Orville and Orville By Gibson

[lp59aholicDon]

Ok for some of you who maybe new to these very good licensed Gibson replicas made in Japan , here are some basic notes about both
Orville, Most made by Fuji Gen Gakko, who also produced the original Ibanez Lawsuit guitars as well as other lawsuit guitars hiding under other names such as Crestwood, rare and very limited Tokai's ,ect,
General Body correct historic specs, Long Tenon necks, quarter inch maple caps Holly vaneer headstocks, but poly finished , many with a variety of photo flame tops they are not fret edged bound like Gibsons
Orville By Gibson was a more correct higher end version with Nitro finish, ALL US Made Gibson Hardware , Classic 57 pickups and the flame tops are either vaneered real wood or whole quarter inch flame maple and these definitly are commanding much higher prices closing in on Gibson VOS R8 range

 

[PoorMan]

...and Orvilles without serials numbers were manufactured in Korea and are of lower quality.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

...and Orvilles without serials numbers were manufactured in Korea and are of lower quality.

Yes , well on another thread I debated that with a thread member, he claims this " Online Expert" told him there were no such things, Japanese dealers in Japan have told me there were, there are also some Terada Orvilles, which also do not have seriels and are of a lower quality , Lessons if its not an ink stamped serial, if there was no long neck tenon, Holly vaneer on Stds , its not a Fuji who in my opinion made the best Les Paul replicas of any Japanese company, before and after their Gibson license

 

[PoorMan]

I've not had the pleasure of playing an OBG myself. But they certainly look nice.

Good info. Thanks.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

I've not had the pleasure of playing an OBG myself. But they certainly look nice.

Good info. Thanks.

Poor The only OBG I have been able to play is that first one I saw, but I have owned a total of four Orvilles,1st bought locally a 335 Dotneck in tobacco sunburst, then a special run Page wired LP with factory Grovers and Seymour Duncans a redsunburst plaintop Std , and Miss Roses, I still have , the special run LP Page wired came from a dealer in Japan

 

[rockinlespaul]

Excellent info, thanks!

 

[lp59aholicDon]

Excellent info, thanks!

Welcome Rockin, For vintage feel and build on a budget , or something better and more original spec to older Gibsons for less than A " G " Standard these definitly are worth looking into
New Info and possible explaintion of K serial number Orvilles is that Tereda, who had the contracts had some built in a place in Japan called Kurame (sic) Either way Any Tereda and or K serial or No Serial Les Pauls are of a lesser quality than the Orvilles and Orville By Gibson produced by Fuji Gen
Gakko in Japanese is sort of Company, corporation , maker , or origin of

 

[rockinlespaul]

I was looking at Orville's not too long ago...

I probably will get one in the future, and it definetely needs to have nitro and a long tenon so this is good info to know.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

I was looking at Orville's not too long ago...

I probably will get one in the future, and it definetely needs to have nitro and a long tenon so this is good info to know.

Well you could go and get a Orville and go from Poly to Nitro finish, OBG's are definitly harder to come by and command more premium prices usually, also for the long tenon neck historic's dont overlook Mid to late 80s Greco's they came from the same factory and the tops on Greco's are not photo flame, they are either full flame or laminated real maple flame

 

[Southbay Ampworks]

Some OBG and regular Orville pics for you...

Orville Les Paul Goldtop serial number and guitar pics:

Pics from the ebay auction in early 2006. Paid $730 including shipping for the guitar.

Guitar is currently outfitted with Wolfetone Dr. V pickups and a Dr. V control kit (500k special taper "early spec" CTS pots, and .015 neck/.022 bridge caps), Grover Rotomatics, new bone nut, 50's wiring, Switchcraft jack & toggle switch, lightweight tailpiece.

Orville "by Gibson" Explorer serial number and pics:

Entire guitar, warning, large pic at this link:
http://southbayampworks.com/orvilleexplorer/orvilleexplorer.jpg

Ebay auction pic:

Guitar is currently outfitted with a WCR Darkburst neck with gold slugs/screws, and a WCR Goodwood bridge pickup with gold slugs/screws, CTS 500k pots, and .033 Black Beauty cap), stock tuners, stock nut, 50's wiring, Switchcraft jack & toggle switch, Pickguard heaven custom 3 ply b/w/b pickguard, original lightweight tailpiece from Orville.

Originally this guitar had some cheap pots/caps, wiring, jack/toggle, and some of the Gibson pickups with the circuit board on the bottom (WTF? I don't know what they were, but they sucked!). I paid a whopping $510 including shipping for this guitar.

Both guitars came from Japan/Tokyo area. The Les Paul needed way more work than the Explorer, but is a fantastic sounding and playing guitar now. In fact, this is the guitar I take out most of the time. The neck profile is identical to my 68 LP Custom, which I played for 9 years on tour, and has about 7 trillion notes played on it.

I had an Orville SG 61/62 for awhile, but the neck wasn't to my liking so I sold it. These guitars have really shot up in value over the last couple of years. I blame Joe Perry. I first saw one of these in his hands in December, 97 at the Pond in Anaheim, and wanted one ever since.

Glad I got mine when they were relatively cheap.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

South Bay Nice pic;s and axes, Both I can tell by construction and serial are Fuji 's I Believe but not positive that the Explorer is an 88, and the LP is definitly a 97, The picups with the circut board in back were Gibson 57 Classic's I dont know why Gibson or the Fuji folks added the board , but sounds as if you got better guts in em now

 

[Southbay Ampworks]

Nothing like plenty of different stories about these guitars, I tell you! LOL

A google search turned up these links.

Orville and Orville by Gibson Guitar Brand History

Find Out About Japanese Orville and Orville by Gibson Guitars at OrangeGuitar.com

Orville by Gibson: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

Orville by Gibson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guitar - General: question followups

 

[MISTER1K]

I am currently going to look at two orvilles this week,he is stating they are 59 reissues,from one pic i seen no fret edge binding,and i would think the orville by gibsons made the reissues and not the orville if i understand what i read in some of the links above..I would certianly expect fret edge binding on a reissue,he wants a grand each canadian.I think thats a little high isn't it for orvilles.??with our dollar at 1.12 and no signs of dropping right away.certainly seems high.1000-1200 for both??

here is the ad
2 Orville Gibson Les Pauls. Made in Japan under contract from Gibson USA. These are late 80's. No longer available. Made by Fujigen plant which currently makes Gretsch. These are top quality '59 re-issues in excellent condition with new hardshell cases. One is vintage cherry - other is more rare Jimmy Page style Honeyburst. Price is for 1 guitar - your choice. Pickguards not included but easily purchased.
end ad
pic with ad.

what do yah think???Mister
late 80s??reissue??mmm not from what I am reading.he gave me partial serial for both but
seems more like 96 and 98 models.

 

[Southbay Ampworks]

If you're hoping for "nibs" on an Orville, the binding that is supposed to cover the fret end tangs, I've never seen it on the three Orville's I've owned.

 

[MISTER1K]

i guess what i am saying is the orville by gibson models got the edge binding,versus orvilles did not,that being said how can guitar in ad be reissues then,orville didnt make reissues did they??late 80s,not.Mister

The "Orville by Gibson" reissue models used ink stamped YMMPPP (Y=year, MM=month,PPP=production number) and YPPPP (Y=year, PPPP=production number) serial number formats and had the reissue year in the model number (LPC-57B=1957) and were made from 1992-1995 with some models having limited production runs. The YPPPP "Orville by Gibson" reissue serial number format is the same as the Gibson USA reissue serial number format.

 

[Southbay Ampworks]

i guess what i am saying is the orville by gibson models got the edge binding,versus orvilles did not,that being said how can guitar in ad be reissues then,orville didnt make reissues did they??late 80s,not.Mister

The "Orville by Gibson" reissue models used ink stamped YMMPPP (Y=year, MM=month,PPP=production number) and YPPPP (Y=year, PPPP=production number) serial number formats and had the reissue year in the model number (LPC-57B=1957) and were made from 1992-1995 with some models having limited production runs. The YPPPP "Orville by Gibson" reissue serial number format is the same as the Gibson USA reissue serial number format.

Sorry, but you either got binding based on the model they copied or not. My 61 SG Orville had binding on the neck. The Goldtop Orville I still have has binding on the neck. My Orville (by Gibson) Explorer has no binding on the neck, so I don't think there's any hard, set and fast rule about binding on the neck.

As for the serial # reference to Gibson USA production #'s...I'm pretty sure that isn't a direct correlation, or accurate for the Japanese models.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

Sorry, but you either got binding based on the model they copied or not. My 61 SG Orville had binding on the neck. The Goldtop Orville I still have has binding on the neck. My Orville (by Gibson) Explorer has no binding on the neck, so I don't think there's any hard, set and fast rule about binding on the neck.

As for the serial # reference to Gibson USA production #'s...

Welp I have never seen fret edge binding on any Orville or Orville by Gibson, 1000 Canadian for plain tops, a tad much I think Last year I got a flame top though photo flame in perfect mint condition for under 1000 US,
Orville by Gibson and Orville ( Fuji) differ only in finishs and pickups The Orville By Gibson have Classic57s, the Orville ( Fuji Gen) have Gotoh or other pickups in them, not bad, but they are not potted either Orville By Gibson also have real flame where they have flame and nitro finish's
IF any Orville or Orville By Gibson has fret edge binding, it was done by somebody other than the factory

 

[tonepot]

well ... okay gentleman ... please check out these great and very informative pages (expert guy what comes to MIJ) > Page 1 history

then ... my "top of the line" ObG LPR-59 with fret edge bindings and blank thruss rod cover
and classic'57 pickups and long tenon plus nitro finish ... all original please have a look LOL

ObG and Orville pickups:

ObG ... Gibson Classic'57 pickups (mainly on top models only/from '93 to early '95 reissue models have fret edge bindings and blank thruss rod covers too)
while other ObG models from '88 to '94 were equipped TM490 (USA) or P-90 (USA) or Gibson Original (USA) pickups (and without fret edge bindings)

Orville ... Orville Original (Japan) P.A.F type pickups (... always without fret edge bindings)

Cheers

 

[lp59aholicDon]

well ... okay gentleman ... please check out these great and very informative pages (expert guy what comes to MIJ) > Page 1 history

then ... my "top of the line" ObG LPR-59 with fret edge bindings and blank thruss rod cover
and classic'57 pickups and long tenon plus nitro finish ... all original please have a look LOL

ObG and Orville pickups:

ObG ... Gibson Classic'57 pickups (mainly on top models only/from '93 to early '95 reissue models have fret edge bindings and blank thruss rod covers too)
while other ObG models from '88 to '94 were equipped TM490 (USA) or P-90 (USA) or Gibson Original (USA) pickups (and without fret edge bindings)

Orville ... Orville Original (Japan) P.A.F type pickups (... always without fret edge bindings)

Cheers

Thats the first time I have ever seen OBG's with Fret Edge Binding , outside of the first I saw which was a LP Custom I am not sayin Fuji didnt do it, just on the Standard and Re Issues, first I had seen it , When ever I get my Orville re fretted I will have em fret edge bind it though

 

[Southbay Ampworks]

They can only leave "nibs" on from the original fret installation unless you replace the binding, too, as I understand it.