1952 Gibson Les Paul ALL ORIGINAL, ALL GOLD! 1st Year! Start Price USD 39,019.52 Current Price USD 39,019.52 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, November 29, 2008 End Time Saturday, December 06, 2008 Location Sweet New England See more about '1952 Gibson Les Paul ALL ORIGINAL, ALL GOLD! 1st Year!' Description ~click any image for a larger view~ Clean ALL ORIGINAL, ALL GOLD Les Paul "Introduced in 1952, the Les Paul Model (or Les Paul Regular) was Gibson's first solid body and also the founding member of a line of electrics associated with the famed guitarist and innovator....the first Les Pauls were characterized by a combined bar bridge/trapeze tailpiece outfit..Despite the common gold-top nickname, many instruments were actually released with an all-gold finish like the ES-295."-excerpts from "Gibson Electrics-The Classic Years"-A.R.Duchossoir Body dimensions 12 3/4" wide x 17 1/4" long x 1 3/4" deep single cutaway shape one piece mahogany with carved maple top single cream binding on top edge 24 3/4" scale length two single coil pickups with cream-colored plastic covers individual volume and tone controls for each pickup Les Paul combination trapeze bridge/tailpiece nickel plated metal parts single ply cream plastic pickguard "Gibson's factory records show that 9,557 LP Model/Standards were shipped between 1952 and 1960, but no precise account can be given for each of the successive variants. Considering the periods of changeover, a reasonable estimate would suggest about 3,950 gold-tops with P-90s and combination trapeze tailpiece." We can only guess how few of the 1716 estimated 1952 production of this model, were issued with the ALL-GOLD finish variation. Of that number, very few, if any, survive in THIS condition. Carefully selected from the many 50s Les Pauls I've had the pleasure of handling over the years, this rare and clean Les Paul is one of a rare few ALL GOLD models made in 1952 , the first year of production, and it's the cleanest example I've ever encountered. It's **ALL ORIGINAL** and it's at least a 8.75 out of possible 10 in condition. (I'm being conservative...some who have seen it have rated it a "13" on a 10 scale) This was meticulously maintained by the original owner and remains in exceptional original condition with relatively minor traces of use...a small area of edge wear of the back, minor edged wear along the fingerboard on the back of the neck and some nicks but none on the typical top checking or greening that these gold models are prone to have. This is an outstanding prize that hasn't been up and down the street like many. In fact, the person I got it from drove to Nashville back in the mid-80s to select a vintage Les Paul from dozens that were available on Gruhn's list at the time. He told me this one was put out the day he arrived and there was never any doubt in his mind when he saw it. Several years later I finally succeeded in trading for it (I miss that No-caster!!) and it's been in my collection since. Everything is right...tuners, tailpiece/bridge, p-90 pickups, pickguard, control knobs, nut, frets and CLEAN original brown hard case too. Nice set of repro tags with it. (Came with one original..) It's a real honey and it plays well too. Note...the photos show some discoloration which is exposure related I guess. No such discoloration is evident in person. Posting some new (and hopefully better) photos. Thanks for looking and I hope the sight of this fine vintage Gibson feeds your soul as it has mine for so many years. I am required by ebay to accept Paypal (fees are prohibitive so it is not my preferred method of payment). I do also accept all the good ol' payment methods we all used before the latest ebay revolution though ebay will not allow me to describe them Good Luck. Payment MUST be received within 5 days. No bids from bidders with excessive negative feedback OR excessive bid retractions please. No bids from zero feedback bidders without prior arrangement. Place a Bid!