New to group with a few LP Gold Top questions

[rocker]

Hello all,
New to group, and a new Les Paul owner. Just bought an 1996 Epiphone Gold Top Standard, made in Korea. I have a few questions about the Gold Top if anyone can help. How do I know if it's a 56 or 57 reissue, or were there other Gold Top models as well? It was made in May of 1996. Is there a way to tell just from the SER#? Also, it looks like the tuners may have been changed out, but Im not sure as to what the originals were...the ones that are on it now are stamped Made in Germany. Hopefully I didnt pay too much, but it seems to be a really nice guitar. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[dave]

I have the same guitar. It's a '96 Goldtop Standard. The original tuners were crappy on mine, so I replaced them with chrome Grovers. Originals were Kluson style. It's a great player with really hot pickups.

 

[zeppelin101]

Most Epis have really hot pickups. Nice guitars guys! Absolutely beautiful.

 

[AS193]

The 56RI has P90(single coil) pickups, and the truss rod cover says 56 reissiue.

1957 was the first year of humbuckers on production Gibson guitars.

The only other GT by Epi that I know of is the Lynard Skynard(sp) model, and you would definitely know if you had one of those.

 

[rocker]

Thanks guys! Im still a bit confused on the whole GT thing. 56 and 57 RI...What year did they come out? How many regular GT and how many RI were made, and what is the value of each? Anyone know? Sorry for all the questions, but I am new to all this. I love my new guitar, and just want to get as much background info as possible. Is there a website with any info on the Epi GT's that anyone knows of I could check out?

 

[dave]

They are not really worth any more than any other Epiphone Les Paul, unfortunately. Not really anything special about it. I paid about $300 for the guitar with case in a pawn shop about five years ago. And I mentioned the hot pickups because they have much more output than my 2002 MIK Epi in my profile pic.

 

[twocherryburst]

Thanks guys! Im still a bit confused on the whole GT thing. 56 and 57 RI...What year did they come out? How many regular GT and how many RI were made, and what is the value of each? Anyone know? Sorry for all the questions, but I am new to all this. I love my new guitar, and just want to get as much background info as possible. Is there a website with any info on the Epi GT's that anyone knows of I could check out?

56= Has P-90s 57= Has humbuckers. No idea. Probably thousands. Probably $300. How much did you pay?

 

[Dolebludger]

These GT Epis are not officially re-issues of any past Gibson model. However, yours is based on Gibson's 1957 LP model, which had covered humbuckers (for the first time) and a tuneomatic bridge. As you know, Epi also makes virtually the same guitar with single coil P90 pups, which is based on a Gibson 1956 model, which also featured a tuneomatic bridge (for the first time).

While neither of these Epi models is officially called a "reissue" of older Gibson models, they are actually more similar to the originals (IMO) than some newer Gibson guitars that are officially called "reissues". For example, the Gibson "reissue" in the 90's of the '61 SG LP Standard missed it when Gibson failed to include the strange (and barely usable) tremolo that is the hallmark of a real '61. I own one of the REAL '61's and there are other differences with the "reissue" too. In contrast, I used to play a REAL '56 Gibson LP Goldtop P 90, and I now have an Epi '56 Goldtop LP P 90. Indeed, the newer Epi '56 is more similar to the original Gibson '56 than the "official reissue" Gibson '61 SG LP is to its original.

 

[rocker]

These GT Epis are not officially re-issues of any past Gibson model. However, yours is based on Gibson's 1957 LP model, which had covered humbuckers (for the first time) and a tuneomatic bridge. As you know, Epi also makes virtually the same guitar with single coil P90 pups, which is based on a Gibson 1956 model, which also featured a tuneomatic bridge (for the first time).

While neither of these Epi models is officially called a "reissue" of older Gibson models, they are actually more similar to the originals (IMO) than some newer Gibson guitars that are officially called "reissues". For example, the Gibson "reissue" in the 90's of the '61 SG LP Standard missed it when Gibson failed to include the strange (and barely usable) tremolo that is the hallmark of a real '61. I own one of the REAL '61's and there are other differences with the "reissue" too. In contrast, I used to play a REAL '56 Gibson LP Goldtop P 90, and I now have an Epi '56 Goldtop LP P 90. Indeed, the newer Epi '56 is more similar to the original Gibson '56 than the "official reissue" Gibson '61 SG LP is to its original.

Thanks for the info. I was just curious about the history of the Epi GT and where mine would fit into the mix. Im really pleased with it so far, and I think I got a decent deal at $250. Plays and sounds great and is in really nice shape for the age.

 

[twocherryburst]

Thanks for the info. I was just curious about the history of the Epi GT and where mine would fit into the mix. Im really pleased with it so far, and I think I got a decent deal at $250. Plays and sounds great and is in really nice shape for the age.

You got a great deal!

 

[rocker]

You got a great deal!

Thats good...I was a bit worried I paid too much since I didnt know a lot about the guitar. How much do these typically go for in good condition?

 

[twocherryburst]

Thats good...I was a bit worried I paid too much since I didnt know a lot about the guitar. How much do these typically go for in good condition?

Probably around $300 an up.

 

[AS193]

The first gold tops came out in '52, with a trapeze tail piece.