PSA: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom In White At DGS

[Stike]

On 4/17/2022 at 12:09 AM, cmatthes said:

I had a ‘78 without a pancake body.  Hmmm…

I also have a 78 that's not a pancake.

[joshoowah]

1 hour ago, LucSulla said:

I didn't know anything about Norlin vs. pre-Norlin specs when I bought mine. Out of pure luck, I ended up with one under 10 pounds. 

What I will say is that, after gigging that guitar a lot for the first 10 years I had it, it was a tank. I'm sure the arguments about to what degree having a three-piece maple vs a one-piece mahogany neck and reducing the back angle makes in the tone of the guitar will go on forever, but they are sure as shit stronger. I've had things happen to that guitar that would have easily turned a one-piece neck into a two-piece neck. 

The weight thing I absolutely get, though boat anchor seemed the trend in the 70s generally for all them sustains. The necks changes though - I think those were, from an engineering standpoint, pretty justifiable from the perspective of a dude who was using a Les Paul as a workhorse but hoped to not break the headstock off.

My '92 "Custom Shop Edition" Les Paul Special is a hefty one, too, and I can't blame anything but an especially dense (and beautiful) chunk of mahogany, as it has no maple cap or neck. But if I hadn't spent most of high school with that thing strapped on, I would almost certainly have level shoulders, instead of leaving a diagonal line when I stand against a wall, with my left shoulder visibly 1/4-1/2" higher than my right! I bet there are plenty of LP players from the 70s on who have a similar asymmetry, especially if they went through puberty and growth spurts playing one of those "boat anchors..." I like to think the fact that I'm physically a bit to the left explains my political and ideological "lefty-ness," too.

[Shataan]

My old Black Beauty 78, which a good friend now enjoys... as well was not pancaked.  Gotta tellyas, the necks on the 78s are outragous!   What a fantastic guitar alround!

[Dave Scepter]

1 hour ago, joshoowah said:

when I stand against a wall, with my left shoulder visibly 1/4-1/2" higher than my right! 

🤣

[Eli]

This '77 Ibanez 2650 is also a boat anchor.  Not sure if it's a pancake body, but it is as heavy as any Norlin LPC.

[Dave Scepter]

1 hour ago, Eli said:

This '77 Ibanez 2650 is also a boat anchor.  Not sure if it's a pancake body, but it is as heavy as any Norlin LPC.

DIBS !! 😀

[Eli]

17 hours ago, Dave Scepter said:

DIBS !! 😀

If I ever lose my mind, I'll let you know first.  The guy who sold it to me claimed it used to belong to Dave Meniketti of Y&T.  No upcharge for that, so I'm inclined to believe it might be true.  No evidence or provenance for that either.

[JustKid]

23 hours ago, Eli said:

This '77 Ibanez 2650 is also a boat anchor.  Not sure if it's a pancake body, but it is as heavy as any Norlin LPC.

 

Oh...setneck I guess

[Eli]

47 minutes ago, JustKid said:

Oh...setneck I guess

Yep, it's one of the rare ones that's set neck and is not semi hollow.

Also, is anyone buying the LPC at DGS?  Is that a fair price for one of these now?

[JustKid]

13 minutes ago, Eli said:

Yep, it's one of the rare ones that's set neck and is not semi hollow.

 

Beautiful. I loved those Ibanez Les Pauls from 70s. Used to have everything they ever build, starting with bolt ons, some doubles, some triples...it was an insane collection. Couple years ago decided to sell all the bolt on ones, except for one, but still keeping all of my Iba LP setnecks. 

[iownit4]

I have a 78 standard no pancake body ! I bought in in 2000 at a pawn shop in AC nj . It was brought in by Richie Scarlett  (Ace's guitar player) .. who claims it was Ace's ...I have to give it to my friend Rocco who is Aces guitar tech to see if he recognizes it lol  I doubt that though lol... 

[Jeff R]

My '76 "Standard Deluxe" (Deluxe routed for humbuckers at the factory, pancake body. I love that Norlins get teabagged for things like pancake bodies, maple necks, oversized headstocks ... it keeps them relatively affordable for we normal folk. And there is plenty of treasure among the trash.

I have changed everything on this guitar with the exception of the truss rod cover, the poker chip, pickup rings and control cavity cover. The previous owner literally played it to death, as in frets worn to the tangs in places. That's never a bad sign in my book. Good guitars get played, frequently and hard.

I tell my shop clients frequently ... I can reset necks, glue heads back on, refret them, overhaul their electronics and hardware, even tailor-wind custom pickups for them ... but I cannot mimic what goes on inside a solidbody guitar's wood at the cellular level over (in this case) 40+ years.  That's Mother Nature's tech bench, not mine.

Having said that, I will take one of these sweet Norlin examples over anything current time and time again. 

[JustKid]

1 hour ago, Jeff R said:

I can reset necks, glue heads back on, refret them, overhaul their electronics and hardware, even tailor-wind custom pickups for them ... but I cannot mimic what goes on inside a solidbody guitar's wood at the cellular level over (in this case) 40+ years.  That's Mother Nature's tech bench, not mine.

 

That's some poetry to my ears! 👍

[Eli]

3 hours ago, JustKid said:

Beautiful. I loved those Ibanez Les Pauls from 70s. Used to have everything they ever build, starting with bolt ons, some doubles, some triples...it was an insane collection. Couple years ago decided to sell all the bolt on ones, except for one, but still keeping all of my Iba LP setnecks. 

That's pretty much me as well.  Nice to meet another Ibby fan.

[joshoowah]

18 hours ago, Eli said:

That's pretty much me as well.  Nice to meet another Ibby fan.

Count me in, as well... I always liked the set neck LP copies, but I just finished tracking down the missing parts and reassembling an '83 RS505 that was sitting in a case for 30s years, and it's as good or better than any Fender I've played or worked on from the early-mid 80s!

[The Shark]

Kind of a "Custom"....

[crunchee]

23 hours ago, Eli said:

Also, is anyone buying the LPC at DGS?  Is that a fair price for one of these now?

Looks like somebody thought so, it's gone now, I think it sold today.

[Eli]

2 hours ago, joshoowah said:

Count me in, as well... I always liked the set neck LP copies, but I just finished tracking down the missing parts and reassembling an '83 RS505 that was sitting in a case for 30s years, and it's as good or better than any Fender I've played or worked on from the early-mid 80s!

Nice!  I may have a case for that floating around, if you need one.  Always dug the Roadstars.

[Eli]

2 hours ago, The Shark said:

Kind of a "Custom"....