cliffenstein
New member
You ever run across something when you're truly not even looking and that you totally don't need, but after seeing it, you can't get it out of your mind and you end up buying it? Yeah, that's what happened to me with this...
I have never liked burst Les Paul Customs and I also don't like gold hardware. But I clicked on this listing for whatever reason and it just immediately spoke to me (though, I must say this seller had it listed for WAY too high!). It just looked "right" in all the ways burst LPC's never have to me. The color, the top, the ebony fretboard...it just wowed me.
Conversation had with self (in my mind, not out loud!):
"Yeah it looks nice, but you got rid of that that 70's Aria Pro II LPC you had a few years because the neck was too thin."
"Right, but the one I had in the 90's wasn't like that!"
"Okay, I guess you can send a message and find out."
Message sent
Seller talked it up big it their reply to me (of course). I asked for neck measurements and they came back with a .89" at the first fret and an inch at the 12th.
Initially listed for over $1400 (which is insane), seller had recently updated the listing to $1100 (still insane). So I wrote them and said, that before the current pandemic led inflation situation, this guitar would have sold for $650 or so (the listing didn't have the model, but because the neck looked like ebony in the pics, it's not - it's unbelievably dark rosewood, I believed it to be an LC-750). I offered $800 which I felt was a fair post-inflation price for an LC-750.
They accepted, I paid, they shipped. A few days later, the guitar arrived.
Upon inspection, I realized that this was an LC-550, not a 750. However, the fretboard was so dark that I was okay with my mistake (it was my mistake, not the seller's). The seller was woefully incorrect about the neck measurements, though. Dunno if they were trying to sell me or if they measured on top of the strings at the 1st fret instead of underneath, but the real measurements are .810" at first fret and 1.08" at the 12th fret. These measurements are totally in line with the 1972-1974 Gibson LPC's these lovely guitars were modelled after. The other things that matter to me are all period correct as well...sandwhich/pancake body construction (mahogany/mahogany with a maple cap), 3 piece mahogany neck, long neck tenon, general knob placement, even the knobs themselves are the proper witch hats. So awesome.
Of note is that the guitar came with its original MIJ hardshell case (which is decidely NOT as good as its Gibson counterpart or any modern LP cases) and even its warranty card. I thought it extremely cool that the seller had kept these items all these years.
Anyway...after playing the guitar for a bit, I decided to go all out and upgrade/replace all the parts (they were a mixmatch of gold, nickel and chrome and I wanted all gold parts ala Gibson. Even though gold is not my deal, it just looks very right on this guitar. Wanting it to be all I felt it could be, I also decided to replace all the electronics (not interested in circuit board audio pot mounting, plus the pots were so old that when I went to take off the bridge volume knob, the pot broke):
Grover 502G Locking Tuners (drop-in replacements)
Allparts keystone tuning key buttons
Seymour Duncan APH-2S (Slash Signature Alnico II Pro) set
Dunlop straplocks and Levys extra long cotton 2" black strap
Tonepros AVR2P locking bridge (their drop-in replacement for an ABR-1 bridge)
Tonepros locking studs
Tone Ninja aluminum tailpiece (always wanted to try an aluminum tailpiece)
CTS TAOT custom short shaft pots (525k)
Switchcraft long straight toggle switch w/recessed nut deep nut
Switchcraft output jack
Vintage Forge gold jackplate
Musiclily black humbucker ring mounting screws (the mounting screws were gold when they should have been black)
All the parts came in, I installed what I could and took the rest to my local tech (who is extremely good) for installation/guitar setup. The next day I picked up my finished guitar. My tech was literally gushing about the guitar when I went to pick it up ("this is the best guitar by far you have ever brought me! It was fun to put everything together and it setup really nicely").
I got it home and plugged in to put it through its paces. It felt great in my hands, but the core tone wasn't what I was hoping for. There was a certain nasally frequency I wasn't liking. I thought perhaps it was because of the maple cap...I'm used to all mahogany LPC's. Then I grabbed an old Junior Special I have with a Burstbucker 2 in it and realized that I had neglected to dial in the bridge pickup. So I grabbed my flathead and adjusted the 6 screws on the Slash bridge pickup to match the burstbucker 2 in the other guitar. Plugged it in and bam...there was the magic sound I was wanting!
I then played for the next 3 hours. I'm a happy boy. So much so that I even decided to spring for a Crossrock hard case.
Total investment (guitar, case, parts, tax, shipping, tech labor): $1683.79. I understand that this isn't some crazy great deal. But that's a grand or two less than an early 70's Gibson LPC in NOT great shape would be. The resale certainly won't be there, but that's okay with me. I've got something relatively special that feels and sounds like the real deal.
Guitars weighs exactly 9 lbs (not too shabby for an LPC).
PICS:
I have never liked burst Les Paul Customs and I also don't like gold hardware. But I clicked on this listing for whatever reason and it just immediately spoke to me (though, I must say this seller had it listed for WAY too high!). It just looked "right" in all the ways burst LPC's never have to me. The color, the top, the ebony fretboard...it just wowed me.
Conversation had with self (in my mind, not out loud!):
"Yeah it looks nice, but you got rid of that that 70's Aria Pro II LPC you had a few years because the neck was too thin."
"Right, but the one I had in the 90's wasn't like that!"
"Okay, I guess you can send a message and find out."
Message sent
Seller talked it up big it their reply to me (of course). I asked for neck measurements and they came back with a .89" at the first fret and an inch at the 12th.
Initially listed for over $1400 (which is insane), seller had recently updated the listing to $1100 (still insane). So I wrote them and said, that before the current pandemic led inflation situation, this guitar would have sold for $650 or so (the listing didn't have the model, but because the neck looked like ebony in the pics, it's not - it's unbelievably dark rosewood, I believed it to be an LC-750). I offered $800 which I felt was a fair post-inflation price for an LC-750.
They accepted, I paid, they shipped. A few days later, the guitar arrived.
Upon inspection, I realized that this was an LC-550, not a 750. However, the fretboard was so dark that I was okay with my mistake (it was my mistake, not the seller's). The seller was woefully incorrect about the neck measurements, though. Dunno if they were trying to sell me or if they measured on top of the strings at the 1st fret instead of underneath, but the real measurements are .810" at first fret and 1.08" at the 12th fret. These measurements are totally in line with the 1972-1974 Gibson LPC's these lovely guitars were modelled after. The other things that matter to me are all period correct as well...sandwhich/pancake body construction (mahogany/mahogany with a maple cap), 3 piece mahogany neck, long neck tenon, general knob placement, even the knobs themselves are the proper witch hats. So awesome.
Of note is that the guitar came with its original MIJ hardshell case (which is decidely NOT as good as its Gibson counterpart or any modern LP cases) and even its warranty card. I thought it extremely cool that the seller had kept these items all these years.
Anyway...after playing the guitar for a bit, I decided to go all out and upgrade/replace all the parts (they were a mixmatch of gold, nickel and chrome and I wanted all gold parts ala Gibson. Even though gold is not my deal, it just looks very right on this guitar. Wanting it to be all I felt it could be, I also decided to replace all the electronics (not interested in circuit board audio pot mounting, plus the pots were so old that when I went to take off the bridge volume knob, the pot broke):
Grover 502G Locking Tuners (drop-in replacements)
Allparts keystone tuning key buttons
Seymour Duncan APH-2S (Slash Signature Alnico II Pro) set
Dunlop straplocks and Levys extra long cotton 2" black strap
Tonepros AVR2P locking bridge (their drop-in replacement for an ABR-1 bridge)
Tonepros locking studs
Tone Ninja aluminum tailpiece (always wanted to try an aluminum tailpiece)
CTS TAOT custom short shaft pots (525k)
Switchcraft long straight toggle switch w/recessed nut deep nut
Switchcraft output jack
Vintage Forge gold jackplate
Musiclily black humbucker ring mounting screws (the mounting screws were gold when they should have been black)
All the parts came in, I installed what I could and took the rest to my local tech (who is extremely good) for installation/guitar setup. The next day I picked up my finished guitar. My tech was literally gushing about the guitar when I went to pick it up ("this is the best guitar by far you have ever brought me! It was fun to put everything together and it setup really nicely").
I got it home and plugged in to put it through its paces. It felt great in my hands, but the core tone wasn't what I was hoping for. There was a certain nasally frequency I wasn't liking. I thought perhaps it was because of the maple cap...I'm used to all mahogany LPC's. Then I grabbed an old Junior Special I have with a Burstbucker 2 in it and realized that I had neglected to dial in the bridge pickup. So I grabbed my flathead and adjusted the 6 screws on the Slash bridge pickup to match the burstbucker 2 in the other guitar. Plugged it in and bam...there was the magic sound I was wanting!
I then played for the next 3 hours. I'm a happy boy. So much so that I even decided to spring for a Crossrock hard case.
Total investment (guitar, case, parts, tax, shipping, tech labor): $1683.79. I understand that this isn't some crazy great deal. But that's a grand or two less than an early 70's Gibson LPC in NOT great shape would be. The resale certainly won't be there, but that's okay with me. I've got something relatively special that feels and sounds like the real deal.
Guitars weighs exactly 9 lbs (not too shabby for an LPC).
PICS:
