1960 Les Paul special?

[R'nien]

What is this? Why are they calling this a 1960 reissue? Have you ever seen a single cut version?


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...a%3DN%26um%3D1


[IMG][/IMG]

[SKATTERBRANE]

Even though Gibson separates the Juniors into 57 (SC) and 58 (DC) for some stupid-assed reason the Specials, whether DC or SC are marketed as 60s, and in 1960 Specials were not Les Pauls at all, they were SGs. Sometime in early 1960 the Les Paul Special ceased to be and they were actually slab bodied SG Specials.

[SKATTERBRANE]

If I were Gibson I would call the SC Special a R5!!

[Liam]

For a while the USA LP Special reissues were called a Les Paul Junior II, as some clown at Gibson thought they were a 2 pickup Junior. Can't remember if they were advertised as having a 60s neck, but I wouldn't have put it past them.

[970harris]

The Les Paul Special was originally a singlecut, slab-bodied (no arched maple cap) guitar that Gibson offered in the mid-1950s as a less expensive, double pick-up alternative to the Les Paul model itself. During 1958, the body was changed to a double-cut, and that double-cut slab-bodied Special continued in production through 1960. 1961 saw another body change and bam we were off to the races with the SG-style models.

There is a more comprehensive history of the Les Paul Special here:

Vintage Guitars Info - Gibson solidbody vintage guitar collecting

I have one of these "60's Singlecut Special"'s, and I like it, but its an odd bird to have in the Custom Shop's "Historic" lineup. First because they no longer made the singlecut specials in 1960, secondly because (I think) the Les Paul Special only came in cherry red by 1960, and thirdly because this Historic comes stock with the '59 rounded neck profile and by 1960 Gibson had gone to the slim taper neck on Les Pauls. (Yeah, I know, there is a lot of variability in the Historic neck profiles now just like there was back then).

So I would say that, if you are lucky enough to get a neck on one of these with a fairly fat profile, you have come close to getting a reissue of a 1956, 1957, or early 1958 Les Paul Special.

I special ordered mine with the early '50s rounded neck profile, going to great lengths to point out that the REASON I was speciall ordering was to get a fat neck, and ---without putting it too delicately --- got hosed by the Custom Shop. The neck is nice and beefy at the 12th fret but approaches the dimensions of a lot of slimmer R9 / R0 necks down at the 1st fret. It's still a baseball bat, just one with a pretty small handle. Live and Learn!

[Mike60]

[QUOTE...Have you ever seen a single cut version?...
[/QUOTE]

... there are no known ones which were made in 1960.


the 1960 SG Specials are all double cuts and were offered in two colours only...

[SKATTERBRANE]

Damn Mike I LOVE your 1960 SGs!!!!!!!

[970harris]

Originally Posted by Mike60

[QUOTE...Have you ever seen a single cut version?...

... there are no known ones which were made in 1960.


the 1960 SG Specials are all double cuts and were offered in two colours only...

[/QUOTE]

I stand corrected on the "no TV Yellow" in 1960 comment I made above...

[larsjr]

Originally Posted by 970harris

The Les Paul Special was originally a singlecut, slab-bodied (no arched maple cap) guitar that Gibson offered in the mid-1950s as a less expensive, double pick-up alternative to the Les Paul model itself. During 1958, the body was changed to a double-cut, and that double-cut slab-bodied Special continued in production through 1960. 1961 saw another body change and bam we were off to the races with the SG-style models.

There is a more comprehensive history of the Les Paul Special here:

Vintage Guitars Info - Gibson solidbody vintage guitar collecting

I have one of these "60's Singlecut Special"'s, and I like it, but its an odd bird to have in the Custom Shop's "Historic" lineup. First because they no longer made the singlecut specials in 1960, secondly because (I think) the Les Paul Special only came in cherry red by 1960, and thirdly because this Historic comes stock with the '59 rounded neck profile and by 1960 Gibson had gone to the slim taper neck on Les Pauls. (Yeah, I know, there is a lot of variability in the Historic neck profiles now just like there was back then).

So I would say that, if you are lucky enough to get a neck on one of these with a fairly fat profile, you have come close to getting a reissue of a 1956, 1957, or early 1958 Les Paul Special.

I special ordered mine with the early '50s rounded neck profile, going to great lengths to point out that the REASON I was speciall ordering was to get a fat neck, and ---without putting it too delicately --- got hosed by the Custom Shop. The neck is nice and beefy at the 12th fret but approaches the dimensions of a lot of slimmer R9 / R0 necks down at the 1st fret. It's still a baseball bat, just one with a pretty small handle. Live and Learn!

Hi! Was it very expensive to special order one?

[970harris]

Originally Posted by larsjr

Hi! Was it very expensive to special order one?

Hideously.

When I bought it, I had recently returned to playing, had always wanted a TV Yellow Special, but didn't know nearly as much about Historics as I do now.

That included not really knowing that --- despite Gibson's marketing shtick that, with an R8 or earlier, you get an early '50s neck profile, with an R9, you get the "'59 rounded neck profile", and that with an R0, you get a "60's slim taper profile" --- production necks on the Historics vary greatly. It also included a great deal of naivete about whether, when I specified "early 50's rounded neck profile" on my order, they would actually go out of their way to put one on my guitar --- which of course they didn't.

I wouldn't go there again for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which was that I probably would have gotten very close to the same guitar buying it stock, without the custom ordered neck, for 100's of $$ less. Then you layer on the hassle of the production lead times on custom orders to the Custom Shop, and it just was a lousy experience.