Members stickman393 Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 A nice find at the Marin County Guitar Fair this weekend: A Gibson L6-S Deluxe: It's got a 6-digit serial number beginning with #96____ stamped on the back of the headstock, along with "Made in USA". Apparently this makes it difficult to figure out what year it was made. If anyone has any insight on that I'd love to hear about it. It has to be 1975 - 80 at the latest. It's in great condition, and although it's a player, it had obviously been sitting in its case for some years before showing up at the fair. I'm currently trying to clean the (original) case to remove any possibility of mold or mildew. The guitar had a slight musty smell that fortunately is going away after a couple of days out in the daylight. The rosewood fingerboard drank a glass and a half of lemon oil but now feels great. The action is nice, the neck is great, altogether a nice find. The Bill Lawrence pickups are fat but with lots of treble. I'm not a pickup expert so I don't really know how they compare to others. The L6-S is an odd beast. It is has a thin maple body reminiscent of the classic Les Paul shape, but with thickness and contouring similar to a classic SG. I confess I've wanted one of these ever since watching this video: [video=youtube;tI72n1oMSlI] (That was supposed to start at time 1m 45s into the clip. Sorry about that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8centilli Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 woo hoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExiledCrow Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Cool score! HNGD EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members araneida Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Mike Oldfield is a genius. I recently bought the live at Montreaux, and all the ommadawn performance was truly incredible.He also got a monster tone from his sg with p90 and his fingers. Happy NGD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyatt Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Date codes on the pots? Probably a '74 or '75. In mid-'75 they changed to a decal for a few years, then the 8 digit stamped serial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tupelo Son Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Very nice, looks great! CONGRATS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Into Nation Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Mine is a '74, 6 digit starting with 54. Guitar dater using the same info I used but with 96xxxx says: Your guitar was made at theKalamazoo or Nashville Plant , USAapproximately in: 1970, 1971 or 1972 You should type in your actual serial number though. HNGD! edit: I guess 70-72 must be wrong, I think earliest was 73-74 http://www.guitardaterproject.org/gibson.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dcindc Posted January 11, 2011 Members Share Posted January 11, 2011 Good find! I hated mine, but it was prolly a dud. HNGD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MahaloVision Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 It's nice that you found one that hadn't been modded to death. One of the guys I used to play with used one, and he could cover just about anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harold heckuba Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 Those are nice, I have had two. Prince used to play one in the late 70's- early 80's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members j*h Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 that looks great!congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bbreaker Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 Congrats. ( o Y o ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scott944 Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 The current issue of PG has a column about dating '70's era Gibsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mister natural Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 I had one in the late 70s - loved that guitar . . . why on earth did I ever get rid of it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoJo68 Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 Congrats, my buddy and former bandmate has 2 and they are killer guitars ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Radar-Love Posted January 12, 2011 Members Share Posted January 12, 2011 I am the original owner of a 1975 natural finish all-maple (maple body, maple neck, maple fingerboard) L6-S with the chrome Bill Lawrence designed pickups, T-O-M bridge, stop tailpiece, and 24 frets. Even though it looks a lot like a Les Paul, it does not sound like a Les Paul, nor was it meant to sound like a Les Paul or any other existing (then) Gibson electric. Instead, it sounds bright and almost Fender-like. Just this fact was enough alienate a significant portion of Gibson lovers back in the day and give the L6-S a bad name that it never deserved. By the way, an L6-S plugged into a Vox ACxx amp is a wonderful combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 I used to have one of those, it's one of a very few that I sold off and one that I regret letting go. At the time I let it go because I also had a Les Paul and thought it was redundant, and now I think, "That's no reason to get rid of your oldest Gibson guitar!". They were considered a bit of an oddball 70's design, but I wish now I'd hung onto it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueSky1963 Posted January 13, 2011 Members Share Posted January 13, 2011 Nice. Did you get a deal on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RyanP Posted February 14, 2011 Members Share Posted February 14, 2011 I also have an L6 Deluxe (exactly like the one you bought) which has a serial number beginning in 96. I bought it new in Sept, 1976. I think the Deluxe was first made in 1975, so that should narrow it down for you a bit. I'm not sure that we can determine the exact date. It's probably not worth more now than what I paid for it, but I bought it to play, not as an investment. I find the bridge pick up to treble-y for my ear, but it's still a fine guitar which I play seveal times a week. I adore the thin neck. Wish I still had the Fender Deluxe Reverb I bought the same year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ArticStrat Posted February 14, 2011 Members Share Posted February 14, 2011 I had one in the early 70"s and loved it. Times were tough and I got married. Had to sell for the money. Bummer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HanSolo Posted February 17, 2011 Members Share Posted February 17, 2011 I thought the L6S came with a 6 way rotary switch (vari-tone) and the smooth-top Bill Lawrence chrome buckers. I had one with a maple neck and body like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted February 17, 2011 Members Share Posted February 17, 2011 I thought the L6S came with a 6 way rotary switch (vari-tone) and the smooth-top Bill Lawrence chrome buckers. I had one with a maple neck and body like that. That's the custom (I used to own one). The deluxe is as pictured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted February 17, 2011 Members Share Posted February 17, 2011 sweet! you don't see those around that much any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Woody_in_MN Posted February 17, 2011 Members Share Posted February 17, 2011 Oh very nice. I really like it. 4 paws up from Lamb Chop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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