Gibson Les Paul carcasses available on ebay

[BadgerDave]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141105703816?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/191026962483?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

These are interesting Reputable seller with what appear to be genuine Gibson USA Les Pauls that haven't made it to the final production stages.

I'm considering one of the P-90 LP Studios since I have everything I'd need to finish it sitting unused in my workshop.

[hamerhead]

Funny you should post that. A couple days ago I asked Jay what the deal was with those. I haven't bit.....yet.

[BadgerDave]

Photos of the above referenced carcasses:

Les Paul Traditional:

Les Paul Studio 50's Tribute:

[Ting Ho Dung]

Can't you get one for about the same coin complete from GC?

[dragan]

seems kinda high on the price to me , granted they look like theyre in great condition .i would only bite if i was going to finish it out as is , by the time you routed , stripped , refinished , whatever you could probably do better

[crunchee]

I think these guitars HAVE made it to the final production stages, the seller simply strips down a perfectly good guitar, and sells 'em for parts. There's a few sellers on FeeBay that pretty much do nothing else but. Where do you think I've gotten some of MY parts from?

[dragan]

^^^ probably

[murkat]

seems kinda high on the price to me , granted they look like theyre in great condition .i would only bite if i was going to finish it out as is , by the time you routed , stripped , refinished , whatever you could probably do better

thats all he does, He parts them out.

Buy low, sell high.

Rince

Repeat

[cmatthes]

That guy has been doing that for years. He also goes by "gibsondependable" and at least one other eBay handle besides the stratosphere.

I chatted with him a few years back after buying a few project parts from him. He said that people told him all the time he was crazy for doing what he does, but he insists that he has NEVER lost money on a guitar he parted out. Back then, he seemed willing to talk with me because I was one of the few people who wasn't a Gear Pager attacking him for the "immoral" practice of parting out a perfectly good guitar (cue J.Hiatt). I agree with him that there are tens of thousands of guitars out there for every one he sells in parts, so it's not like he's killing off a Black Rhino or a California Condor or something.

[BadgerDave]

That makes sense. The Studios are interesting because they were limited production models with large profile 50's necks and chambered bodies. IIRC, the sunburst finished ones looked hideous and were being blown out at GC for $699. The solid colors sold out quickly and had very good reviews. Prices were about $1k, I think.

I suspect these have the baked maple fretboards, though the description claims rosewood.

I'm going to pick up one of the red Studios

[DaveL]

That makes sense. The Studios are interesting because they were limited production models with large profile 50's necks and chambered bodies. IIRC, the sunburst finished ones looked hideous and were being blown out at GC for $699. The solid colors sold out quickly and had very good reviews. Prices were about $1k, I think.

I suspect these have the baked maple fretboards, though the description claims rosewood.

I'm going to pick up one of the red Studios

That guy has been doing that for years. He also goes by "gibsondependable" and at least one other eBay handle besides the stratosphere.

I chatted with him a few years back after buying a few project parts from him. He said that people told him all the time he was crazy for doing what he does, but he insists that he has NEVER lost money on a guitar he parted out. Back then, he seemed willing to talk with me because I was one of the few people who wasn't a Gear Pager attacking him for the "immoral" practice of parting out a perfectly good guitar (cue J.Hiatt). I agree with him that there are tens of thousands of guitars out there for every one he sells in parts, so it's not like he's killing off a Black Rhino or a California Condor or something.

as far as parting, good for him, great idea especially if you don't have a case. That said, I sometimes see

strange bidding patterns on his auctions (ex: a fender neck without tuners sold as a completed auction for

$399, while several fully loaded necks from either him or other ebays have active listings and are unsold

at $300) I wonder if the formica oak pattern table has a hypnotic effect on people.

[Ting Ho Dung]

That guy has been doing that for years. He also goes by "gibsondependable" and at least one other eBay handle besides the stratosphere.

I chatted with him a few years back after buying a few project parts from him. He said that people told him all the time he was crazy for doing what he does, but he insists that he has NEVER lost money on a guitar he parted out. Back then, he seemed willing to talk with me because I was one of the few people who wasn't a Gear Pager attacking him for the "immoral" practice of parting out a perfectly good guitar (cue J.Hiatt). I agree with him that there are tens of thousands of guitars out there for every one he sells in parts, so it's not like he's killing off a Black Rhino or a California Condor or something.

So he buys these guitars new? Like from GC? Parts them out and makes a profit?

[hamerhead]

I picked up a wine LPJ carcass after reading some good reviews. I've got all but a couple pieces to put it together, so we'll see how it turns out. I'm curious to see/feel the 50's neck.

Could a tinted gloss clearcoat be sprayed over the satin finish? I have an idea.......

If this one works I might do a P-90 Studio - with minis, and have a poor man's Deluxe.

[diablo175]

I passed this info along to my co-guitarist who's been GAS-ing an LP real bad lately. Well, he jumped on it and with some financial help from me, snagged a 2014 Tobacco burst Traditional that just happened to be on sale last week. Then an additional $200 in high quality parts along with some SD Alnico II Slash Sig p'ups from his LP-wanna-be-LTD (try saying that 5 times fast!) and he's got a higher quality LP for roughly $1000 less than one in a big box GC, SA, MF or AMS.

[Ting Ho Dung]

I passed this info along to my co-guitarist who's been GAS-ing an LP real bad lately. Well, he jumped on it and with some financial help from me, snagged a 2014 Tobacco burst Traditional that just happened to be on sale last week. Then an additional $200 in high quality parts along with some SD Alnico II Slash Sig p'ups from his LP-wanna-be-LTD (try saying that 5 times fast!) and he's got a higher quality LP for roughly $1000 less than one in a big box GC, SA, MF or AMS.

How much did he pay for the body?

[diablo175]

How much did he pay for the body?

I paid $1269.00

[Ting Ho Dung]

How much did he pay for the body?

I paid $1269.00

I'll take one if you want to buy one for me. He has a nice blue one up now.

[ZR]

I bought a mint Eric Johnson Signature Strat for just under 1K when they were going used for around $1,300 on ebay a few years back. It was one of the nicest Strats I've played... even acoustically. I parted it out and made 2-3 hundred after all the fees etc. I guess if you did that with many guitars at a time you could make some alright money.

Which Gibsons are Pleked nowadays? If a guitar is Pleked then stripped of all parts does it still retain its Plek settings?

[Ting Ho Dung]

Which Gibsons are Pleked nowadays? If a guitar is Pleked then stripped of all parts does it still retain its Plek settings?

It kind of seems Gibson is bragging about their pleked nuts. I was under the impression that when they said pleked they meant the frets. I bought a studio a while back being under that impression and it had one of the worst fret jobs I've ever felt.

To answer your other question: Pleking is done under string tension. So once you string it up it should be good to go assuming you are using the same strings as when it was pleked. If you plek a SS fret guitar it should last forever with the occasional tweak of the truss rod to line everything up in weather changes.

If Gibson is pleking all their guitars then they need to find someone to train them on the machine.

[murkat]

Gibson does a false plek.

When I started at the GCS, they were installing the first Plek machines.

I came to know Joe G fairly well, we have a great report together.

Anyway, (at GCS)

Guitars frets and nut slotted "raw" while the guitar is in rough sand, prior to finish work.

So, it is not and ideal 100% plek.

The ladies in Assembly / Fretboard dressing have to finish up on the raw plek job...

and usually knock it out the loose tolerances.

It is for the most part false advertizing.

[cynic]

Henry must be making the Plek guys rich, otherwise I'd expect them to step in to stop Gibson from pushing out poorly setup guitars giving people the impression the mess in their hands is what Plek brings to the table.

[murkat]

they own them.

They do pay for licensing, maintenance, tooling, bits.

Joe G. is the licensed dealer, distributor, tech,

here in the US, at least in these parts.

Joe knows what they are doing.

He programmed them up to do so

at what they want them to do.

Still, it is not a full on Plek service

like you would get a real plek house

[Toadroller]

It kind of seems Gibson is bragging about their pleked nuts.

I hate it when my nuts get plekked.

[Ting Ho Dung]

It kind of seems Gibson is bragging about their pleked nuts.

I hate it when my nuts get plekked.

Walked right into that one, didn't I!

[diablo175]

Gibson is also now using cryogenic treated fret wire starting with all their 2014 models.

This is supposed to increase fret life 4x and prevent corrosion. Cant speak to any
results claimed by Gibson, but I know cryogenic treatment for metals does in fact give it hugely increased
corrosion resistance and longer life.

[BadgerDave]

The nut on the Studio carcass I bought was very nicely done. The frets are level, but the ends are rough. I'm getting some good practice with my fret file.

When it's done, it will be an excellent guitar. I'm satisfied.