Gibson Les Paul Standard 58/54 Reissue Solid Body Electric Guitar (1971)
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Item # 12079
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Gibson Les Paul Standard 58/54 Reissue Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1971), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 683641, gold lacquer top, dark mahogany back and sides finish, mahogany body with maple cap, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This is a fine player's example of a cool Gibson oddity from the early 1970s, the so-called 58/54 reissue Les Paul goldtop from 1971-72. Interest in older instruments was running high at the time, and the Kalamazoo company made some honest but sometimes quixotic attempts to recapture their old magic. This guitar was announced in 1971 as a "Les Paul Standard 1958" but it is in fact a pretty accurate re-creation of a 1954-55 era Les Paul Model. It seemed maybe nobody in Gibson's front office at the time even knew the difference!
This guitar is distinguished from the common contemporary gold top Deluxe by a number of more vintage-style features: the neck is a single, non-laminated piece of mahogany like 1950s guitars, with the "Made In USA" stamp but no volute. The body is also a single piece of mahogany with a maple cap, which is visible in the cutaway. The pickups are P-90s under cream covers, which the Gibson had otherwise replaced with Mini-humbuckers in 1969. The amber "hatbox" knobs are 1950s style as well. A very noticeable difference is solid the '53-55 style stop tailpiece in place of the Tune-O-Matic bridge; some players then (and now) consider this the more toneful setup. The guitar has a more "vintage" feel than most 1971 Gibsons and is the less-well remembered companion to the very nice '54 Custom reissue done at the same time.
This example has neither the plastic "goof rings" around the pickups typical of 1971 guitars nor the embossed "Gibson" on the pickup covers used in 1972 so likely spans the transition point of the two years; the original pots coded 7142 confirming that. As 70's Les Pauls go this is a fairly rare guitar; only 25 were shipped in 1971, with a further 1048 in 1972 and a few stragglers in subsequent years making for a total production of 1077. This one was modified to a Tune-O-Matic at some point and later returned to the original configuration; the marks are visible but subtle. This is a great sounding Les Paul with a lot of real 1950's character for an early '70's guitar!
Overall length is 39 3/8 in. (100 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 in. (5.1 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.)., 10.17 lbs.
Overall this is a nice clean original guitar, the only real flaw being the patched stud holes in the top, which are very well done. There is fill in the holes and overspray/buffing in a halo around this, visible but not too distracting. The rest of the top lacquer is undisturbed. The finish overall has small dings and dents but no heavy wear, most notably some light belt buckle scratching to the back.
All the hardware is original except the re-installed stud tailpiece/bridge which was replaced for a time with a Tune-O-Matic and stoptail. The tailpiece fitted is a straight stop bar with no adjustment screws; the intonation is surprisingly good considering but many modern players would likely prefer one of the pre-compensated modern alternatives anyway. The original cream plastic jackplate was replaced with a black metal piece. There are two sets of screw holes under the switch plate on the back, which seems to be a factory anomaly.
The original larger frets have some light wear, as does the fingerboard but nothing too serious. The guitar plays nicely with a rip-roaring P-90 sound, a splendid piece despite the reversed modification. This goldtop is now well over 50 years old and resides in the original purple-lined HSC, one of Gibson's better ideas in a fairly bleak time. Excellent - Condition.
This is a fine player's example of a cool Gibson oddity from the early 1970s, the so-called 58/54 reissue Les Paul goldtop from 1971-72. Interest in older instruments was running high at the time, and the Kalamazoo company made some honest but sometimes quixotic attempts to recapture their old magic. This guitar was announced in 1971 as a "Les Paul Standard 1958" but it is in fact a pretty accurate re-creation of a 1954-55 era Les Paul Model. It seemed maybe nobody in Gibson's front office at the time even knew the difference!
This guitar is distinguished from the common contemporary gold top Deluxe by a number of more vintage-style features: the neck is a single, non-laminated piece of mahogany like 1950s guitars, with the "Made In USA" stamp but no volute. The body is also a single piece of mahogany with a maple cap, which is visible in the cutaway. The pickups are P-90s under cream covers, which the Gibson had otherwise replaced with Mini-humbuckers in 1969. The amber "hatbox" knobs are 1950s style as well. A very noticeable difference is solid the '53-55 style stop tailpiece in place of the Tune-O-Matic bridge; some players then (and now) consider this the more toneful setup. The guitar has a more "vintage" feel than most 1971 Gibsons and is the less-well remembered companion to the very nice '54 Custom reissue done at the same time.
This example has neither the plastic "goof rings" around the pickups typical of 1971 guitars nor the embossed "Gibson" on the pickup covers used in 1972 so likely spans the transition point of the two years; the original pots coded 7142 confirming that. As 70's Les Pauls go this is a fairly rare guitar; only 25 were shipped in 1971, with a further 1048 in 1972 and a few stragglers in subsequent years making for a total production of 1077. This one was modified to a Tune-O-Matic at some point and later returned to the original configuration; the marks are visible but subtle. This is a great sounding Les Paul with a lot of real 1950's character for an early '70's guitar!
Overall length is 39 3/8 in. (100 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 in. (5.1 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.)., 10.17 lbs.
Overall this is a nice clean original guitar, the only real flaw being the patched stud holes in the top, which are very well done. There is fill in the holes and overspray/buffing in a halo around this, visible but not too distracting. The rest of the top lacquer is undisturbed. The finish overall has small dings and dents but no heavy wear, most notably some light belt buckle scratching to the back.
All the hardware is original except the re-installed stud tailpiece/bridge which was replaced for a time with a Tune-O-Matic and stoptail. The tailpiece fitted is a straight stop bar with no adjustment screws; the intonation is surprisingly good considering but many modern players would likely prefer one of the pre-compensated modern alternatives anyway. The original cream plastic jackplate was replaced with a black metal piece. There are two sets of screw holes under the switch plate on the back, which seems to be a factory anomaly.
The original larger frets have some light wear, as does the fingerboard but nothing too serious. The guitar plays nicely with a rip-roaring P-90 sound, a splendid piece despite the reversed modification. This goldtop is now well over 50 years old and resides in the original purple-lined HSC, one of Gibson's better ideas in a fairly bleak time. Excellent - Condition.