Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Solid Body Electric Guitar (1973)
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Item #13939
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Model Solid Body Electric Guitar, c. 1973, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, cherry sunburst finish, mahogany body with maple cap, laminated mhogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This is a "real relic" player's example of a perennial 1970's favorite, the Cherry Sunburst Les Paul Deluxe. It is a well used guitar showing a decent amount of wear overall and an unfortunately typical ancient headstock repair to the area just below the volute. The break went most of the way through the neck but the headstock was not fully detached; the veneer on the face was bent but remained intact. As part of the repair the back of the headstock was overfinished in black with a nicely done "stinger" below the volute. This is a relatively neat job but the crack repair is visible on close inspection. The serial number was lost in this process and for some reason in its place is a sloppily hand-etched "DWS1014", meaning unknown!
Apart from the souvenirs of this mishap the guitar has typical features for the era with a laminated mahogany body and neck and the maple-capped 4-piece top finished in a bright cherry sunburst with not too much fade. The neck is made of laminated mahogany with the classic bound, trapezoid inlay rosewood fingerboard. At just over 9 1/2 Lbs this is around the typical weight for the period.
Fittings include two Mini-Humbucking pickups in cream mounting rings, Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece, and 3-way switch with cream Rhythm/Treble ring and amber capped 60's style knobs. An oddity of the Deluxes from this specific time are the extra small cream plastic rings pinned around the pickup routs, sometimes reportedly called "goof rings" at the factory as they covered up some apparently intermittent sloppy routing.
As the serial number is missing, these "goof rings" and the pots are the best clues to dating the instrument. One of the one tone pots carries a code of 137-73xx while the other is soldered over; both volume pots look to have been replaced early on (perhaps when the neck repair was done) with codes of 137-7726 and 7738. The guitar was likely built in 1973, not 1977 as by that time Gibson had switched all Les Pauls to a laminated maple neck (ironically at least partially as a response to all the broken headstocks!). Over 4500 cherry sunburst Deluxes were shipped in '73, the single largest production year. This one has some heavy use behind it but is still a great vibe and sound, rocking on now well past its 50th birthday.
Overall length is 39 3/8 in. (100 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.)., 9.65 lbs.
This guitar shows general wear overall and of course the marks of that old headstock repair. It was also "Groverized" in the '70s as many were tuners, carrying an old set of gold-plated Rotomatics with one button chrome. The finish overall shows dings, scratches, chips and dents, with the heaviest wear to the back of the body which has areas down to the wood in the center and along the top edge and a lot of buckle worming. The cherry color on the top has only minimal fade; there are dings and dents and a larger area of loss below the tailpiece likely from removal of a sticker. The back of the neck has overfinish on the headstock and the area just below with an added clearcoat over much of its length, this partially covers over some old wear to the wood and the feel is smooth with only a few small dents.
The headstock repair itself was to a fairly serious break; there is a visible "smile crack" line across the back of the neck just below the volute extending all the way to the face veneer and a couple of related cracks running down on the treble side of the center seam to around the second fret area. All were sealed up cleanly in a typical '70s repair, with darker finish added to the back of the headstock ending in a Gibson-style "stinger" and clearcoat going further down the neck. This is all very solidly done and not an ongoing structural issue.
The hardware is a mixed bag; the mini-humbucking pickups and much of the wiring is original, two pots are replaced as noted. The "red drop" tone caps appear original. The chrome tailpiece appears original, while the Tune-O-Matic bridge is a later old-style nickel-plated piece with brass saddles. The knobs, pickguard, switch ring and truss rod cover are original, the metal jackplate is a replacement, the strap buttons are old straploks.
The original large frets have been crowned down somewhat, but still have decent height and play very well. The fingerboard has some light divoting in the first few positions. This veteran guitar plays very well and sounds exactly as expected, with a bright growl that can get quite hot and nasty through the right amp. The Les Paul Deluxe was a very popular "street" guitar here in NYC in the mid-'70's, and many young high-school rock star dreams were whetted staring at them in the windows of 48th Street when buying strings for the Univox or Ibanez you actually owned. This one "took a Likkin' and kept on Tikkin' surviving what must have been a traumatic drop and the common Grover tuner addition but was spared the more intrusive indignities of the '70s (looking' at you, DiMarzio Super Distawrtion Humbuckas). The case is a newer aftermarket black Tolex unit with the attached "blanket' like what Gibson used in the '80s. Overall Very Good Condition.
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This is a "real relic" player's example of a perennial 1970's favorite, the Cherry Sunburst Les Paul Deluxe. It is a well used guitar showing a decent amount of wear overall and an unfortunately typical ancient headstock repair to the area just below the volute. The break went most of the way through the neck but the headstock was not fully detached; the veneer on the face was bent but remained intact. As part of the repair the back of the headstock was overfinished in black with a nicely done "stinger" below the volute. This is a relatively neat job but the crack repair is visible on close inspection. The serial number was lost in this process and for some reason in its place is a sloppily hand-etched "DWS1014", meaning unknown!
Apart from the souvenirs of this mishap the guitar has typical features for the era with a laminated mahogany body and neck and the maple-capped 4-piece top finished in a bright cherry sunburst with not too much fade. The neck is made of laminated mahogany with the classic bound, trapezoid inlay rosewood fingerboard. At just over 9 1/2 Lbs this is around the typical weight for the period.
Fittings include two Mini-Humbucking pickups in cream mounting rings, Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece, and 3-way switch with cream Rhythm/Treble ring and amber capped 60's style knobs. An oddity of the Deluxes from this specific time are the extra small cream plastic rings pinned around the pickup routs, sometimes reportedly called "goof rings" at the factory as they covered up some apparently intermittent sloppy routing.
As the serial number is missing, these "goof rings" and the pots are the best clues to dating the instrument. One of the one tone pots carries a code of 137-73xx while the other is soldered over; both volume pots look to have been replaced early on (perhaps when the neck repair was done) with codes of 137-7726 and 7738. The guitar was likely built in 1973, not 1977 as by that time Gibson had switched all Les Pauls to a laminated maple neck (ironically at least partially as a response to all the broken headstocks!). Over 4500 cherry sunburst Deluxes were shipped in '73, the single largest production year. This one has some heavy use behind it but is still a great vibe and sound, rocking on now well past its 50th birthday.
Overall length is 39 3/8 in. (100 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.)., 9.65 lbs.
This guitar shows general wear overall and of course the marks of that old headstock repair. It was also "Groverized" in the '70s as many were tuners, carrying an old set of gold-plated Rotomatics with one button chrome. The finish overall shows dings, scratches, chips and dents, with the heaviest wear to the back of the body which has areas down to the wood in the center and along the top edge and a lot of buckle worming. The cherry color on the top has only minimal fade; there are dings and dents and a larger area of loss below the tailpiece likely from removal of a sticker. The back of the neck has overfinish on the headstock and the area just below with an added clearcoat over much of its length, this partially covers over some old wear to the wood and the feel is smooth with only a few small dents.
The headstock repair itself was to a fairly serious break; there is a visible "smile crack" line across the back of the neck just below the volute extending all the way to the face veneer and a couple of related cracks running down on the treble side of the center seam to around the second fret area. All were sealed up cleanly in a typical '70s repair, with darker finish added to the back of the headstock ending in a Gibson-style "stinger" and clearcoat going further down the neck. This is all very solidly done and not an ongoing structural issue.
The hardware is a mixed bag; the mini-humbucking pickups and much of the wiring is original, two pots are replaced as noted. The "red drop" tone caps appear original. The chrome tailpiece appears original, while the Tune-O-Matic bridge is a later old-style nickel-plated piece with brass saddles. The knobs, pickguard, switch ring and truss rod cover are original, the metal jackplate is a replacement, the strap buttons are old straploks.
The original large frets have been crowned down somewhat, but still have decent height and play very well. The fingerboard has some light divoting in the first few positions. This veteran guitar plays very well and sounds exactly as expected, with a bright growl that can get quite hot and nasty through the right amp. The Les Paul Deluxe was a very popular "street" guitar here in NYC in the mid-'70's, and many young high-school rock star dreams were whetted staring at them in the windows of 48th Street when buying strings for the Univox or Ibanez you actually owned. This one "took a Likkin' and kept on Tikkin' surviving what must have been a traumatic drop and the common Grover tuner addition but was spared the more intrusive indignities of the '70s (looking' at you, DiMarzio Super Distawrtion Humbuckas). The case is a newer aftermarket black Tolex unit with the attached "blanket' like what Gibson used in the '80s. Overall Very Good Condition.
