QUESTION

I have what I believe is a white Gibson 1957 es-175 with pafs. according to all the information i can find they never made these . i bought it to a few people some said refinished but i know it is not my father has had it forever and it has never left the house. did they make such an instrument and if so how rare is it. I do not know who to trust when i am getting mixed answers and you can highly recommend and one person told me you actually had one .

REPLY

Well i am going to tell you you probably have one of the coolest guitars. I have personally sold 3 of these one was a Gibson  es-175d one was a Gibson  l-7 and one was a Gibson es-175 one pickup all were paf models and these i believe were a custom ordered or one run guitar. I know a famous collector in new york who has 6 of these  , i sold him 3 of the 6 and they are as real and as rare as it gets in the vintage market.

The first tome i saw one was in 1990 and i thought it was refinished because like yourself never saw one. Then i called my friend Perry Margoulef a vintage guitar expert and renowned burst dealer and he authenticated it and actually bought it. since then i had two others and have only seen 4 others in my life. i would guess they made about 12 of each model in white . that seems to be the consensus but no one knows. these are the coolest looking guitars ever i wish i never sold them.

the Gibson double neck in white was not uncommon although again only a few made but to see hollow body and arch tops in with  even spruce top ones in white is truly an exciting think for a vintage dealer or collector. i remember looking at this Gibson es-175 i had for hours on the shop thinking wow that  so hip at the time we had a burst and other goltops from the 1950,s but to me this was the cool one.

As far as value goes i would say they are worth about 3 times what a sunburst one is worth and maybe even 4 times as much . My favorite line is ok its too much, well find another !!!! Do not give that one away and if you want send me pictures and i can verify that one also if it is a real early 1957 Gibson it will have the no name paf ‘s which would  also add a rarity to it being some of the first paf guitars made. If you have any other  questions please feel free to contact me at  THE PARTSDRAWER i will be glad to appraise or authenticate it for free .

QUESTION

I see that this is the right time to buy a Fender black guard Telecaster. I see alot if ones for sale now at a a good price

( well compared to 3 years ago). I am a player so originality does not matter to me as much but what parts of the Telecaster are the most important parts that I should care about when buying one and also secondly how about a wood only guitar is that a good idea?

REPLY

That is alot to cover in a short blog post but here we go. First as always i am an advocate of all original guitar both for the collectors value and for aesthetically. If you can afford it go for it you will be happy in the long run. for me the two most important parts are the wood and the electronics. Having said that i would emphasis that if you are buying a guitar in whatever state it is in make sure the body is not modified if you can help it. That means no sanding , over spray or refinishing. and the decal is the most important parts for the value and to authenticate the guitar.

Old wood sounds great but not if it is covered in a thick poly finish or 10 coats of paint. On the other hand if they are stripped they may sound good but most of the value is gone. if you have to go this route make sure the body and neck dates are in tack and make sure there original. they are easy to fake. The electronics being pickups , pots and caps are the next most important things make sure they are original and that the pickups are original windings and not rewound . This plays out as follows the old electronics with the old wood if your lucky will have that magic sound and tone . These are the key players in the guitar in my opinion.

The pick guard plates , bridge, saddles, knobs , tuners  frets and so on are secondary and have nothing to due wit the tone factor. So if you are looking for a player there you go and you have to pay accordingly the more changed parts obviously the less you pay. For me i would try to get an original finished guitar with lets say changed pickuard and tuners and bridge . this way you have a real finish and a real guitar worth real electronics and the other parts you can buy over time . this way you can save  10k or more and little by little bring it back to stock and you can still get an original finish guitar that has a real value or potential value depending on how much you restore it.

The wood only scenario is your last resort and has a few dangerous speed bumps  you have to pay attention to. first the decal has to be original if it is not the neck value is worth 70% yes 70% less!!!!  original decal with over spray are hard to tell if not and expert but they are 50% less. so wait and get one with an untouched decal and the neck date should also be there

THE DECAL IS STILL THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO LOOK FOR.  The stripped body should have and original date in the neck pocket  or under lead pickup cavity.If it does not  that body is worth 70% less too. becosue there are so many fakes who can tell??? again make sure body is not routed this too is important. if you follow these two steps atleast the wood of the guitar will have some value and you always have something to fall back on. a refinished  neck and body  without a decal and body dates are usuless and i woldl not even consider buying at all. I hope this helps if you have any other questions please feel free e mail me at THE PARTSDRAWER

Thank you

Jim pasch

Great news for the vintage guitar community.  HISTORIC MAKEOVERS a  company specializing in vintage guitar restoration and aging has launched its new website and opened its new shop in Lake Mary  Florida this week to great reviews. The company located in Florida has now become the premier shop for your vintage guitar makeovers.

The company has set up a new shop with due to the back log created from his old shop and other craftsman. The new location feature state of the art shop and a staff of wood workers and painters that are even better than the old staff  in the old location. Basically they cleaned house got rid of the old staff and setup and have optimized the process and have found some amazing talent in Florida to due his makeovers.

The new estimated turn around time is 5 months . i was one of the old customers who waited 12 months for mine to get done and yes the  work was amazing and yes it looks real but 1 2 months killed me . i have two guitars in the system now at the new location and have been guaranteed a 5 month turn around. This new shop  uses the exact same techniques as teh old shop and offers the same attention to detail. Ever guitar is an individual and is delt with in a one on one basis no assembly line no mass production they are creating  a piece of art.

it really is worth taking a moment to checkout this website the work is truly amazing and Gibson guitars themselves has never made anything this good in my opinion . It is not cost effective for a big company to due and the cost of the guitar would it basically out of reach to the general public. We are talking about craftsmanship, a talent that is hard to come by these days . I do not know about you but that fact that these are hand  done one by one and gone over and over until they are perfect is a an art that is almost extinct today.

So if you really want to see the potential of your less paul come to life checkout this site and give them a call. I believe they also offer limited services if you do not want a full make over such as replacing the boards and inlays and such so if money is an object they will work with you . If you need any further info you can also contact me at the partsdrawer

Jim Pasch