NGD - Les Paul Historic 57’ Reissue Custom - (new pics page 4)

[Larry Mal]

There you have it. I think just about every 70s and maybe 80s Les Paul I ever held had those. With that said, I’ve never held a custom that wasn’t from that era. I’ll report the findings and I’ll try to get some good pics of them.

I know some of the Les Paul Deluxes had them, because that's where I fell in love. Haven't afforded a Deluxe yet, but I had the idea that those frets were Norlin era frets, having bought four Norlin era guitars without them, though, I can say that it's not that simple.

[Unicorn Warrior]

There you have it. I think just about every 70s and maybe 80s Les Paul I ever held had those. With that said, I’ve never held a custom that wasn’t from that era. I’ll report the findings and I’ll try to get some good pics of them.

I know some of the Les Paul Deluxes had them, because that's where I fell in love. Haven't afforded a Deluxe yet, but I had the idea that those frets were Norlin era frets, having bought four Norlin era guitars without them, though, I can say that it's not that simple.

If I ever get another LP after this, it will be very hard for me not to get a wine red Les Paul Deluxe. I was looking at the current/newer models prior to snagging this and was super tempted. I seen a few Norlin deluxes pop up over the last month ranging in price from 2.5k to 5k. The 5k one was actually in a local shop. I almost asked to get it down from behind the counter but I knew I was just kicking tires because I was set on getting a Black Beauty Custom. I remember not long ago these 70s deluxes were cheaper than used run of the mill standards. I don’t know what they’re actually fetching though. I think prices are a bit everywhere but those, like all vintage guitars are trending up.

[luau]

I think they'll be right about .100" wide and about .045" tall at the 12th fret, just like my '03 R6 and '09 R4BB. They'll be both taller and narrower than wide/flat 70s frets.

And they'll be absolutely delightful.

Is that right, Tom? I thought the reissues were reissues of the Les Paul Standard? Or did they make Custom reissues also? I mean, I don't know, I just always thought the Customs had different frets than the Standards.

Like I say, I don't know and I'm sure you do. Personally I like those low and flat frets, but they aren't on all 70's Gibsons, my Marauder has pretty standard Gibson fret wire not dissimilar to what they use now.

Well, maybe.

They've done '54 Customs and '57 Customs as well as the Standards and, up until recently, 2018 I think, I think they all get the same frets. The frets on my 2003 '56 Standard reissue and on my 2009 '54 Custom reissue are the same with the measurements above. They're Jescar 45100 wire.

The 90s historic reissues are a bit more of a mystery to me, but if I was buying a '90s Custom Shop LP of any variety I'd expect this wire or whatever was going on USA LPs at the time.

I'm not aware of any modern Custom that's been reissued with the actual fretless wonder wire you've linked although maybe the early '70s Customs got it prior to the advent of the low/wide wire my '76 Custom has. I don't know exactly how the low/wide 70s wire was spread around, but I don't think I've seen a mid/late 70s LP without it, whether a Standard, Custom, Deluxe, or Pro Deluxe.

In any case, we'll find out soon enough what frets it has.

[Unicorn Warrior]

You’re not kidding about these 90s ones being a mystery. It’s hard to find info about the pickups. In addition I’d also be interested if anyone knows the source of the wood. Honduran mahagony is what I’m hoping. And I’ve heard that 90s Gibsons may have employed that. Not as much because I care about tonewoods (it will be cool if it makes a difference) but because I spent a lot of time in the country of Honduras personally.

I ended up talking to the guy who sold it to me a little more to find out the guitars history. What I found out was that I’m going to be the third owner. The guitar was originally purchased somewhere in Texas and the original sales receipt is still in the case. I’ll be interested to see what shop it was and what it originally sold for back in the day. It made its way to Nashville about 5 or 6 years ago and was sold by Carter’s Vintage to the guy I bought from in person. Carters is where this photo came from. I thought I recognized the shop background as I had bought a Rhoney Oceana Jr. from there right around the same time. The guy I bought it from lives in Grand Rapids so it has spent that last bit of time up there. He also told me the guitar had a mildly chunky C neck. The 2 Gibsons I owned, both SGs, has 60s slim necks on them. This will be my first experience with a larger neck and playing any custom that wasn’t made in the Norlin era. I’ve always been afraid of chunky necks in the past, but I’ve really never given them an honest try.

[OffYourFace]

You’re not kidding about these 90s ones being a mystery. It’s hard to find info about the pickups.

No mystery at all. The Historic series gave birth to the 57 Classic series pickups.

I may still have the original 1994 Gibson Historic Catalog in a box. It was a big deal when it came out. I used to get lost in that thing.

[Unicorn Warrior]

You’re not kidding about these 90s ones being a mystery. It’s hard to find info about the pickups.

No mystery at all. The Historic series gave birth to the 57 Classic series pickups.

I may still have the original 1994 Gibson Historic Catalog in a box. It was a big deal when it came out. I used to get lost in that thing.

I’d love to see a pic of that if you still have it. Also, that would make complete and total sense. I wonder why they’ve since switched to burstbuckers for the model?

[Embenny]

I’d love to see a pic of that if you still have it. Also, that would make complete and total sense. I wonder why they’ve since switched to burstbuckers for the model?

Marketing. That's the only reason.

'57 Classics were the "fancy, special, vintage" pickups on Historics when they were introduced.

Then customers eventually started asking, "Uh...why aren't these the pickups you use on your standard models?" So more and more "regular" models started getting them over time.

Then, people started asking, "Why are you using the plain old '57 Classics on your Custom Shop reissue guitars? Do Custom Shop guitars just sound the same as the regular models?"

So they invented the Burstbuckers. And, as far as I have read online, it seems that the initial demand for something "more special" and "more accurate" originated in the Japanese market. Gibson put the first BBs in guitars headed to Japan as early as '96, but by 2000 or so, the American market had caught wind of the unobtainium the Japanese collectors had access to, so they started using Burstbuckers stateside.

So Burstbuckers were the hot new thing that allegedly captured the magic of '59 Burst Les Pauls, and the ever-more-common '57 Classics took less than a decade or so to go from the new hotness to being less desirable for absolutely no actual reason.

There are of course differences between the '57s and Burstbuckers, but there were bigger differences between any two given PAF pickups in the first place. The BBs and their asymmetrical windings are a touch more to my taste as they do have a little more treble and air to them, but I've played enough guitars with each (and with the subsequent Bustbucker variations like the A5 BB Pros and the new '61 BBs that skew the asymmetrical wind toward the opposite coil compared to the BB1/2/3) to know that some polepiece and height adjustment will make a bigger difference to the tone than the 5% underwind/overwind combo does.

[Larry Mal]

Well, don't forget that there are Burstbucker 1s, Burstbucker 2s, Burstbucker 3s, later supplanted by the Memphis Historic Specs pickups which were of course followed by the Memphis Historic Spec 2: Electric Boogalo pickups*, and now the latest ES-335s have "Calibrated T-Type" pickups.

Is there, like, a fucking sommelier or something to help me with this menu?



*You know you gotta beat the streets before the streets beat you, don't you?

[Unicorn Warrior]

I’d love to see a pic of that if you still have it. Also, that would make complete and total sense. I wonder why they’ve since switched to burstbuckers for the model?

Marketing. That's the only reason.

That was my exact thought. I read a little more about the creation of the 57s. While marketing may have been the driver, I do actually think they’re an upgrade from the 490/498. I had the latter in my SG standard I used to own and I remember them. They were okay pickups. And, while I’ve never played the 57s, those were the pups I wanted to swap in or get the 61 RI. All of the demos I’ve listened to for the 57 always sounded better to me. With that said, it sounds like the same thing may have happened with the burst buckers. Gibsons quest to make “better” pickups.

[OffYourFace]

Don’t forget about the 57 Classic Plus (hotter bridge).

The main difference as I understood it was the BBs were lightly potted if at all to give them that brighter, clearer and more vintage accurate sound (old PAFs are un-potted). The 57s had normal wax potting.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Don’t forget about the 57 Classic Plus (hotter bridge).

The main difference as I understood it was the BBs were lightly potted if at all to give them that brighter, clearer and more vintage accurate sound (old PAFs are un-potted). The 57s had normal wax potting.

That’s quite a bit of variation. If it’s set up as good as the previous owner is telling me, then it will likely be a while before I look under the pups. But, at the first setup I’ll get my tech to take some pics. There is only one guy on YouTube that I could find where a guy is playing a black beauty w/Bigsby from 96’. It happens to be the re-occurring blues lawyer guy. His channel is Greg’s Guitars. Based on what he’s doing, the tone is very very good. My style couldn’t be more different than his though. I like to live in reverbs, modulation, and delays.

[OffYourFace]

I’m pretty certain you’ll have 57 classics.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Moment of truth. Out for the delivery! I’m going to have a hard time getting any work done today.

[Larry Mal]

Work schmerk.

I think you will have more traditional Gibson frets, by the way. Apparently the actual "fretless wonder" frets are more rare than I had thought.

I can only imagine you will love this guitar! All I've ever owned are Les Paul Studios, and never loved them. I would like to get a Standard or Custom.

[luau]

Moment of truth. Out for the delivery! I’m going to have a hard time getting any work done today.

What was that sound? Was it a truck? Oh, no, just a kitten stomping around two blocks away.

Good luck!