help! 7 piece top Les Paul Custom

That's a tough one.

If you really love it as an instrument for you, I would consider it.

If you want to pay fair market value, I would run away.

My 2 pennies.

 

Well, not a 7-piece top, but I recently re-finned and re-necked a '76 LP Deluxe that had the pancake body (no news here.) What was interesting was that the back was 1 piece, followed by a piece of mahogany veneer, a 4-piece mahogany sandwich, maple veneer, and a 3-piece maple cap! This was originally fitted with a 3-piece maple neck that felt awful to me, and I talked the owner into letting me carve a new neck of 1-piece mahogany. Gibson (Norlin) were definitely cost-conscious in those days, so it seems they were using every bit if wood scraps they could.

 

What Jack said about Norlin/Gibson back in the 70's...all kinds of wood were matched up and used back then...I'd take a pass on a 7 piece top. Hell, even my Epi Birdseye LP only has a 5 piece back! 7 piece top? It would really have to speak to me tonally before I pulled the trigger on it.

Go with the sound and feel, as it will likely never be a collectable piece. Good luck!

 

7 piece top...............unless that gtr blows your mind , id say walk away.

 

What you need to do here is email Gibson's Customer Service department ( Service@Gibson.com ) with the SERIAL NUMBER and the details of what you want to know. They can give you a good idea what it is , or more importantly, what it is not.

 

Yes, those are the Norlin era garbage guitars that brought Gibson to its knees. They were so bad that they created the whole "vintage" phenomenon by forcing musicians to look for the older instruments.

The idea that they can attract more than $100 proves that a sucker is born every minute. Even the cheap Korean and Chinese stuff today is equal or better to a lot of these guitars.

Personally, I think that price is a joke. Just because it says Gibson on it... don't be hypnotized. Buy it for its performance if it has any, or step up and get a current production Gibson which is a much finer guitar for not too much more $$$.

Karma

 

Along with Fender, which were terrible during that era, but they're through the roof price-wise, also...

Loudboy

 

I just passed on a 74 strat , I could have doubled my money but the fit and finish were so bad I couldnt be certain it was original ( flat places in the cutaway, just a sanding nightmare ) the guy who bought it swears it's straight, well, if that was straight I guess I'm not a guitar collector/dealer , not worth 50 buck much less 3500 ( it was an alleged custom color ) IMO the 70's guitars are not vintage just old

 

I owned a first-year LP Deluxe (got it for $500!), but I still sold it. Part of it was me not really digging the mini-humbuckers (it sounded a lot like a very fat Tele, which is not what I ultimately was going for).

As was noted above, the 70's was not the most glorious period for Gibson or Fender. However, as others have said as well, if you like the instrument, get it.

 

Hmmm.... I guess if you read "the internet" enough you start to believe some of this stuff.

 

I've played a few maple necked Norlin era LPs that were killer. I wouldn't pay $1700 for one, but that doesn't mean that they're all dogs either.

 

my 75 norlin dlx rocks

.......different strokes, i guess

 

Just write Gibson a letter and they will pay for you to come to the factory and give you a free Les Paul.

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