The Case... This instrument comes in an early-90s Gibson USA hardshell case with brown exterior and pink interior with case shroud. The case is in used condition, but still functions as it should. All latches are present and functioning, the handle is still attached and the combo lock is set to 000.
The Guitar! 60s Neck | 10.5lbs Why choose this silverburst? Because it was made in Kalamazoo and has the special 80s parts! You can tell it is KZ-made by the Made in USA stamp being verticle and by the last 3 digits in the serial number being 499 or less.
If you're new to buying vintage guitars - the first Gibson factory was established in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is where all the guitars from the early 1900s until 1975 were made. The Nashville plant opened in 1975ish and slowly less and less guitars were made in Kalamazoo until it closed in 1984. Kalamazoo employees were generally older and more experienced and you can usually tell that just by the way a KZ Les Paul feels as compared to a Nashville one. Both are great - but KZs always have just a little something extra to them and are built to a higher-standard. Not many silverbursts were made in KZ - the two biggest features that make them stand out are the black back of the headstock and the HUGE volute.
This instrument has been lovingly played and maintained over the years. It shows signs of being played a lot - has been refretted, but most of the parts remain original.
The face of the headstock is in good shape. There are string change wear/scratches and a small circle chip of lacquer on the custom emblem. The edges of the binding are rather worn and it appears a small section might have broken off and been reglued as well as another area that started to slightly separate. These will never cause you any issues, but are cosmetic eyesores. There is a small red area towards the top of the headstock. The truss rod is in perfect shape.
The nut has been replaced. It functions well, but in my opinion, it could use "profiled down" a bit to make it feel comfortable while playing as the edges are a bit sharp. The nut change caused some finish wear along the edges. The guitar received a refret. There is some light ebony tear out from this process, but nothing too bad. It is mainly only present on the last frets. This happens on pretty much all ebony refret jobs due to the nature of the wood. The new frets do show some flattening, but these tall frets have lots of life and MANY level/recrown jobs left in them so you can have them profiled the way you want (if desired, or play as-is!)
The face of the guitar show many impressions/nicks/dings. The guitar looks really clean and presentable because I polished it up! From a few feet away, it looks near mint - but when you actually start looking for defects in the light - you'll see all the impressions. The pickups are late 1979 + early 1980 Ttops. While era-correct, the solder joints are not original so they might not be THE originals to this guitar. Under high-gain they are microphonic as most ttops are. The tailpiece is era correct, but not original to this guitar. This one has all the SPECIAL 80s parts too! Diamond posi-lock strap buttons, 9-point adjustment bridge with flip-out winding tuners. The only thing missing are the PAF stickers on the rings. Pickguard and knobs are original and look nice and aged.
The backside of the headstock shows lots of edgewares including some circle impression/dings towards the top. The headstock itself just shows light wear/scratches. The back of the neck is pretty clean, but does have a few impressions/dings as well as finish wear along the edges of the neck as well as a few small touchup areas that can be seen under blacklight. This doesn't have an extreme case of finish wear by any means, but isn't perfect either. The neck is nice and smooth. No headstock repairs.
The backside has lots of scratches and buckle worming marks as do the edges of the guitar. The pots are original-style and date to 1980. The backplate screws might be replaced and a few of them are stripped, but stay in place.
Conclusion There are many options for purchasing vintage silverbursts right now due to the Adam Jones craze. This is a great one if you want bragging rights of a Kalamazoo-Made one with all the coolest limited edition 80s parts all while having the modern playability of taller frets!
I have MANY additional photos I can send upon request!
While made during one of the company's most controversial eras when many players saw a sacrifice of quality for profit margins, the Gibson Les Paul Customs of the Norlin Era can be diamond-in-the-rough finds for players with a keen eye. In particular, if you're looking for iconic LP growl with the workhorse construction that made these guitars a legend in the first place, many guitarists and luthiers alike point to the late '70s/early '80s models as capstones of the era.
