by Spud1950 » Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:22 pm
I'm sure you're right about it being '57.Check out this page.
Scroll down to "Gibson Serial Numbers, 1952 to 1961, solid body models. " It's pretty clear about the serial number on your peg head. Ink stamped, five digits, space between first digit and the other four, first serial number digit is last digit of the production year,so 7 would be 1957. It can't be a '62 anyway because 1958 was the last year for the gold top finish until it reappeared in 1968 and by then the serial numbers were actually pressed into the wood instead of ink stamped.Your guitar is the transition model when sometime in '57 Gibson first came out with the then new PAF humbucker,replacing the P90's found in the earlier Gold Tops. As far as value, the '57 Paf humbucker Gold Top is probably the most valuable of all the vintage Les Pauls. I've seen asking prices of ones in perfect condition as high as $150,000! Of coarse,as far as value,condition and originality are everthing.Yours has two obvious problems that I can see. First,the pickups are missing the chrome covers.It may be a case that someone removed them,or that the pickups were replaced.That needs to be looked into. Removing the covers hurts the value somewhat,but replacing the original pickups would do some serious damage to the value.Also, as I'm sure you're aware,the tuners aren't oringinal.That too hurts the value.Even with those issues,you still have a valuable and historic guitar,but you really need to have a hands on examination and certified appraisal done by a reputable appraiser to determine it's actual value. You've got a real valuable jem there, so don't do anything hastey until you've got a professional appraisal on it!
Last edited by
Spud1950 on Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.