1952 GIBSON LES PAUL ALL GOLD

1952 Gibson Les Paul All Gold

Serial # – first year LES PAUL do not have serial number

Condition: EXCELLENT – lots of mojo, due to the copper used, the gold colour, in particular on the back of the neck, has oxidized nicely over the years, just the way we like it.

Upgrades/modifications: MojoAxe tailpiece (original tailpiece is included)

Description:

All original Gibson LES PAUL model from 1952 in rare ALL GOLD finish. This guitar is in gorgeous original condition, including its Trapez tailpiece set with MojoAxe tailpiece (original tailpiece included).

All electrics are original. The finish on the front of the guitar is VERY NICE, with a slight patina and a minimal amount of light checking, the back-side got just the right amount of wear, in particular on the back of the neck, the “greening, is pure mojo. It got the nice fairly chunky, soft V ’52 neck profile with the original narrow frets in excellent condition.

The early 50s Mahogany-wood body with Brazilian Rosewood fretboard and the ’52 dual vintage soap bar P-90 pickups makes this guitar a once in a lifetime sound experience, no doubts!

The guitar comes in its original Brown case with flat top and pink lining.

History:

Gibson Les Paul Model Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1952), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, gold lacquer finish, mahogany body with maple cap, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.

This is a well played-in but beautifully original example of one of the most important guitars in Gibson’s history — the original 1952 Les Paul Model, the company’s first solidbody Spanish electric. This one dates to the first year or so of production and is an especial rarity: the unusual “all-gold” variant with the back, sides and neck finished in gold lacquer as well as the top. These all-gold Les Pauls were made in much smaller numbers than the common natural finished back and sides models, some estimates being as little as 5% of the total production.

This first iteration of this all-time classic solid-body is built with the “Les Paul” trapeze tailpiece, which consists of a solid bar suspended over the body. This is installed so the strings wrapped UNDER the bar of the trapeze unit instead of over, which Gibson engineers thought was a better solution allowing the pickups to be mounted deep into the body. Les himself disagreed, and after less than two years the design was modified to the now-familiar “stoptail” allowing easier palm-muting.

The other features of this 1952 model are mostly classic Les Paul appointments, including the bound rosewood fingerboard with pearloid trapezoid inlays, twin P-90 pickups under shallow-depth cream plastic covers with center-mount screws and Kluson Deluxe tuners with keystone-shaped buttons. In an idiosyncratic touch, the pearl Gibson logo is set lower down on the headstock than later ’50s models. Gibson had not yet figured out how they wanted to serialize these new solidbody instruments, so the first year or so of Les Paul models have nothing on the back of the headstock.

The first solid-bodies with the class of a Gibson, these guitars convinced many players to lay down their electrified arch-tops and enter the new world of higher volume. Later developments of the Les Paul line included the upscale Custom, down-market Special and Junior, and reworked Standard in gold and sunburst, but this is the guitar that started it all.

While these early Les Pauls are not the favorites of subsequent players due to the eccentric bridge design these are historically very important guitars, and sound fantastic. Many players at the time including Sister Rosetta Tharpe, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters made great use of them when new, regardless of the bridge design. This early all-gold example has been played but never repaired or modified, and is a fantastic piece of Gibson history with a killer vibe.

Specifications:

Body:

• 1-Piece carved solid mahogany body with maple cap

Neck:

• 1-Piece mahogany neck with bound Brazilian rosewood board
• Original narrow frets in excellent condition, original nut
• Pearloid trapezoid inlays and ’50s small size headstock
• Fingerboard radius is 12.00″ to 10.00″
• Neck depth is 0.88″ at 1st fret / 1.00″ at 12th fret
• Nut width is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.)
• Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.)

Electronics:

• Original P-90 pickups under shallow-depth cream plastic covers
• Pickup measurements = N 7.40k / B 7.480k
• Original large wax capacitors

Hardware:

• Kluson Deluxe tuners with keystone-shaped buttons
• Original single-layer cream pickguard
• Original jack-plate and switchtip
• 5/8″ tall knobs speed knobs
• Comes with MojoAxe tailpiece – the original “Les Paul” trapeze tailpiece is included

Miscellaneous:

• Weight; 4.000 kg / 8.82 lbs.
• This all-gold beauty is housed in the original period Lifton brown case that is heavily worn

All guitars are professionally inspected and set up, ensuring optimal playability and performance.

* Manufacturing date codes and interior pics are available per request: e-mail