NGD- 1974 Anniversary Custom with issues.

[Satch0922]

The finish is original. That my friend is a 46 year old guitar. Here is mine..... I think you got a steal.

Do a proper set-up and play the S out of it.

 

[dbwalker]

I have a deep fear of 70s Les Pauls that are in to good of shape with little play wear, gotta wonder why didn't somebody play the hell out of it, something that pops up every so often in 70s/early 80s Les Paul's is twisted necks and usually when ya find one of those guitars they tend to have little to no play wear, check looking down the headstock to see if it is square to the body, a little twist isn't a big deal but if its real bad that would explain the little to no fret wear, I had a 79 Kalamazoo made LP custom that had quite a bit of twist in the neck, took some patience and work but I got a lot of the twist out of it and the guitar played fantastic once done and still does even though its in somebody else's hands now

 

[Lurko]

That guitar, as others have said, is 100% stock. That nut is factory and is not setting right because it was removed to fix the neck break. The ridge you describe between neck binding and lacquer is part of the Norlin charm. My bone stock '83 Custom has the exact same cracks and ridges.

 

[Midnight Blues]

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

 

[tache3]

Thank you everyone. Another quick question if I may- the guitar has a gold jack plate, although there is also a black plastic one in the case pocket. Which one is the original part?

 

[Lurko]

My '83 Custom has a stock chrome metal (Silverbursts have chrome hardware) jack plate. My guess is that yours would have come stock with metal as well.

 

[Daniel.S]

Thank you everyone. Another quick question if I may- the guitar has a gold jack plate, although there is also a black plastic one in the case pocket. Which one is the original part?

The gold one is the correct one. Whether or not it’s the original one is another question.
Plastic ones are rubbish, they’ll crack. Metal ones won’t.

 

[tache3]

OK. Thank you fellas.

 

[jb_abides]

Congrats on a good one!

 

[Kalamazuu]

You got a steal! Looks great, I like the anniversary inlay, have fun with it

 

[KS 5150]

The finish is original. That my friend is a 46 year old guitar. Here is mine..... I think you got a steal.

Do a proper set-up and play the S out of it.

I'm with Satch....original I picked up a '74 it has some lacquer checking that looks similar to what you have there. Great score

 

[lpfan1980]

Many thanks for your contributions everyone. Much appreciated. As promised, here's some more pics.

First, in reply to @XpensiveWino 's question, yes the truss rod still adjusts. However, there must be some backbow going on as loosening it completely only introduces about 0.010 of relief. The cavity is pretty tidy though, unlike some of the other areas of the instrument.

Here's the fretboard. All in pretty good condition considering the age, which was what made me suspect a refret (even though the nibs are still intact). Although, on reflection, the Twentieth Anniversary inlay isn't worn, so maybe it just hasn't been played much.

Here's the neck cavity. A bit of a mess if you ask me, especially around the tenon.

Bridge cavity.

Pickups. Both seem to have been marked with their positions, so they must have been yanked out at some point.

Here's the replacement pots. Dated '80 & '81.



Here's the originals, dated '74.

So, here's why I suspected a refin. The original posts are short shaft so don't fit on a shielding plate. However, the replacements are mounted on a plate, as you can see. Looking at the control cavity, the upper wall has been flattened so a plate will fit. However, the paint has been applied after this was done.

This made think that the cavity had been modified to fit the new pots as I couldn't find any pics online of a '74 Custom cavity with the pots mounted on a plate. Then I found the following pic of a '74 cavity with the same flattened section. From reading around, the consensus seems to be that plates started in '75 but did some late 74s end up coming with them (or at least had the cavities prepped for them but were never installed)?

The second reason I suspected a refin was that there is a noticeable ridge (or seam) between the binding and the neck and body, you can feel the line as you run your fingers across it. The paint also overlaps the bottom of the binding on the neck. The paint is so thick its higher than the binding in all areas. Finally, the switch cavity cover is sitting proud of the back, as if the paint on the cavity lip is too thick.

Thats a beauty with lots of character love the twentieth anniv inlay the fretboard and the white chocolate nitro!

 

[intuneal]

I have a white, '74 LPC 20th Anniversary that looks remarkably like yours. Had it well over 30 years. I can not address all of your concerns, but can advise that my Serial No., (558XXX) and "Made in USA" are also obscured by being "filled-in" by the finish, to almost being unreadable. Mine also has random finish checking and hairline separations between the binding and the neck and body. Finally, the original frets were Fretless Wonder frets. They lasted through at least 3 dressings, then I had to have it refretted. But that's another story

 

[KS 5150]

I have a white, '74 LPC 20th Anniversary that looks remarkably like yours. Had it well over 30 years. I can not address all of your concerns, but can advise that my Serial No., (558XXX) and "Made in USA" are also obscured by being "filled-in" by the finish, to almost being unreadable. Mine also has random finish checking and hairline separations between the binding and the neck and body. Finally, the original frets were Fretless Wonder frets. They lasted through at least 3 dressings, then I had to have it refretted. But that's another story View attachment 462185

Same here. With mine you have to be in the right light to make out the serial. Mine also has a close serial # to this one (551XXX). Did this one come stock with the Gibson tuners shown? Mine still has the wafflebacks.

 

[CRobbins]

Nice score. How much does it weigh?

 

[tache3]

Apologies for the delay in relpying, only just seen this post. Weight is pretty hefty- 10.6 pounds.

Nice score. How much does it weigh?