Any Gibson Les Paul experts able to help me?

[rojo412]

I'm having some trouble finding the actual age of a Les Paul Deluxe CUSTOM (guitar, not bass).
The original owner doesn't have any documentation and may have spent a lot of time "forgetting the '70s", so he is guessing at the age. But I'd like to know for sure.

This particular guitar is definitely one that was made during Gibson's "Who gives a crap about serial numbers?!?!" period, from what I can gather. It doesn't use their current serial number, and the guy thinks he got it in '74.

The Pot Date (according to some website) was 37th week of 1974, so that points me in the right direction.

Serial is 6 digit and doesn't start with a letter.

Here's pics:









Any help is appreciated.

[1960LesPaul]

Not much help on the year but this is a Custom. Not a Deluxe. The Deluxes were basically Standards with mini humbuckers. Have you tried contacting Gibson.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

IME Gibson can't help on the "Who gives a crap about serial numbers?!?!" period (well said BTW ) instruments.

The potentiometer code is the most accurate, I have read somewhere that the stock rotation was between 7 and 12 months with potentiometers.
BUT, that figure was derived from the instruments that had a known mfg year and the shipping total was also known.

No volute would point to 74-75 as well IIRC.

Some have a handwritten inspection mark and date on either of the PU cavities, some have it on the control cavity.

Yep, a Custom, the split diamond is a good giveaway.

Regards
Sam

[rojo412]

Oh yeah. DUH! I think the words "Les Paul Custom" on the truss rod cover should have clued me into that. I guess today's coffee isn't caffeinated!

There is a volute on the neck, it's a mahogany neck. Don't know if that helps...

[bunnykeeper]

I have a '72 LP Custom, but it's on the other side of the world, so I can't open it up for the sake of comparison. I can tell you that the case looks exactly the same as yours, FWIW.

[1960LesPaul]

My Deluxe has that same case and it is a 76 with a volute.

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Originally Posted by rojo412

Oh yeah. DUH! I think the words "Les Paul Custom" on the truss rod cover should have clued me into that.

A clue yes, but since the LP Custom TR cover is about $5 or so in the evil bay IIRC, relying solely on that when pinpointing the model is not very safe.

It's been a while since I sold my early 70's Custom, but I do remember giving up the search for mfg year and went with the pot codes when I sold it.

Regards
Sam

[Bard2dbone]

The pot codes are usually fairly safe to base an estimate on. They lean it toward late '74 to mid '75. I'm confused by the 'no volute' thing. I've never seen a Les Paul without one.