- Vintage gibson es 175 average weight forum how to#
- Vintage gibson es 175 average weight forum serial number#
Part of me thinks this could be due to the heavy weight, but I also wonder about the "Nashville" style bridge and what appears to be the thick, somewhat rubbery finish Gibson used back then. Woody harmonics and overtones just aren't there as with other great solidbody guitars I've owned/played. However, the great sustain comes at a considerable cost: the guitar has very little acoustic resonance and sounds fairly congested and "dead" - even with brand-new strings. I'm convinced the heavy, extra-dense solid mahogany body (no chambering or weight-relief here) is responsible for this. Seriously, no other electric guitar I've ever strummed sustains like my '79 Custom. It does two things better than any guitar I've ever played - it stays in tune for days, and it SUSTAINS for weeks. I've bought and sold several Les Pauls over the years - including some extremely expensive and collectible Custom Shop reissues - but I just can't part with the ol' Custom. Its still completely stock - I've never changed a thing on it, and I still have the original Gibson plastic-molded "Chainsaw II" case with plush-blue interior. I still have it.Ĭonstruction-wise, mine sounds similar to yours: three-piece maple neck, volute, offset three-piece plain maple top, shallow top-carve, HEAVY mahogany body (it probably weighs close to 12 lbs.), ebony fingerboard with very low, flat frets ("fretless wonder" frets?). Back in early '91 - at age 16 - I paid $500 cash for it from a local dealer. The first "good" guitar I ever bought was a natural-finish '79 Les Paul Custom. On a 1968 or earlier it would be (bottom photo of my 1967, see the "i dot"?) Geez. The "i" is NOT dotted on the NORLIN product. Photos: One way to tell a NORLIN era Gibson guitar: Look at the GIBSON inlay on the headstock (see photo). I've never heard a bad sounding NORLIN era Gibson! Is it just a snob thing among collectors or what? I can't imagine a $300,00.00 1957 Goldtop Les Paul owner to ever want to admit that the $2,000.00 1978 Goldtop kicks his butt. Now if I see the "dreaded NORLIN Sticker" I for SURE try the guitar.
Vintage gibson es 175 average weight forum serial number#
Heh, I could see the NORLIN/GIBSON serial number tag through the F hole. Like he didn't want others to hear the date or something. Half the price 'cause the dealer told me (whispered to me) that it was made in the "1970's". (OK, the wood grain is more boring or plain than on a 1960's version, but so what?) This hand-carved axe is every bit as good or better than my 1967 JS Double. It has a wonderful acoustic tone and the mini-bucker just lights up the sound through an amplifier. My NORLIN Johnny Smith Artist is from 1974, made right at the Heart Of Darkness and even true jazz players who have tried it have sung it's praises. When this dealer played the thing his expression changed and he said: "Well, maybe you got a good one but for the most part." It also has the best amplified sound I've ever heard from a Paul and I've heard hundreds of them live, trust me. As a guitar dealer told me as he turned up his nose at it: It was made in the dark year of 1978, it has one of them there Maple three piece necks, a shallow cut top, heavy Mahogany body, chrome hardware, it has the evil (but I don't know why) volute and it has that wacky injection molded machine gun chainsaw case thingy. On the surface it has everything wrong with it. My NORLIN Les Paul is without a doubt the BEST Les Paul I've ever played. If you have no clue as to what I'm talking about, I'm sure that a Google search will help you figure it out or click on this non-pro NORLIN history timeline: If you are reading this and know what the NORLIN Era was, if you have an instrument, can you describe it and what you think of it (good or bad)? All four are magnificent guitars made in an unmagnificent time. I have four NORLIN Gibsons in my collection, a 1978 Les Paul Goldtop Standard, a 1973 Johnny Smith Blonde, a 1978 ES-175 blonde and a 1974 Johnny Smith Cremona burst.
Vintage gibson es 175 average weight forum how to#
Was it made in 1969 to the early 1980s? Do you know how to read the serial number? If you are not sure, let me know or click here: You might have a NORLIN Gibson and not know it. My article is concentrating on just the OPPOSITE and I'm trying to show that the NORLIN era produced some wonderful guitars.
This is an era that most "experts" think is notorious for designing, manufacturing and selling bad Gibson guitars. I'm writing an article about the NORLIN era at Gibson (roughly 1969 to the early 1980s).