1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

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HNB
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1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by HNB » Wed May 29, 2019 10:32 am

I have been looking for a Les Paul for awhile. I have bought a few "kinda like a Les Paul" guitars to try to find one that had a stronger neck. ESP's, Jackson, Agile, ETC. None of them really quenched my gas for a real Les Paul because... they aren't actually Les Pauls. I had heard about Les Paul's with a volute and read up more on them. They tend to be called Norlin Les Pauls because of the company that owned Gibson for a period of time? When I heard they had MAPLE necks with a volute and were three piece necks, I went looking for one. They have a bad rep from purists because they aren't built the same as the 50's Les Pauls but the unpopular features are what I was looking for. Aside from the neck construction, the tuner heads are metal and not plastic (another thing I don't like) and they don't have the uber flame maple caps. (I don't really care about the super flame...)

Searching around, the issues I was finding was price, replaced tuners, and sanded off finishes. I don't really care about natural finish, but if I am spending over a grand, I wanted to avoid that because of value. I am not a fan of replacement tuners that add holes and have empty holes showing. I just think it looks tacky. I did find a nice one for cheap but it had the finish sanded off the neck and body and I was concerned the shape might have been altered by sanding. For a bit more, I found a tobacco one with mini humbuckers. It is described as almost mint. As far as I know, the case it comes with might be original to it. I have seen other 78's with this kind of case. The only major wear I see is on the neck from being played. The seller told me that it belonged to her husband's father. He passed away and they were selling some of his guitars. I guess he really liked it and took really good care of it. They said they are happy that I will give it a good home. (I told them to pack it with newspaper and not bubble wrap to avoid the finish having issues with plastic.) They were happy I was worried about it being safe. LOL I like the history of it and the sound samples I have heard of other 78's seemed awesome so I went for it. Here are the pictures of my first real Les Paul.

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-35-52-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-52-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image1559144662062 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image1559144639422 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-38-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-23-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-04-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-27-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-31-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

ImageScreenshot_2019-05-29-08-36-48-1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr
Last edited by HNB on Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Christopher
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Larry Mal
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by Larry Mal » Wed May 29, 2019 11:00 am

Man, I want one of those so badly.

Welcome to the Norlin world... don't spread word around too far about how great those guitars actually are or the value will go up and up.

That's a great guitar.
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by nanamour » Wed May 29, 2019 11:02 am

That’s a beautiful instrument. If I were in a Les Paul buying mood, this is the exact spec I’d be hunting for. Enjoy it!

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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by countertext » Wed May 29, 2019 1:29 pm

Holy crap, that’s clean! Congratulations, I bet you’ll love it.

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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by HNB » Wed May 29, 2019 6:45 pm

Guitar Info
Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
on June 8th, 1978
Production Number: 1
Christopher
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marqueemoon
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by marqueemoon » Wed May 29, 2019 8:26 pm

nanamour wrote:
Wed May 29, 2019 11:02 am
That’s a beautiful instrument. If I were in a Les Paul buying mood, this is the exact spec I’d be hunting for. Enjoy it!
My thoughts exactly. That's a great looking all-business Les Paul.

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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by redchapterjubilee » Thu May 30, 2019 4:26 am

A former bandmate picked up a wine red '78 Deluxe in the early '00s on a work trip for something silly like $600 or such. He had some really nice guitars but that one sure was special. You should be pleased with this one. Some people hate on those mini humbuckers but I love them.

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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

Post by HNB » Fri May 31, 2019 4:39 pm

Got it today. It sounds really good but it has weird marks on the neck. You guys think it is from being wall hung? Probably not from a repair right? It is hard like nail polish.

Image20190531_165527 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_165507 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

This is the video I sent to the seller. They were kind of accusatory like I had did it or put gel on it or something. Kinda pisses me off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_vRhSvYHMo
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by Larry Mal » Fri May 31, 2019 5:49 pm

A stand or hanger would be my guess.
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by HNB » Fri May 31, 2019 6:24 pm

I didn't notice any marks on the body for a floor stand, so a wall hanger was my first guess. They say they kept it in a case and never saw those marks but their father could have hung it up.
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by HNB » Fri May 31, 2019 7:07 pm

Here are beauty pics. I checked the control cavities and they are fully metal shielded. It is crazy. I had heard a little about that, but never seen it in real life or pictures before. Pretty sure it is all original. The back mahogany is one piece and full thickness as far as I can tell which is cool. The neck is in pretty great shape aside from that blemish and one mark close to where the neck attaches to the body. The case took a hit and the handle is broken, but still can hold the guitar fine. The knobs are funny. The words on it are not consistent in their direction in relation to the numbers around the bottom. They are all at 10 currently and you will see the words are not all consistent in angle. Also the indent for the strings on the TOM teeth are slightly set to the left. Overall I am pretty happy. Not sure about fixing the headstock finish or just leaving it. It doesn't hurt anything and I might make it worse trying to make it nice... LOL

Image20190531_182849 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182910 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182904 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_183016 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_183023 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182835 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182822 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182816 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_183035 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182956 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_183003 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182512 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182707 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Image20190531_182713 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr
Christopher
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by HNB » Fri May 31, 2019 7:10 pm

Also the pickups are quite microphonic, but sound really cool. The bridge is really bright and the neck has almost a single coil sound but noiseless? Middle position has a nice contrast of bright high and beefed up low strings.
Christopher
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by Larry Mal » Fri May 31, 2019 7:55 pm

Yeah, Norlin Gibson wasn't messing around with the shielding on these, were they? I've only read about that also, never have seen it- my Norlins have not been so upper crust.

I may ask you for a measurement of that control cavity there, since I was debating buying a metal shield like that for my Les Paul Studio (which might have a slimmer body).

I'm gonna get me one of them Deluxes one day.
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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by countertext » Fri May 31, 2019 9:27 pm

There’s a lot of Gibsons out there with hanger marks on the necks. That thing is beautiful.

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Re: 1978 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Finish Question Help Needed

Post by HNB » Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:51 am

Thanks for helping confirm that it is probably hanger marks. I had a nightmare that the headstock separated when I changed the strings. LOL
Christopher
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