Original 1978 Cherryburst Gibson Les Paul

Description: Wednesday, September 6th 1978 . . . President Jimmy Carter hosts Middle East peace talks at Camp David with Sadat and Begin, The Who drummer Keith Moon dies from an overdose of prescription drugs, Boogie-Oogie-Oogie is the #1 Song in the country and . . . early that morning, a blank mahogany body starts its trip down the assembly line of Gibson Guitar Corp's recently completed Nashville, Tennessee manufacturing facility. Only the 7th instrument produced that day, the guitar would go through hundreds of individual construction steps before emerging as one of Gibson's all-time most iconic instruments, a stunning new Cherry Sunburst ("Cherryburst") Les Paul. More than just a pretty face, serial #72498507 was also fitted with Gibson’s "T-Top" humbuckers which, next to their PAF's, would decades later become one of the most sought after 'vintage' pickups ever made. Produced only through the late 1970's, T-Tops provided great clarity, bright but not shrill, with well defined gain and crunch. #72498507 was acquired from a collector in Arizona who had purchased the guitar years ago directly from a professional musician by the name of Duane Pursley (the name stenciled on the case). Research shows that Pursley was the frontman for a country rock band in the 1980's and 90's called Hot Pursuit. Hailing from Provo Utah, theirs was a working group that actively toured through the mid-west including, as one playbill showed, in St. Louis, Mo. on September 27th, 1989. No modifications or prior repairs, today this Les Paul remains strikingly handsome albeit with a fair amount of well-earned 'patina' including some small bruises and a couple of areas where the finish is checking and/or worn through. (See photos). Original: The Cherry Sunburst finish, T-Top pickups and bezels, Indian Rosewood fretboard, bindings, pearl trapezoid marker inlays, (Kluson) Gibson Deluxe tuners, Tune-O-Matic bridge, stop tailpiece, strap buttons, volume and tone control knobs, pickup selector switch, strap buttons and input jack all appear to be original to the guitar. Non-original: The pickguard and nickel pickup covers are non-original. The frets show very little wear suggesting that the guitar may, at some point, have been refretted. Dates Codes: Serial # - #72498507 identifies that the guitar was built on 9/6/78. (After decades of arcane serial number sequences, in 1977 Gibson finally adapted a standard numbering system - still used today - for all of their guitars including this one) Pickups - The T-Top pickups are both date-stamped 1978. The neck pickup is coded July 20th however, strangely, the bridge pickup is dated Oct 3rd, a few weeks after the build date suggesting perhaps that it was replaced under warranty or, more likely, before it ever it left the factory. Pots - All four matching original pots are all date-coded June of 1978. GREAT look with just the right amount of vintage patina and, best of all, this is a terrific playing and sounding guitar. Good to show/display but, arguably, the perfect axe for a “new” frontman!?

Price: 3775 USD

Location: Redwood City, California

End Time: 2024-08-20T14:52:22.000Z

Shipping Cost: 129 USD