current wiring to all work because there wasn't enough room for everything. The original wiring was all vintage braided 2 conductor though

I believe this is due to the one piece body/top, which is a good thing for this model.

[deadringer]

Originally Posted by Lowdown

Nothing to worry about. It's as real as my creeping arthritis.
Overspray in the pockets,as already noted,is normal. That reddish/ochre hue you see underneath,is the mahogany.
Long tenon. Nibs.

It's a 2000 with '57s and obviously the wiring has been upgraded(Jonesy,right ).
I see you took the easy way out and spliced the mid pup wire
I understand completely why.

Grover's were the norm for early '57s as were the 57 Classic pups.
Don't know if you mentioned putting the reflectors on yourself,but they're not OEM.
Shame you put the can opener on it,though. Each to their own.

Nice wood. It's a Custom. Say no more

* edit: obviously,I should start reading instead of jumping in first(story of my life). Just saw your reference to the reflectors and wiring upgrade in your OP.

Yeah I don't love the Bigsby on there, or the roller bridge. Thankfully it's just a vibramate so it can come off when I please. I prefer the reflector knobs. Stick 'em on almost every Gibson I own. I like the look and feel better than any of the other knobs they have, but amber top hats are sweet!

Yeah there was literally no room in the body route for the pickups wires and the big switch harness all running through there. Trust me I tried. It's that damn third pickup crowding the party so I had to run wires up to all three to get her working. Jonesy's MSP harness is cool though, breathed some new life in it for me playing wise. Plus I can shut off the middle pu when I want with one of the push/pulls.

[fretboarder]

very nice guitar i had one so far its the best guitar ive ever owned though it was a 2 pick up version(hell knows why i sold it).

what year did the grover's stop being put on the 57 bb's?? mine had them and i always thought it was a 06, it didnt have a coa... cheers

[deadringer]

Originally Posted by fretboarder

very nice guitar i had one so far its the best guitar ive ever owned though it was a 2 pick up version(hell knows why i sold it).

what year did the grover's stop being put on the 57 bb's?? mine had them and i always thought it was a 06, it didnt have a coa... cheers

You know I'm not real sure when they stopped doing the grovers and started putting the kluson style on there. Maybe someone on here can chime in on that?

I wanna know when they started stamping R7 and so forth inside the cavity...

[Curlymaple]

Originally Posted by fretboarder

what year did the grover's stop being put on the 57 bb's??)

...late '07.

2010 came with wireless abr1 bridge.
yup, that's areal one congrats!