A little piece of rock & roll history

[CoreyT]

Wow!!!!!A piece of history and you got to touch it, play it etc. Pics were great as well.

I do wonder what is in people's attics

Thanks, used my HTC One Android for the pics at work.
Yes, I bet there is a lot of vintage gear tucked away begging to be let out.

What an awesome story. Very cool experience for you. Interested to see what happens next!

I will see her today at work and find out if they will be taking it in soon.

I love the tone of the soapbar Lesters. But those trapeze tailpieces (invented by Les Paul himself) suck. They're simply too tall to get playable action. There are aftermarket replacements available that require no new holes, but drop the action to where they should be.

Btw, this Goldtop is uber cool. It's a later 52, due to it having fretboard binding. The early ones didn't have binding along the fretboard, just the body. Except for the missing pickguard and stamp on the back of the headstock, this one is in really good condition for its age.

Thanks for the info on the binding.
I do not think he has the pickguard or it would have been in the case.
Only thing in the case is an old gray/silver coily guitar cord.
But the two screws for the guard are in the guitar still.

Nice piece of history there.
That's the model that Les declared "unplayable"....
That's why they changed the design the next year..

I sure had a hard time playing it
So a setup on it may not make it play any better, and I do hope he picks up an SE or something.

Insulation, dust and cobwebs.

Sadly no vintage guitars or anything else.

I do not even have an attic

According to Tony Bacon's book, there were 1716 built in 1952. Which seems a bit high to me, but isn't all that far off from the '53 and '54 numbers.

Must have been a cool experience to play that - I'll be anxious to hear how it plays after the tech goes over it.

Thanks Alan for the numbers, will pass that on to her today to let her father know.
I will be sure to post here my thoughts after I get to play it again.

I think it was two years ago that some old guy walked into a GC with a jacked-up Strat that he wanted $5k for. They gave him the money and were asking $50k since it was the second one made.

Wow, now that is a story, and I bet the guy would be pissed off if he found out about it later.

That is amazing, what a cool experience!

It was a very natural high for me to get to hold it, play it, take pics, and help her and her father with more info on it.

Sure would have liked to have seen Bernie play his in the video Mike posted, will have to look for other '52 videos.

 

[vchizzle]

Cool Corey!

 

[CoreyT]

Thanks Vaughn.

They are taking it to my dealer Wednesday after she gets off work.

 

[CVS]

I think it was two years ago that some old guy walked into a GC with a jacked-up Strat that he wanted $5k for. They gave him the money and were asking $50k since it was the second one made.

I am surprised that this GC is still on its foundation. I will wear a bullet proof vest if I go anywhere near this store

 

[gball]

Awesome guitar. I would put a replacement bridge on it and play it until it couldn't be played no more. Joe Glaser in Nashville (and a few others) makes a replacement that will make the guitar playable: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glaser-Instruments/122470651140882

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I'd put a Floyd on it to make it playable.

 

[CoreyT]

My coworker told me yesterday that her dad said he was going to play it, but his wife said nope, it is a collectable, it will be put on display.
So hopefully my dealer points him to a Bernie.

 

[gball]

it will be put on display

Sad. What a waste of a great guitar.

 

[NomadMike]

I got to play a 52 and was under whelmed with the overall mucked up design, but still very, very cool to play. Way back when I may have also played a 52 conversion, I say may as it was very modded and was a long time ago, that was a pretty good player (if my memory serves right). The 52s weren't a player's guitar but it is great that they still pop up from time to time.

 

[G-Man]

Happens all of the time, even on Pawn Stars. They had a documented Les Paul Bigsby owned by Mary Ford and gave the guy $250k for it. The next day, it was on Ebay for like a million bucks. They even called in the "expert" who valued the guitar for them at $250k.

 

[tabl10s]

I got to play a 52 and was under whelmed with the overall mucked up design, but still very, very cool to play. Way back when I may have also played a 52 conversion, I say may as it was very modded and was a long time ago, that was a pretty good player (if my memory serves right). The 52s weren't a player's guitar but it is great that they still pop up from time to time.

Played a '60 Strat that was about the size of a Mustang because back then, the bodies were traced from copy to copy.

The bridge saddles looked like they were bent from tin.

 

[CoreyT]

Sad. What a waste of a great guitar.

Even Les Paul himself said the guitar was unplayable, that is why they went to the different bridge design in '53.

Gibson launched their first solidbody Les Paul in 1952 priced at $210. Available in a gold finish top with natural finish back and sides, this model was better known as a Goldtop – with all-gold versions also available. Dealers began to receive the new Les Paul Model by June of 1952. These early versions from the collection both have the “Trapeze” combined bridge and tailpiece, which was originally designed to have the strings over the top. Unfortunately, this would have caused the action to be much too high due to the shallow neck pitch on early Les Pauls; Gibson’s only choice was to have the strings wrapped under the bridge. This made intonation and playing difficult, and the “Trapeze” was subsequently replaced during 1953.

Ted McCarty was pretty much responsible for putting the trapeze bridge on in '52.
https://reverb.com/blog/a-les-paul-from-every-year-1952-1960

From reading elsewhere they pretty much rushed the first LPs to catch up with Fender who was kicking their butts with solid body guitars.

 

[gball]

Even Les Paul himself said the guitar was unplayable, that is why they went to the different bridge design in '53.

I've played them, and I agree, but with a conversion bridge they are awesome players and sound great. You can get a conversion for it for less than $300 and you don't have to modify the guitar to put it on.

 

[NomadMike]

Glad they came up with a conversion that didn't entail routers and more holes being drilled into them.

 

[gball]

They look the part and are even compensated