A Fine Original Very Early 1962 Les Paul Custom "Fretless Wonder"

1962 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom.

This 13" wide, January 1962 "Polaris White" Les Paul SG Custom weighs just 7.60 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid Honduras mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck with a wonderful medium profile. Single-bound ebony fretboard with 22 original "Fretless Wonder" thin frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl five-piece split-diamond inlay. Five-digit serial number "42733" stamped on the back of the headstock. Two-layer black over white plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with two screws. Individual Grover Roto-Matic Tuners with half-moon metal buttons. Three-layer (white/black/white) plastic cover with two screws at end of neck engraved in black "Les Paul / Custom". Three original Gibson PAF humbucker pickups with balanced outputs of 8.09k, 7.72 and 7.77k. All three pickups with a black label ("Patent Applied For") on the underside. Three-layer plastic (white,black,white) pickguard with five screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on lower treble bout. The potentiometers are all stamped "134 6120" (Centralab May1961). Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops.
ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with metal saddles and Gibson sideways Vibrola tailpiece. All hardware gold plated. There is a small amount of very fine fine finish checking especially on the back of the neck. There is a small area of 'brownish' discoloration on the back of the neck just behind the 12th fret where the guitar has obviously stood on a guitar stand for a long period of time. There is a small oval indentation (3/8 x 1/2 inch) on the back just by the control panel cover. There are a few very small and insignificant surface marks on the sides and some loss of the gold-plating on the vibrato cover and pickup covers. The original 'Fretless Wonder' frets show very little sign of wear and the guitar plays and sounds like a dream. This is one of the cleanest examples of the 'earliest' version with the smooth neck heel joint that we have seen. We conservatively give this fine instrument a (9.00) exceptionally fine rating. Housed in the original Gibson five-latch shaped black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.00).

"Players call it the "Fretless Wonder" for its extremely low frets and fast action. Now it's more wonderful than ever with new body design and new features. Ultra thin, hand contoured, delicately balanced, it adjusts into a natural comfortable playing position for any guitarist, with or without strap. With three humbucking adjustable pickups, Tune-O-Matic bridge, and the new Vibrato (operates in direction of pick stroke; swings out of way for rhythm playing) with increased power, greater sustain, and a clear resonant sparkling tone, the "Custom" provides the widest range of tonal colorings and effects. Three-way toggle switch provides a unique method of tone mixing; top position selects top pickup for rhythm; center position activates center and lower pickups simultaneously for extreme highs and special effects; lower position operates lower pickup for playing lead. Finished in gleaming white for smart contrast with gold-plated metal parts… $425.00 + $47.50 for Faultless gold plush-lined case." (1962 Gibson Guitars - Amplifiers catalog, p.10).

"In early 1961 the Custom began to be shipped with the double cutaway body style pioneered on the Les Paul Standard. The third variant, commonly nicknamed SG/Les Paul Custom, was put into production in late 1960 but this author has yet to come across one with a 1960 serial number." (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 203).

"Considering all the Les Paul models as a whole, sales declined in 1960 after a peak in 1959...[and] by 1961 Gibson had decided on a complete re-design of the line in an effort to reactivate this faltering model. The company had started a $400,000 expansion of the factory in Kalamazoo during 1960 which more than doubled the size of the plant by the time it was completed in 1961... One of the first series of new models to benefit from the company's newly expanded production facilities was the completely revised line of Les Paul models. Gibson redesigned the Junior, Standard and Custom models, adopting a new, distinctly modern, sculpted double-cutaway design. The 'Les Paul' name was still used at first, but during 1963 Gibson began to call these new models the SG Junior, the SG Standard and the SG Custom... The transition models -- those produced between 1961 and 1963 -- had the new SG design but the old Les Paul names, and these are now known to collectors and players as SG/Les Paul models...SG-style solidbodies have attracted a number of players over the years, including John Cipollina, Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi, Robbie Krieger, Tony McPhee, Pete Townshend, Angus Young and Frank Zappa" (Tony Bacon, Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, pp. 134-136).

"The restyled LP Standard pioneered the ultra-thin SG body-style which was gradually fitted to most Gibson solid bodies during the early 60s, hence the commonly accepted SG/Les Paul Std moniker. The earliest samples were built in the latter part of 1960 and therefore display inked-on serial numbers on the back of the headstock…No less than four different vibrato tailpieces can be found on the SG/LP Standard. The original 'sideways' Vibrola with a mechanism cast in light alloy was phased out in early 1963 and is primarily associated with 1960-62 models. Before 1963, however, the model was also available with either a short Bigsby unit or Gibson's short Vibrola… (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 209). "Approximately 950 SG/LP Customs were made until the Les Paul markings were abandoned in late 1963, including nearly 500 guitars in 1961 alone." (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 204).

The first 1962 serial number on a Gibson guitar was "42441". Gibson produced over 40,000 guitars that year - an average of nearly 3,400 per month. This guitar with serial # "42733" was made in very early January of 1962.