Difference between 1959 and 1968 Les Pauls?

Today i had a weird idea. I am certainly not the first who thought about it, though.

Lets assume that the sound of late 1959 Les Paul is considered "perfect", etalon LP Sound.
Then If we can know all the changes that were made in 1968 Les Paul, then these will be the changes that are the main contributors to that "perfect" sound.
At least in theory.

So i would like to know these changes.
Will be very thankful if you vintage guys can help me with that.

Thanks!

1968 Standard or Custom?
The '68 Standard was basically a reissue of the '55, going back to P-90s but keeping the ToM bridge design.
The '68 Custom still carried the pickups from the originals, but only two... the 50s humbucking Customs were typically 3 pickup models.

might be easier to figure what was the same. probably the screws.

DeafDumbBlind Kid said:

might be easier to figure what was the same. probably the screws.

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So much changed?

I mean, yeah, brazilian board is gone.
Flamed maple top also.

IDK about lacquer, paint and wood.

Long neck tenon should still be present, as the above link suggests.

Was the top carved with more flat?
Did the 17 degrees headstock angle changed to 14?

hgrev said:

So much changed?

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absolutely

Are you sure 1968 had a long tenon neck? If so, when was the change?

Truss rod sheath on the 68's? Neck angle?

scgarman said:

Are you sure 1968 had a long tenon neck? If so, when was the change?

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The link provided above (http://www.latesixtieslespauls.com/first.asp) says that early 1968 had long tenon.

They are virtually identical.

68s and early 69s still had 2 piece tops, long tenon and one piece neck. In fact the only significant construction change was lower headstock angle.

The difference between a '59 and a '68 Les Paul? About $500,000.

hgrev said:

So much changed?

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Some, yeah.

hgrev said:

I mean, yeah, brazilian board is gone.

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Making no difference whatsoever. As I have said before, it takes an inherently good and very practiced ear to hear the difference betwixt BR & IR in an acoustic body; if you're hearing a difference in the 'board of a solidbody, talk to your mental health provider about adjusting your meds.

hgrev said:

Flamed maple top also.

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On the originals, they just grabbed a chunk of wood from the pile; some were flamed, some were birdseye, some were quilted - but many had plain tops (if you can call a portion of 1800 or so "many"........)

Differences?

Fretboard: Brazilian on the 59, Indian on the ‘68

Top Carve is close but a little different

Bridge and Tailpc are in slightly different in position

Hardware is Nickel on the ‘59, chrome plated on the ‘68

Headstock angle is 17 degrees on the ‘59 and 14 degrees in the ‘68

The ‘68 has p90s not PAFs/humbuckers

Jimmi said:

Differences?

Fretboard: Brazilian on the 59, Indian on the ‘68

Top Carve is close but a little different

Bridge and Tailpc are in slightly different in position

Hardware is Nickel on the ‘59, chrome plated on the ‘68

Headstock angle is 17 degrees on the ‘59 and 14 degrees in the ‘68

The ‘68 has p90s not PAFs/humbuckers

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Thanks!!!

In my opinion, the biggest difference between the 1959 and 1968 Gibson Les Paul is that more famous players are known for owning and playing a 1959 Les Paul than are known for the 1968.

The 1959 has become The Holy Grail of electric guitars because of word of mouth, hype, celebrity mystique, and urban legend.

Jimmy Page, Peter Green, Billy Gibbons played how they played, and they used whatever tools came into their hands and lives at the time. Hero worship of the men turned into idolic, golden calf-like worship of the Number 1, Greenie, and Pearly Gates.

And now only the filthy rich and the Richard Geres and the Joe Bonamassas of the world can afford the guitars that just happened to roll off the assembly line in the same 12 calendar months as those highly-revered collections of wood, metal, and magnets.

In my opinion.

I'm gonna shut up now.

sparky2 said:

In my opinion, the biggest difference between the 1959 and 1968 Gibson Les Paul is that more famous players are known for owning and playing a 1959 Les Paul than are known for the 1968.

The 1959 has become The Holy Grail of electric guitars because of word of mouth, hype, celebrity mystique, and urban legend.

Jimmy Page, Peter Green, Billy Gibbons played how they played, and they used whatever tools came into their hands and lives at the time. Hero worship of the men turned into idolic, golden calf-like worship of the Number 1, Greenie, and Pearly Gates.

And now only the filthy rich and the Richard Geres and the Joe Bonamassas of the world can afford the guitars that just happened to roll off the assembly line in the same 12 calendar months as those highly-revered collections of wood, metal, and magnets.

In my opinion.

I'm gonna shut up now.

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Have you played many 50s standard LPs? They are different. Some quite special.

There are good and sometimes great guitars from all eras. The qualities I look for are more common in the 50s. The more recent reissues are more consistently close except the electronics are a big weak point if you are trying to match a 50s PAF and harness.

Jimmi said:

Have you played many 50s standard LPs? They are different. Some quite special.

There are good and sometimes great guitars from all eras. The qualities I look for are more common in the 50s. The more recent reissues are more consistently close except the electronics are a big weak point if you are trying to match a 50s PAF and harness.

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No, I have never been in the tax bracket to where I could afford one.
Nor have I been tempted to ask to take one off the wall at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, where I visited just last week.

Though I have listened intently to Joe B playing The Beast, Jimmy Page playing his Number One, and Kirk Hammett rocking Greenie on the big stage.

What I hear is excellent guitar players playing their guitars.
My ears aren't picking up anything unique, or spectacularly different, from any other Les Paul.

In the end, yours is a fair question.
I have never played a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
And therefore my opinion is an uninformed one.

I will offer this much, re; the hype that 'old guitars are better and more valuable than new guitars'.

Hanging on the wall at Gruhn's last week was a 1973 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe goldtop.
I owned that same make, model, and vintage of guitar back in the late 1970's, and sadly sold it right before I went off to the Army.
It was a good electric guitar. I liked it.
I played it quite a bit, and even rocked it at a large house party with my band mates, not long before I shipped off to Basic Training.

I then sold it to a good friend, (who still owns it to this day), for right around $350.

Gruhn's has that one just like it, up for sale for $5,500.

I guess I should drive back up to Nashville and ask to play that goldtop.
I owe it to myself to see if it's really worth five grand+.

Or maybe I should just live with my small regret at having sold mine back in late 1978.
I wouldn't want to turn that into a big regret.

dont regret it.....play what ya got now....there are many guitars out there equal and better what you had...its a journey of sorts.

judson said:

dont regret it.....play what ya got now....there are many guitars out there equal and better what you had...its a journey of sorts.

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I agree.

I love my 2011 Gibson Les Paul BFG a lot more than I did that old early 1970's Deluxe.

And it's sort of a goldtop, if you look at it just right.