Gibson les paul (older one) serial numbers?

[jimistone]

Does anyone know how to read les paul serial numbers.

Im trying to find out the year of a 70's era les paul custom.

The serial number is:
549894
Its a gibson Les paul custom in sunburst..all original...ecellent condition.
A friend of mine has it.

He also has a '67 ES 335 standard (sunburst) in mint condition
How much do y'all think they would be worth?

[Hard2Hear]

jimi- Pop the rear cover and get me the codes off the pots. In the 70's Gibsons serials were all over the place and the only way you can accurately tell is by the pot codes and features of the guitar.

If I remember... they will be something like 137yyddd where yy is the year and ddd is the day of the year... example: 13773020 would be the 20th day of 1973, 1/20/73. And the actual guitar build would have been a few weeks after that. Thats just from memory, so I may be a bit off.

H2H

[Hard2Hear]

Oh, as far as worth. No better check than Ebay. Just look at the completed listings for similar stuff.

H2H

[jimistone]

Originally Posted by Hard2Hear

Oh, as far as worth. No better check than Ebay. Just look at the completed listings for similar stuff.

H2H

Thanks Hard2Hear, I appreciate the response.

He told me he thought the les paul was worth about $1500 and said he was going to trade it for an acoustic. I told him I thought the paul was worth more than $1500. (I was thinking at least $3000). Im trying to get a aproxx value off ebay, but, guitar prices are all over the map there.

The les paul is 100% all original and in fantastic shape (the paint isn't even chipped). As far as I can tell by the vintage gibson ID site i checked out...its in the 1972 thru 1975 slot.
Judging by whats on ebay right now....it should be worth $3000 to $4000. (I was right)

Judging by whats on ebay, the '67 ES 335 should be worth $3000 to $4000 also.
(I would say $1500 to $2500...but my friends '67 335 is stunning....like a brand new guitar. That puts it a cut above the rest and should be worth at least $1000 to someone wanting a mint condition '67 335 IMO).

A friend of mine died a few months back and his widow now has his 1956 strat. He had bought that strat brand new in 56. That guitar has no wear whatsoever (he rarely played it)...it is immaculate...like a brand spankin' new guitar....the paperwork from the purchase is still in the case. I have seen some prestine vintage strats....but that one is just unreal...its perfect. I told her to hang onto it and not to even consider less than 20 grand if she ever sold it. (unless of course she sells it to me, then the price should be $1000)

[Track Rat]

Looks like you've already found this site Jimi.
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html

[jimistone]

Originally Posted by Track Rat

Looks like you've already found this site Jimi.
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html

Yes...I did a net search and found it.

Im pretty much informed on Fender vintage prices (thats what im into)
Not so much up on Gibson vintage prices (I sold a '75 les paul custom for $250 a few years ago if that tells you anything
Thanks again.

[IronFlippy]

Originally Posted by jimistone

Not so much up on Gibson vintage prices (I sold a '75 les paul custom for $250 a few years ago if that tells you anything

What, and you didn't tell me? I'll give you a deal you won't be able to resist on that 70s paul, $400.

[Hard2Hear]

Well 70's Gibsons really are all over the map. Theere are some people who *think they can sell them for thousands, so they try, only to have them sit forever. I bought my Black 77-ish (couldn't tell cause the pots had been changed) Les Paul Custom for about $950 just about a year and a half ago. But it was a real player.

The thing about the 70's LP's is that they're under the Norlin stigma and were built with heavy multi piece "pancake" bodies. And Norlin was known for cutting alot of corners. But if you have something in collector condition and the right person wants it, to collect, and not to play, you never know what it may fetch. Ive seen plenty of 70;s Customs for $1500 or under, but Ive seen a couple pristine examples over $2000 too.

The ES is going to be worth $3k easy, but it also depends on which pickups were in it. At that time, they seemed to toss in what happened to be close by, so it could be a set of T Tops, or it could be leftover Pat# pickups too.

With the crazy price surge of the super crappy 70's Fender guitars as of late, I'd tell him to hold on to the Custom for now. I really think the 70's Gibsons are going to see a price surge before too long. I mean if those piece of crap 70's Strats are getting $3000 and up now (I know how crappy they are, I had one for a long time) then the Gibsons, which are arguably of better quality and build, can't be far behind.

H2H

[lpdeluxe]

I have a '70 or '71 Deluxe goldtop that's a terrific player, which is exactly what I want.

As far as serial numbers go, even Gibson doesn't know. When Norlin sold Gibson to the current owners, so the story goes, a password into the Norlin inventory computer did not get transferred, and ever after there have been no records of SNs from about 1968-81.

On the other hand, the excellent Bacon & Day book, The Gibson Les Paul, gives minute instructions on dating LPs from their features.

The pot dating scheme consists of a 3-digit manufacturer code, a 2-digit week of the year code, and a 2-digit year code.

[hiwatt357]

Originally Posted by Hard2Hear

Well 70's Gibsons really are all over the map. Theere are some people who *think they can sell them for thousands, so they try, only to have them sit forever. I bought my Black 77-ish (couldn't tell cause the pots had been changed) Les Paul Custom for about $950 just about a year and a half ago. But it was a real player.

The thing about the 70's LP's is that they're under the Norlin stigma and were built with heavy multi piece "pancake" bodies. And Norlin was known for cutting alot of corners. But if you have something in collector condition and the right person wants it, to collect, and not to play, you never know what it may fetch. Ive seen plenty of 70;s Customs for $1500 or under, but Ive seen a couple pristine examples over $2000 too.

The ES is going to be worth $3k easy, but it also depends on which pickups were in it. At that time, they seemed to toss in what happened to be close by, so it could be a set of T Tops, or it could be leftover Pat# pickups too.

With the crazy price surge of the super crappy 70's Fender guitars as of late, I'd tell him to hold on to the Custom for now. I really think the 70's Gibsons are going to see a price surge before too long. I mean if those piece of crap 70's Strats are getting $3000 and up now (I know how crappy they are, I had one for a long time) then the Gibsons, which are arguably of better quality and build, can't be far behind.

H2H

Yup, Hard2Hear is absolutely correct about the Norlin stigma and the construction. And don't forget, not only did they have the pancake bodies, they had the 3-piece Maple necks with the volutes as well. I searched completed listings for Les Paul Customs from 1972 to 1975, and the highest price at which one sold was just under $2,500.00.

70's Les Paul's aren't really bad guitars, though...for the most part. I bought a '76 Deluxe that was routed for some DiMarzio Super Distortions for $550.00 with a hardshell case. I put in some Gibson humbuckers (490R/498T) and basically made it a "Standard". It's worth somewhere just north of $1,000.00. But, I don't plan on trading it in anytime soon because it sounds great and plays well.

[hixmix]

Originally Posted by jimistone

(I sold a '75 les paul custom for $250 a few years ago if that tells you anything

Yeah. I got a really great deal on that. Thanks jimi!

[Farview]

Originally Posted by jimistone

Yes...I did a net search and found it.

Im pretty much informed on Fender vintage prices (thats what im into)
Not so much up on Gibson vintage prices (I sold a '75 les paul custom for $250 a few years ago if that tells you anything
Thanks again.

If you have any more of those $250 Les Paul Customs, PM me.