Custom Gibson Les Paul with 17 interchangable pickups!!!

SunDog · Tadpole Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Arizona

****** SEE PICS BELOW ********

This guitar recently sold on eBay. If you have an eBay account, then you can see the expired listing.

Because I'm new to the forum, I can't post links. So, go to eBay and:

- click Advanced Search
- paste this into the search textbox: Gibson Les Paul Custom with 17 pickups
- click the checkbox that says Completed Listings Only
- you may be prompted to login

I was considering bidding, but got distracted towards the end of the auction and missed it.

Has anyone ever seen a les paul or any guitar for that matter that was designed for demo'ing pickups such as this one? I thought that it was probably quite rare. I also wondered how well it performed sonically considering the holes for the pickups completely thru the body (assuming that there was nothing wrong with it; ie: neck issues, electronic issues, etc).

Any comments?

Thanks,
SunDog

SAguitar · Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:28 pm Post subject:

Welcome to the Forum!

Well, I went and looked at it. That is one unusual Les Paul. If it is authentic, then it was probably a guitar set up at the factory for testing, or made for demonstration at a NAMM show.

Stay tuned,
Stan

SunDog · Tadpole Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Arizona

Thanks! I think that I'll be visiting the forum often. Yeah, I thought that it was such an interesting guitar that I downloaded the pics and auction description. Once I'm able, I'll post the pics and description so all can see...

SunDog

SAguitar · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:26 am Post subject:

I did a search on Ebay, found it, and checked it out. It did look like it was actually made by Gibson like that, probably for a show or for pickup testing in the factory. Very unusual axe! Laughing

Jack Daniels · Growing Lion Joined: 29 May 2004 Posts: 879

I didn't search for it but it sounds like the guitar you could by if you were a gibson authorized dealer. The idea was to sell more Gibson pickups at your shop, you would buy this real less paul with this setup for quick changes. The pickups were mounted to wood blocks that slipped into the guitar from the back. The blocks had small electrical contacts on them to insert the pup into the circuit. As a dealer you could buy as many blocks as you wanted. Usually one for each pickup you were going to sell.

Does this sound like the guitar you were seeing in the auction?

SAguitar · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:23 am Post subject:

That's it, bro! I had never seen one of those bad boys before. Crazy, man... Cool

SunDog · Tadpole Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Arizona

Ok, here are the pics:

firedude · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:24 am Post subject:

That is way cool, how much did it sell for?

SunDog · Tadpole Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 20 Location: Arizona

$2,999.95 + shipping, 1 bidder