A Near Mint Original "Ebony-Block" Les Paul Custom

This 13" wide, August 1962 "Polaris White" Les Paul SG Custom weighs just 8.40 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, and ebony fretboard with 22 frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl five-piece split-diamond inlay. Five-digit serial number ("80032") stamped on the back of the headstock. Two layer (black over white) plastic truss-rod cover. Individual Grover Roto-Matic Tuners with half-moon metal buttons. Three original Gibson PAF humbucker pickups with balanced outputs of 7.89k, 7.76 and 7.60k (all with small rectangular black "Patent Applied For" labels on the underside). Small three-layer plastic (white/black/white) cover between neck pickup and neck engraved in black "Les Paul CUSTOM". Three-layer plastic (white,black,white) pickguard with three screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on lower treble bout. The potentiometers are stamped "134 6232" (Centralab August 1962). Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with nylon saddles. Ebony block tailpiece inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Gibson vibrola. All hardware gold plated.

There are two very small surface cracks, one each side of the neck at the point where the neck is attached to the body. We have removed the neck pickup and carefully examined the area inside and can confirm that the integrity of the neck joint is sound and that the cracks are merely superficial (photographs available upon request). The truss-rod has never been adjusted on this guitar (again photograph available upon request) which can only mean that there has been absolutely no movement whatsoever. Upon examination of the three PAF's it appears quite possible that two of the covers have been resoldered at some point in time… although we know that this could only have been done prior to 1994, as this guitar has been in a private collection (and never played) since that date. Apart from some minimal tarnishing to the gold plating on the hardware this wonderful example is in near mint and totally original condition. Complete with the original "Tune-O-Matic instruction sheet", the original "Humbucking Pickup Adjustments" sheet, the original "Packing Label", and two of the original "Hang-Tags". Original 'Excelsior five-latch brown hardshell case with burnt orange plush lining (9.25).

This example is one of a very few SG-type Les Paul Custom guitars shipped in 1962 with the pearl-inlaid ebony tailpiece block. It is also one of the very earliest '62 Customs with a three-screw pickguard as opposed to the four-screw version that is usually seen.

"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).

"Approximately 950 SG/LP Customs were made until the Les Paul markings were abandoned in late 1963, including nearly 500 guitars in 1961 alone. Although this is not necessarily related to the change of designation, few SG Customs (130) were shipped in 1964." (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, pp. 204).