Les Paul copy... LOOK... What is this thing???

[truckermde]

That looks like a killer LPC for 20 bones!! Congratulations!

 

[andreww]

I love garage sale guitars. Picked up a Gibson Hummingbird copy at a garage sale last summer for $15. Threw on some grovers, adjusted the truss rod and it plays like a champ. It was MIJ as well.

 

[happy_Tom]

Looks exactly like my friend's Ibanez, except for no logo.

Another friend has a couple of the same ones too, except natural; one is Aria and the othe (identical down to the unmatched pickup covers) has an HB logo.

I bet these all came from the same factory, but were distributed to different markets.

For 20$ it's a win. These usually go for 100-250, depending on the condition. At least around here...

 

[Pazzesca]

Dang! NOW what am I going to use on my international summer tour??????

BGD, when you say "exactly" ... Did you look closely at the details? Do you actually think it's the same one and maybe made by Ibanez?

Cool LP!

I had that same guitar (or at least one that was identical to it). I was told it was made by Ibanez. All I can tell you is that it was fun for the first week, but that thing did not hold up well on tour. Not at all. My Hondo II was about ten times better and more durable, actually. What's that tell you?

 

[BGD]

Dang! NOW what am I going to use on my international summer tour??????

BGD, when you say "exactly" ... Did you look closely at the details? Do you actually think it's the same one and maybe made by Ibanez?

I looked closely. Same lack of logo, same two triangles, same TRC, same hardware, binding, etc, etc. I was able to find a picture where I'm playing it. I do believe it's the exact same guitar. The pickups, I found to be particularly ugly. The Hondo II's pickups were pretty big and beastly (even though they were super dirty), which I loved. But this mystery-LP was just skronky. (Which is why, you'll note from this picture, I replaced the bridge pickup.) I can't recall who told me it was an Ibanez. So I wouldn't take that as a gospel.

 

[Pazzesca]

SKRONKY. I think I love you, just based on you using that word!

AND WOW!!! That's it! It sure DOES look exactly like the exact same one, exactly, down to the two triangles being slightly off (not perfectly lined up)! Bizarre! And so, you're saying that you replaced the bridge pickup, and put the black one on it? Seriously? So someone did the exact same thing to my guitar? Dude, if this is true, it probably really IS your old guitar. I'm freaking out.

Okay, so, where are you? Where did you last see your guitar? When did you get rid of it? Where did you get rid of it? That would be funny if this really was your old one!



Nice photo, by the way. You look like a rock star.

I looked closely. Same lack of logo, same two triangles, same TRC, same hardware, binding, etc, etc. I was able to find a picture where I'm playing it. I do believe it's the exact same guitar. The pickups, I found to be particularly ugly. The Hondo II's pickups were pretty big and beastly (even though they were super dirty), which I loved. But this mystery-LP was just skronky. (Which is why, you'll note from this picture, I replaced the bridge pickup.) I can't recall who told me it was an Ibanez. So I wouldn't take that as a gospel.

 

[Pazzesca]

Hey, how do you "thank" people on this thing? I can't find it. I'd like to thank a couple of you folks, officially.

 

[BGD]

SKRONKY. I think I love you, just based on you using that word!

AND WOW!!! That's it! It sure DOES look exactly like the exact same one, exactly, down to the two triangles being slightly off (not perfectly lined up)! Bizarre!

Okay, so, where are you? Where did you last see your guitar? When did you get rid of it? Where did you get rid of it? That would be funny if this really was your old one!

Nice photo, by the way. You look like a rock star.

Y'know, I was trying to remember when and how I got rid of that thing. I think what happened is that I went from that to an Orville, so I probably traded it in at 30th Street Guitars NYC. The Orville was a much better guitar, but still not my cup of whiskey. I moved on to Greco and that wasn't either. Then I moved on to Burny, and all I own now are Burnys.

I think I probably bid adieu to it back in 2009, because the last time I used that guitar was for our SXSW tour in 2009, and it was essentially busted by the time it made it back to NYC after a month on the road. That pic is from SXSW, 2009. So that would have been March, which means I probably got rid of it in April that year.

The only reason I don't think it's THEE same guitar is because the fretboard on mine, as you can see, became super pale as I played it every night. Stained my fingers and everything. Yours looks pretty dark.

Do you like yours? Is it staying in tune? Is it, indeed, skronky? I bet it would be perfect for garage rock.

 

[BugsyB]

Thanks for the welcome!

I can't find anything that looks like it in these Sears catalogs... Is there a direct link to what you're referring to?

*** This post was intended as a reply to post #6 on this thread. I guess I don't know how to do this forum thing! ***

No ...For more than 40 years Sears sold Les Paul copies of many different makes..My brother in law bought one as his first electric about 29 years ago...so cheap you could see that it was thick plywood by looking at the edge as it was a transparent finish..a couple of years after that one of my old band mates bought one that was of much better quality for about the same money.Judging by your photos your guitar is quite possibly about 25 years old.

 

[Pazzesca]

I did notice the fret board was lighter in yours, but I thought maybe it was just the lighting. So, yeah, mine is darker. That would have been funny.

I'm putting new strings on it today (have to go buy them in a bit) and plugging it in. Then I'll report back. I just think it looks cool and like I said, when I was 13 ALL I wanted was a Gibson Les Paul just like Ace Frehley had, so just having this thing in the house makes me smile.

I am naming my band (which will just be me) SKRONKY. It actually describes me perfectly.

What's your name? What band did you play in at SXSW? I'm gonna check it out.

Thanks for your time, even though you hate my guitar.

Y'know, I was trying to remember when and how I got rid of that thing. I think what happened is that I went from that to an Orville, so I probably traded it in at 30th Street Guitars NYC. The Orville was a much better guitar, but still not my cup of whiskey. I moved on to Greco and that wasn't either. Then I moved on to Burny, and all I own now are Burnys.

I think I probably bid adieu to it back in 2009, because the last time I used that guitar was for our SXSW tour in 2009, and it was essentially busted by the time it made it back to NYC after a month on the road. That pic is from SXSW, 2009. So that would have been March, which means I probably got rid of it in April that year.

The only reason I don't think it's THEE same guitar is because the fretboard on mine, as you can see, became super pale as I played it every night. Stained my fingers and everything. Yours looks pretty dark.

Do you like yours? Is it staying in tune? Is it, indeed, skronky? I bet it would be perfect for garage rock.

 

[BGD]

I did notice the fret board was lighter in yours, but I thought maybe it was just the lighting. So, yeah, mine is darker. That would have been funny.

I'm putting new strings on it today (have to go buy them in a bit) and plugging it in. Then I'll report back. I just think it looks cool and like I said, when I was 13 ALL I wanted was a Gibson Les Paul just like Ace Frehley had, so just having this thing in the house makes me smile.

I am naming my band (which will just be me) SKRONKY. It actually describes me perfectly.

What's your name? What band did you play in at SXSW? I'm gonna check it out.

Thanks for your time, even though you hate my guitar.

Ha, I don't hate your guitar. I have kind of a special place in my heart for all the guitars that I take and have taken on the road. That one just didn't happen to be a good fit. When I was in high school, I was in a punk band, and it would have been perfect for that.

My bands are Goes Cube and Distant Correspondent.

 

[Pazzesca]

Well, I took it with me to get new strings today, and the shop owner offered me $250 on the spot for it. Of course I said no. I put the strings on and plugged it in, and ... I started rocking!!! The thing sounds great!!! We'll see if it stays in tune. Might need some adjustments. BUT... holy smokes!!! Best $20 I ever spent!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dlmorley]

My first electric was a Maya bolt neck LP that I bought new in about 1979. Excellent guitar tbh. Had Ibanez Super 70 pups in it and played very well. Used it for quite a few years.
Basically yours is a generic 70's japanese LP. Would have been labeled any number of makes when exported or imported.

 

[BGD]

...shop owner offered me $250 on the spot for it. Of course I said no. I put the strings on and plugged it in, and ... I started rocking!!! The thing sounds great!!! We'll see if it stays in tune. Might need some adjustments. BUT... holy smokes!!! Best $20 I ever spent!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn! Be sure to bring it back there if and when you ever want to liquidate that thing, 'cos $250 is a good return for it. (I probably got about $150 on trade toward my Orville.)

One thing I had to do with that guitar is shim the neck. That's something I really like about the bolt-on LP copies: they're cheap (20 bucks, in your case), and since it's not a set neck, you have way more options when it comes to addressing the myriad issues you're likely to encounter. Between my down-tuning (for my heavy band, I use a very weird tuning that has a lot of Bs and As), and the way that neck sat in the body, I would shim it to create a bit more of a bow, which helped with intonation and buzz tremendously.

I also found that guitar to be overly responsive to temperature/moisture. So touring in the winter from the Northeast (cold) down to Texas and beyond (hot) and then back, going from dry conditions to being taken out in hot, humid clubs, I kind of never knew what in the hell I was going to be dealing with show-to-show. But I found that I could always compensate by shimming more or taking it out all together.

I've long advocated on this board, that if you can't save $600+ for a high-quality set neck MIJ, then just save yourself the expense and drop a hundred (or in your case, far less) on something like you have. They're just fun. Some of 'em are diamonds in the rough. Some of 'em are dogs. But damn, they usually look cool, and you're never worried about getting beer all over it.

 

[slapshot]

 

[BGD]

Is that an MOP (or sort of pearlized) inlay on the "diamond"? 'Cos I if memory serves mine was a flat white. That Uchiyama (am I reading that correctly?) sure looks fancy!

 

[slapshot]

yeah you see pearl & painted inlays.one of those things you can use to help date these sort of things.

 

[BGD]

Ha, you've got me thinking about that ol' no-name guitar, and it made me realize I did NOT get rid of it that quickly. I actually had it 'til 2009. So I actually gave that guitar way less credit 'cos it way my main touring guitar for probably a year or year and a half, and I left it home so I could protect my first Burny. Now that I think about it, I think may have eBay'd the thing to raise money for a Greco custom, which I then quickly sold for another Burny RLC-60, identical to the one I had and was afraid to bring on tour.

Anyhow, here are some more pictures. Don't even know where the hell they were taken. You can really see how banged up that thing was, and how worn the fretboard, was, too.

You can also see part of my old amp setup which was an Ampeg 212R and a hot-rodded Roland JC-120 (run at the same time). I've now switched over to the Ampeg 212R + a Peavey 5150 + whatever 4x12 cab we work out on a gear share. Again, run at the same time. That Ampeg gives some seriously fanstastic harsh tones.

And...here you can see that the 3rd fret marker was not long for this world

 

[Robus]

Cool score. Set it up yourself--great way to learn--and keep tweaking it until it plays right. Decide what you're willing to spend to fix what needs fixing, and then play it. If it sounds good to your ears, it is good. Don't let anyone tell you it ain't a real guitar.

Twenty years ago I ran across a Series 10 Strat copy for about what you paid. I bought it, enjoyed it, and it got me back into playing guitar after about ten years away from the instrument. Eventually I bought the Fender Strat I still own. I set the Series 10 up for slide and own it still.

 

[BlackSG91]

freebyrd 69: I wouldn't consider this little effort to find its origin "killing myself" but thanks for the advice, anyway. Please don't worry about me. I'm naturally curious, and it's a nice learning opportunity. And a mystery. Who doesn't love to solve a mystery? And there was never any doubt that it's NOT "worth a bunch of dough or anything" since it's NOT actually a Les Paul! Yeah, I'm a lot smarter than I look, fella!

I'm going to look into the "mid 70s Matsumoku" possibility, but I'm still wondering if anyone manufactured Les Paul copies with the intention of making them look vintage?

Anyway, this guitar gives off really sweet vibes. I get a happy feeling just looking at it. So, I will continue to appreciate any and all information and/or clues folks can help me out with. Thanks, everyone!!!

Rock on!

NEW link to photos: Les Paul Forums - Pazzesca's Album: My LES PAUL COPY <3

I don't care how much your guitar is worth! I understand you wanting to find out the history, so more power to you! I would be curious also, and BTW, that is a really cool looking LP copy. Glad you got a guitar you love for $20! Show us more pics when you have it cleaned up and new strings installed on it.