A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Numbers match dates to famous guitar players acquired it from friend need a car so selling it
$5000


From local craigslist, could be real?

https://scranton.craigslist.org/atq/d/w ... 87181.html

The person who ran the ad may have a real picture of a '57 Les Paul but I would have my doubts that he actually has the guitar.

Couple questions come to mind.

Was there a sunburst Les Paul Custom in 1957? I thought they were all black beauties. If it’s real, maybe it’s been refinished. It does look to have some real authentic age on it.

Why is there an extra zero missing from the price?

Maybe it’s a Gibson 57 reproduction?

I’d advise you to proceed (if at all) with extreme caution. I’ve got to admit, I’d be damn curious about that guitar if it was listed local to me.

Yes, kind of local, maybe 1/2 hour drive. Wasn't listed under musical instrument, it was under antiques. Actually just put away some money into a saving account 4.25% so my local guitar hobby work money is now in the bank anyway. As to being real, i say maybe. I do not know about the customs in 57 in black or burst. I do know back in 78 when i was playing in a garage, my friend had a 57 black beauty and it is still around the area here today, so i do know they can exist. I had heard he had actually borrowed it at the time and the original owner got it back but he's in the same city here.

toomanycats wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 10:43 am
..Why is there an extra zero missing from the price?

There are collectors who know what they are doing and will have cash on hand for things like this. Gibson did have some models without the "dot" on the "I" in certain years. There are crackheads and also coal crackers around here, so when they need money, research in antique values are not their strongpoint. I do not think it is a reissue.

Edit, i see sunburst was introduced late 57 and also customs did come with 2 pickups and some with grover rotomatics.

tonebender wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 10:30 am The person who ran the ad may have a real picture of a '57 Les Paul but I would have my doubts that he actually has the guitar.

This, exactly. A lot of scams don't require an actual item, just the potential greed and FOMO. The nature and number of possible scam types this could fall into are many. It's why people arrange to meet in a very public place to check out said items as safely as they can. Bring a friend if you do, it sounds sketchy.

I am not an expert, but I think this one's fishy. The trussrod cover says "Custom", but I don't think the Custom was available in sunburst or with two pickups. More importantly, the tuner knobs look like they're metal, and I don't think that was a feature of 1957 Les Pauls. Of course it's possible that it's a real vintage guitar that's also been messed with along the way.

mozz wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 10:56 am There are crackheads and also coal crackers around here, so when they need money, research in antique values are not their strongpoint.

Not suggesting that the drug scourge plaguing this country is a good thing, but when I hear “crackhead” or “meth-head,” I think possible good deal on a guitar.

glasshand wrote: ↑Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:27 am I am not an expert, but I think this one's fishy. The trussrod cover says "Custom", but I don't think the Custom was available in sunburst or with two pickups. More importantly, the tuner knobs look like they're metal, and I don't think that was a feature of 1957 Les Pauls. Of course it's possible that it's a real vintage guitar that's also been messed with along the way.

You can take my word for it, in the 1950's people weren't worried about not degrading the value of their guitar by changing out bits & pieces.
After all a Les Paul Custom only co$t a couple of hundred bucks including case.

Could it a be a '75?

I didn't want to message the seller, because I'm working and if he sent me a picture of the serial number i would have to make some excuse to get out of work early, go to the bank, etc etc. If it was real, it's gone by now. The chances that any antiques collectors specialize in guitars is slim, but if it was real and had the PAF pickups, I'm sure sinking some money in it would give a nice return. Maybe when i get home i will inquire. I'm thinking 68 to 76 didnt dot the "I". So maybe it is a 75.

It really looks like a late Norlin (perhaps 1977) Custom LP. The tells are: Campbell soup cherry burst over a solid mahogany back and top (the both the back of the body and the back of the neck would also be 'bursted'), the large-wing headstock, the 'flat-wide' frets, the Grover 'tulip' tuning machines with big ferrules and a 10mm nut sleeve which holds them in place. After 1978, the Grover 'tulip' tuners had little string winding 'cranks' on the Custom models. The faded gold hardware and black pickup rings looks correct for a late 70's. It probably has a pancake body, T-top pickups and a volute (extra wood under the nut area of the neck by the headstock). It had a black pickguard and a Nashville bridge.

It is definitely NOT a 1957. Before 1958, LPs were either gold or black and burst Custom models didn't arrive until late 1967 (which would have had skinny-flat frets).

IMHO it is worth around $1200 in that shape. Below is my Ari Pro II 1974 replica, depicting what that guitar would look like in better condition:

Yeah i am thinking 1975' or so. Sent a email asking for a picture of the serial number, waiting to see if he responds.

He won't respond because he does not have a guitar to take the picture.

The sheer fact that it is still listed suggests to me that it is not real, because if it were someone would have grabbed it.

(Then again, I'm reminded of the old joke about the two economists walking down the street; one points and says, "Hey, look, there's a $100 bill lying in the street!" and the other one shakes his head and says, "Nonsense - there is not money just lying in the street, because someone would pick it up if there were.")

2 days, no response.

Edit: just offered him $400 as-is anytime this weekend, probably get no reply on that either.

70s afro, Fu Manchu, shirtless Neal Schon 57 LP Custom bump.


So . . . . any news?


Incidentally, just two years ago Neal actioned not one, but two Gibson 1957 Customs and fetched, "North of $250,000 between them."


https://www.musicradar.com/news/neal-sc ... ul-auction

Ad is still up and no reply to either of my emails, so my wishful thinking has faded.