1976? Gibson Les Paul Custom Norlin era

Kittyfrisk

webrthomson said:

Logie said:

@webrthomson ;
It’s with me at the moment as he left work early and although I’ve never had an urge for a Custom or vintage guitar it’s definitely got that mojo people talk about.

I agree - 70's customs should not work, too heavy, maple neck, silly frets and meh pickups but some how that when added together does work, goodness knows how…

I'd send that to Feline to get the neck fixed, sanded and refretted

OilCityPickups said:

You see - an immaculate shiny Les Paul of any kind doesn't get my mouth watering ... I like em a bit ratty and 'firked' ... if it reeks of beer and fags I feel right at home ... 

^ This, that guitar has had to work hard for that patina, cleaning it would be down right disrespectful

From the photo's that really doesn't look like a maple neck. Plus, it snapped, much more a Gibson mahogany thing.

ICBM

Kittyfrisk said:

From the photo's that really doesn't look like a maple neck. Plus, it snapped, much more a Gibson mahogany thing.

It's definitely mahogany - not only is the jagged shape of the crack a typical mahogany break (maple usually cracks in straighter lines if it does eventually break) but you can see the mahogany under the truss rod cover .

webrthomson

Kittyfrisk said:

webrthomson said:

Logie said:

@webrthomson ;
It’s with me at the moment as he left work early and although I’ve never had an urge for a Custom or vintage guitar it’s definitely got that mojo people talk about.

I agree - 70's customs should not work, too heavy, maple neck, silly frets and meh pickups but some how that when added together does work, goodness knows how…

I'd send that to Feline to get the neck fixed, sanded and refretted

OilCityPickups said:

You see - an immaculate shiny Les Paul of any kind doesn't get my mouth watering ... I like em a bit ratty and 'firked' ... if it reeks of beer and fags I feel right at home ... 

^ This, that guitar has had to work hard for that patina, cleaning it would be down right disrespectful

From the photo's that really doesn't look like a maple neck. Plus, it snapped, much more a Gibson mahogany thing.

@Kittyfrisk you are indeed correct - the truss rod cavity is not maple and does look like Mahogany and there is no indication in the paint on the back it’s a three piece neck – which it would have been in 76 – tough to tell given the thickness of the paint.

@Logie can you see any of the 6 digit codes on the pots clearly?

Jez6345789

I think if it was mine I would glue up the neck as a diy job as I have done a couple of these and as long as you get some clamping cauls made up and make sure you have glue deep in joint its going to be fine.

I would clean up and sand down the neck and refinish you will need to do some work to match the colour and tasteful ageing but is doable. You might even find some of the original worn neck paint. 

Its going to need a fret job they never had much to start with my mates was refretted a couple of weeks after he got it as it was just to little for rock a proper fretless wonder. 

I would ditch the bigsby and just clean up the worn stuff and leave it as aged.

The body with its wear dings etc I would keep as is making the whole thing a heavily worn largely original its never going to be worth a lot but my friend has a similar boat anchor custom  from 76 and if you can stand the weight they can sound pretty good rock machines. There are a good few Pro's that worked with these lumps for years.

Logie

I don’t know for sure the date which is why I put a question mark. It was just a rough guesstimate from a little bit of googling. I have no dog in the fight, opinions on what a dog’s dinner it is are largely irrelevant as the owner just wants to repair the damage.
 From talking to him he just wants to get it sorted as a tribute to his Dad rather than any financial reason. He doesn’t play so it’ll end up as a wall hang probably.
Anything that was done to it to get it to this state cosmetically was done by his Dad ( a bit of a gigger by all accounts) so he doesn’t want it prettied up other than what is needed to repair it.
I even kept the ratty old strings I took off and put them back in the case coiled up because I got the impression that it’s important to him.

Kittyfrisk

Logie said:

I don’t know for sure the date which is why I put a question mark. It was just a rough guesstimate from a little bit of googling. I have no dog in the fight, opinions on what a dog’s dinner it is are largely irrelevant as the owner just wants to repair the damage.
 From talking to him he just wants to get it sorted as a tribute to his Dad rather than any financial reason. He doesn’t play so it’ll end up as a wall hang probably.
Anything that was done to it to get it to this state cosmetically was done by his Dad ( a bit of a gigger by all accounts) so he doesn’t want it prettied up other than what is needed to repair it.
I even kept the ratty old strings I took off and put them back in the case coiled up because I got the impression that it’s important to him.

I'm conflicted here. As an instrument, a Gibson LP Custom that has had a hard paper round, a sympathetic fixing would be do-able but involve some possibly pricey but necessary changes to it's current state.
However as a keepsake wall hanger, I don't see the point of fixing the headstock break as it isn't going to be played.
Attempting something like a quick glue & clamp job on it might look OK, but in the longer term might not help a proper decent restoration attempt, which would be a shame.
All things being equal, his guitar, his rules.

Kurtis

The lead pick guard can't be helping the weight. 

guitars4you

First of all, it is not original and never will be again - As such it is/will be a players grade guitar - Nothing wrong with that, as often they can be better players and they have their own fan club

As such take it to Jon at Feline Guitars and have it re-furbished to bring it up to a good player grade model - repair headstock - re-fin - Re-fret and at least a new wiring loom with 500K pots - Sell the 300K pots to some one @FelineGuitars ;

The Bigsby might be cool to keep - Not sure about the tuners and bridge but in the grand scheme of things not a big deal to keep or replace 

I'd have it re-furbished and make it blooming good and desirable to any potential player/buyer and it will still have some old school mojo about it 

guitars4you

https://felineguitars.com/pages/Judas-Priest-Les-Paul-Rebuild

That will tell you all you need to know - And remember yours is not as bad as that

Logie

@guitars4you ;
Thanks for that. I’ll pass it on.

maltingsaudio

As above but I would stop once repaired and refretted, aren’t relics all the rage?

stonevibe

It looks like a guitar worth saving. Players grade so you could repair and refinish would be an excellent project for a decent luthier. 

OilCityPickups

Personally I'd get the guitar refretted, get the neck break fixed professionally and leave with the patina ... if you re finish it you destroy its history and just make it another 'boomers wank object' like all the myriad of shiny, characterless case queen Les Pauls forums seem to be stuffed with.
That's been properly gigged ... not made a 'bedroom totem'. 

Offset

Holy moly.  I guess we can only say what we'd do if it were ours.  Personally, I'd be willing to shell out to get the whole thing properly repaired, refurbed, refretted and refinished to what it would have approximately resembled when it was new.  First thing to go would be that bloody hideous Bigsby.

Based on some of the wonders I've seen Feline produce, that's where I'd be heading. 

elstoof

He did a lovely job cutting in the paint around those tuners

Craigeymac86

id buy that tomorrow and send it straight to feline, jumbo frets, repair and refin the neck.

WezV

Fix the headstock break first.

Once that is done I would see if the dulux could be removed without hurting the nitro.  Some white spirit or rubbing alcohol on a scotch brite pad might take it off, or even careful scraping.... but this is messy, so that break needs to be closed first. Dulux won't want to stick to nitro, so it may even peel off with the right approach 

Who knows what state its like under there, but it might be good enough to look like proper wear and save some refinish costs.

The bigsby and brass need to go...  it might be under 10lb once that is done

Logie

@webrthomson ;
The codes are 70-028 which I believe correspond to 300k pots and the date? Code is 1377401 which looks like 1974 if google is correct.

borntohang

That deserves some love - definitely get the headstock repaired at minimum and then see where to go from there. I love the metal plastics, even if they have seen better days.

guitars4you

Logie said:

@webrthomson ;
The codes are 70-028 which I believe correspond to 300k pots and the date? Code is 1377401 which looks like 1974 if google is correct.

Correct - Of course it is possible that the pots were purchased in bulk and used later - Equally possible they aren't original - And/or it is a 74 not a 76 but think we can't see a serial number any more (is that correct) - Suspect the former

I said earlier that I'd change the pots - Purely as I can't stand 300K pots on an LP - 500K will IMO produce a better tone and control over the 1-10 range of the pot - But IMO keep those pots/loom as without any serial number they are almost the only form of 'ID" you have left on the guitar