EVALUATING A ’ 72 GIBSON LES PAUL DELUXE BY JOHN BROWN
Over the years that I’ve been writing this column, I’ve
received many emails from PG
readers with questions about
personal guitars, as well as tech
questions from stringed-instru-ment repair people around the
world. My goal is to help where I
can and contribute to everyone’s
success as a musician and instrument collector. (If you’ve emailed
me and never heard back, please
don’t hesitate to reach out again.
Occasionally things get lost
because of the fast pace of life.
You know how that goes!)
In our shop, we have some
very important protocols that
contribute to our success, and
this process starts with the
evaluation. Every guitar that
comes into our shop is first
thoroughly examined using an
assortment of tools and techniques. This is generally done
in front of the customer, which
helps build customer confidence
and promotes an understanding
of our findings and any work
we might undertake.
Whether it’s a vintage guitar
or one fresh off the production
line, we evaluate every instrument using the same procedures
and tools. Some clients may just
want to know if their vintage guitar is 100-percent straight, while
others come to have their troubled instrument fine-tuned for
optimal performance. Regardless,
we start by diagnosing the guitar’s mechanical condition, and I
thought it would be fun to walk
you through the process.
I received a call from my
friend Tom, who was out on
the road. He had just traded
some camera gear for a ’ 72
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe and
was very enthusiastic about
his new find. He was under
no illusion that this guitar was
in mint condition. In fact, he
knew it had previously been
played hard for several years—
it was a workhorse.
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1. Checking the fret-to-fretboard contact with a .001 feeler gauge. 2. The fretboard
is very level—a sign someone did quality work in 1972. 3. Maybe it’s better to let a
pro install your StrapLok buttons? 4. This ABR- 1 bridge has collapsed from years
of downward string pressure and must be replaced. 5. Someone added decorative surrounds to the stock Gibson pickup rings, so the new owner must decide
if they stay or go. If it’s the latter, dealing with nail holes will be an issue. 6. The
D-string tuner shaft is bent. In such cases, you face a choice: Keep the original or
replace it with a new unit? Photos by Tom Wallace
After Tom returned to town,
we gave his ’ 72 Deluxe a full
evaluation. We began by noting the model’s general specs:
cherry sunburst finish, a 3-piece
neck with a – 14 degree peg-head angle, a 4-piece pancake
body, a 3-piece maple top, an
Indian rosewood fretboard with
trapezoid inlays, two mini-humbuckers, ’ 72 CTS pots with
two Sprague “black beauty”
.022–400 DC capacitors,
Kluson Deluxe “tulip” doublering tuners, and an ABR- 1
bridge with a “lightweight” aluminum tailpiece.
The guitar has had many
notes played on the upper and
lower frets. Some frets were pit-
ted, while others had a flat and
extremely low playing surface.
To check fret-to-fretboard con-
tact, I use a .001 feeler gauge. If
the feeler gauge slides between
the underside of the fret bed
and the fretboard playing sur-
face, the fret (or frets) would
need to be reseated. But on this
particular guitar, the frets were
past the point of saving, so we
planned for a complete re-fret.
JOHN BROWN is the
inventor of the Fretted/
Less bass. He owns and
operates Brown’s Guitar
Factory, a guitar manufac-
turing, repair, and restoration
facility staffed by a team of
talented luthiers. His guitar-tool and acces-
sory designs are used by builders all over the
world. Visit brownsguitarfactory.com or email
John at info@brownsguitarfactory.com.
