NGD - ‘61 Les Paul/SG Reissue

[LCW]

It’s a Custom Shop and technically a ‘Les Paul’…

2022 model. VOS. Made late Nov. Custombuckers. They are wicked good - I’m blown away!

 

[dc007]

That's a nice one!

 

[VictorB]

Very nice!!!!

 

[LocoTex]

Beautiful grain and stain!

 

[LCW]

 

[Blue Blood]

Beautiful SG
But why they use that dark grain filler on a rsissue is beyond me

 

[Midnight Blues]

Nice! Congrats, HNGD and play her in good health!

 

[NightShift88]

Stunning, congrats!

 

[fretout]

Beautiful grain and stain!

Maybe it’s to differentiate it from the OTHER ‘61 Reissue SGs. You know, the not so accurate Reissue made in the Standard Shop.

It would have been nice to just have all the “Standard Reissues” be as exact as possible to the actual specs, but instead, we still have to go to the Custom Shop for something that could have been achievable in the USA shop.

OP, that’s a killer guitar man. Congrats! I like the darker wood grain filler. I bet that guitar looks even better when it ages a bit!

 

[Jimmi]

Great looking guitar. For comparison, I restored a ‘61 LP about 5 yrs ago. Body was straight but the fretboard needed work and someone had stripped a lot of its parts. A previous owner has removed the side vibrato and placed a stop tail like yours.

https://flic.kr/p/Xc7LJY https://flic.kr/p/XfLLZ2 https://flic.kr/p/WDWUQN

 

[Jimmi]

It’s ironic how all the reissue guitars built today in the Custom Shop are attempts at recreating the original guitars that were built on the regular production line.

And you get the over-inflated price tag to go with it.

There is a reason for that. The standards are all automated where the 50s-60s had a lot of handmade work in assembly etc. to recreate that in modern guitars, it costs more…and they can charge more on top of that because of desirability.

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

Nice score. Super clean.

 

[Jimmi]

Nonsense.

Cost of labor is relative to the time period. The problem is that wages do not keep up with inflation.

There is no need to perform a repetitive task by hand that can be automated by machine which can achieve more consistent results.

Not sure you are disagreeing with me. If you want guitars made like the old ones you make the manufacturing process similar. You seem to agree that more labor is more expensive so therefore the cost of the guiar will reflect that.

A lot of the changes that began in the late 60s and continued into the 70s that took the guitars away from what they were in the 50s was to decrease cost and improve consistency (thinking the changes to the glue, dyes and finishes here so the guitar finishes changed less with time, didn’t check as much etc). Mass manufacturing practices introduces compromises. The guitars will get more consistent but not necessarily better or what people really want which is in essence an attempt at a vintage replica.

 

[LCW]

It’s ironic how all the reissue guitars built today in the Custom Shop are attempts at recreating the original guitars that were built on the regular production line.

And you get the over-inflated price tag to go with it.

Yeah that did come to mind. CS prices are bit painful but the USA just misses key specs (maybe on purpose).

 

[bungle]

Very nice unit! Enjoy..

 

[MikeyV]

Yeah that did come to mind. CS prices are bit painful but the USA just misses key specs (maybe on purpose).

Yeah, After having a few CS Gibsons and Fenders - the USA line are just a No-Go.
Tough on the old pocketbook, but what the hay.

And yeah, I"m sure it's on purpose.

 

[fretout]

It’s ironic how all the reissue guitars built today in the Custom Shop are attempts at recreating the original guitars that were built on the regular production line.

And you get the over-inflated price tag to go with it.

Exactly. Why not just make all standard lines just the same way (construction/materials) as the way they originally came? And if you want to diversity the line; offer all significant models. Like a 1957 Custom (all mahogany), and a 1968 Custom with a Maple cap. Both are significant models in the Gibson catalog. You could also have a 1958 Explorer, a 1976 Explorer, and a Limited Edition 1984 Explorer.

Leave all the Artist Models and aged models for the Murphy Lab.

Seems too simple. I don’t understand why Gibson’s Les Paul Standard is spec’d with a short tenon and a hybrid ABR-1 with Nashville bushings. That’s not the Standard! That’s like if I went to Chevy and purchased a Corvette, and instead of an actual V8, the Standard model came with a V4 and a 4 speed transmission. That’s not a Corvette! That’s a Cavalier with a Corvette body kit! Same situation as these “Standards”.

 

[Nick-O]

man i love the grain in that...wow

 

[Jimmi]

Exactly. Why not just make all standard lines just the same way (construction/materials) as the way they originally came? And if you want to diversity the line; offer all significant models. Like a 1957 Custom (all mahogany), and a 1968 Custom with a Maple cap. Both are significant models in the Gibson catalog. You could also have a 1958 Explorer, a 1976 Explorer, and a Limited Edition 1984 Explorer.

Leave all the Artist Models and aged models for the Murphy Lab.

Seems too simple. I don’t understand why Gibson’s Les Paul Standard is spec’d with a short tenon and a hybrid ABR-1 with Nashville bushings. That’s not the Standard! That’s like if I went to Chevy and purchased a Corvette, and instead of an actual V8, the Standard model came with a V4 and a 4 speed transmission. That’s not a Corvette! That’s a Cavalier with a Corvette body kit! Same situation as these “Standards”.

I think it is price stratification. There is a vintage store I used to go to that tried to live off of big ticket items and struggled. When I worked in a music store in college most of my sales each week were under $200. You need models that almost everyone walking through the door can afford to increase market share. The USA model manufacturing is probably cheaper and can be sold at a cheaper price point. I think Fender because of the over all design of their instruments have an easier time maintaining similar quality on their lower priced models and the difference ends up being less. Not saying there isnt additional padding of prices done of which is to keep the brand name position as well as profit…I am sure there is.

 

[Sharky]

wow, very nice. It looks very much like my original '61 SG I had back in the eighties. I sold it for something like 450 Dollars. I think the bridge alone would fetch more these days