ROLLED PLASTIC GIBSON GUITAR PARTS

This is one of the questions we received today at The Parts Drawer

QUESTION

What do they mean when they say rolled plastic parts . I have seen that many times but i can never find an answer. I have a Gibson Les Paul Pickguard How can I tell if it is rolled plastic?

REPLY

Thank you for your e mail. In the 1950 ’s they manufactured the pplastic by sheets and the process was that when making the plastic was pressed and rolled flat. This being said the process left  fine lines in the back of the plastic. Some times these can easily seen some times you need to look very closely. The front of the plastic was  always smooth and the back wee shinny but the rolled marks should be visible if it is real .

Then the parts were stamped out and cut . It was a simple and effective process. This was used for all multilayer lastic parts.You cannot see this one the simple one ply parts. 

In the around 1965 many of the plastic parts were made by injection modeling and the lines were no longer visible on the parts. I would like to note that Gibson like many companies never wasted any material . It is very common for the first lets say 4-5 years that rolled plastic is still used ON Gibson guitar parts .I have found it as late as 1968 depending on the model guitar and it’s popularity.

By 1970 there were mold marks visible on may parts not on all but many which instantly make them recognizable 1970’s parts.  Also as a note many of the early plastic parts had rougher edges and many multilayer guards had a wider bevel than today’s pickguards.

I hope this helps. Please e mail me if  You have any other guitar questions. Please fill out the questionaire at The Parts Drawer

QUESTION

I just bought a vintage p90 from a vintage guitar dealer and i went to install it in my 1959 Les Paul special  and my original cover does not fit. The pickup looks like a Gibson and I cannot figure out why it will nto work.

REPLY

Well there is a little know fact that Gibson changed the size of the p90 pickup by mid 1960 ‘s . For example if you have a 1950 ‘s or early 1960′s soap bar pickup Gibson guitar  ( not dog ear) and try to install a 1968 soap bar p90 it will not fit under the original cover. This is not a widely know fact so I would cut the dealer a break and offer him a chance to make it good.

As a quick note 1950′as p90s both soap bar and dog ear have double black wires coming off pickup this is a quick way to tell what year it is. now up until 1962 double black lead p90s can be found but again the covers Will fit . the difficult area is when they they are white and black lead wires you have to take a moment to and check .

Another quick note is the older style p90 soap bar pickups have shallow height covers . they are not tall and are easily distinguishable from the mid to later 1960′s that have tall covers over twice! the size . So if you are Lucky enough to buy or see the pickup with an original cover remember the shorter ones are the vintage ones. The ears are also longer and many of the soap bar pickups from late 1960′s, and the soap bar pickups from that era  have ears which they never did in te 1950′s and early 1960′s .

I hope this helps if you have any other questiosn please feel free to e mail me at The Parts Drawer

QUESTION: What is the correct bigsby for my es-335 from 1959 . I have gotten several different answers but want to make sure before i purchase guitar.

REPLY:

The correct bigsby for a Gibson ES-335 would be the model B7. This is recognizable by the double roller tension bars and the fact it has a screw hole and mounts to the top of the guitar.  I too have seen many people advertise  that the single roller B3 is correct but I have never seen one on an original guitar.

This is an important question because the bigsby bottom mount may line up and a B3 could be installed but and function but ALL ES-335 models have a B7.  This  because they are semi hollow. and being semi hollow you can screw the bigsby to the top and the screw goes into the center block and is stable. If you were to try and install this on a ES-330 for example it would hold but eventually the top will crack as they are hollow guitars.

Even guitars with the custom made plaque that covers the stud holes form the factory which is common make sure that you see thescrew hole on top of the guitar from the original bigsby if not the bigsbywas added later. Also a vintage bigsby has the string pins going through to the other side of the roller. the newer ones have pressed in pins on one side only the older ones had screw in pins so they went through on both sides this is an important factor because many people age bigsbys but they cannot fake that. I hope this helps

If you have any more question feel free to e mail me .

Jim pasch

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