This is the 1952 Les Paul I got to play...

M

marsonic

Power User
So, a while ago, I mentioned getting to play a 1952 Les Paul.

The story was that I was playing a run-of-the-mill LP Special, and the owner of the shop asked If I was a P-90 Les Paul guy. I said, "Definitely a LP guy; mostly curious about P-90s". He walked to the office and came back with "Here, play a '52". That was at their old location. Since Rhett has been making videos at the shop, I was wondering how long it would be until he did a video with it.



I will say that some of RS's comments didn't make sense to me. At least when I played it, the action towards the high end of the fretboard was close to half an inch. I guess maybe that's what he meant by a very flat neck. It was not an easy guitar to play.

Also, no, you don't have to be "special" to play that shop's rare or old stuff. At least, they've never balked about me playing things. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure that the Junior he played towards the end of the video was a 1960 if it was the same one I've played. That guitar was very tempting.

The listings:

https://bighouseguitars.com/collections/solid-body/products/1952-les-paul

https://bighouseguitars.com/collections/solid-body/products/1960-gibson-les-paul-jr-wine-red-used
 
SweetPete said:
Can the action on the '52 not be lowered with that type of bridge?
Click to expand...

There's a limit. When they built the first LPs, they made the neck flat and used a bridge off an archtop - which just didn't give it the proper geometry. If you just drop the bridge height, it'll buzz on the first few frets (near the nut)....the action down there is already on the low side.

They fixed it in either '53 or '54 (IIRC) first by tilting the neck back in the pocket and then by changing the bridge/tail design. This particular one, at least according to the story, was one of the first ~50 made.
 
SweetPete said:
Can the action on the '52 not be lowered with that type of bridge?
Click to expand...
not really - story goes (to the best of my knowledge) that Gibson actually set up the geometry of the first Les Paul completely wrong and the strings pass UNDER the bridge, not over it, which was what Les himself actually wanted. The practical offshoot of this is a very shallow neck angle that makes it pretty much impossible to get a low action with the original bridge. It was sort of fixed in 1953, but some (including mine) still had a pretty low neck angle which means you can get lowish, but not shreddy action. The original trapeze tailpiece ones are actually very easy to fix with a beautifully made aftermarket tailpiece from I think Mastery, which even compensates the intonation for an unwound G string. They are AWESOME guitars, and in vintage Les Paul pricing terms are an absolute bargain even now due to that neck angle thingy.
 
Mojoaxe actually ;
CTT Tailpiece 031 800.jpg
totally fixes the problem.
52 Les Pauls do have a neck angle but only around 2 degrees instead of the more typical 4.
 
marsonic said:
So, a while ago, I mentioned getting to play a 1952 Les Paul.

The story was that I was playing a run-of-the-mill LP Special, and the owner of the shop asked If I was a P-90 Les Paul guy. I said, "Definitely a LP guy; mostly curious about P-90s". He walked to the office and came back with "Here, play a '52". That was at their old location. Since Rhett has been making videos at the shop, I was wondering how long it would be until he did a video with it.



I will say that some of RS's comments didn't make sense to me. At least when I played it, the action towards the high end of the fretboard was close to half an inch. I guess maybe that's what he meant by a very flat neck. It was not an easy guitar to play.

Also, no, you don't have to be "special" to play that shop's rare or old stuff. At least, they've never balked about me playing things. Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure that the Junior he played towards the end of the video was a 1960 if it was the same one I've played. That guitar was very tempting.

The listings:

https://bighouseguitars.com/collections/solid-body/products/1952-les-paul

https://bighouseguitars.com/collections/solid-body/products/1960-gibson-les-paul-jr-wine-red-used
Click to expand...

I love the "Only one left".:tearsofjoy:
 
Andy Eagle said:
Mojoaxe actually ;
View attachment 131640
totally fixes the problem.
52 Les Pauls do have a neck angle but only around 2 degrees instead of the more typical 4.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but that's a completely different bridge.

They're not going to do that to an immaculate, all-original 1952.

I'm just about certain that JJN uses one of those bridges on the 52 or 53 LP that he rescued/restored from being in a tornado.
 
marsonic said:
Yeah, but that's a completely different bridge.

They're not going to do that to an immaculate, all-original 1952.

I'm just about certain that JJN uses one of those bridges on the 52 or 53 LP that he rescued/restored from being in a tornado.
Click to expand...
Almost everyone playing an original 52 uses the Mojoaxe as it is a direct fit and actually works. Dorothy has had a stop tail fitted for a bridge and a tailpiece that is correct. It should have had an archtop bridge on as it was not originally drilled on the top at all. It's a poor choice for a restoration.
 
Before and after;
151334dorothy-1.jpg
You can identify the bridge it had by the faded shape compared to the bridges Gibson had available in 52.
102473_dorothy-g.jpg
Why it wasn't investigated as to what it had originally I can't imagine because they got the right tailpiece.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Almost everyone playing an original 52 uses the Mojoaxe as it is a direct fit and actually works. Dorothy has had a stop tail fitted for a bridge and a tailpiece that is correct. It should have had an archtop bridge on as it was not originally drilled on the top at all. It's a poor choice for a restoration.
Click to expand...

People playing them, yes. But a shop that owns one and is at least theoretically trying to sell it?
 
marsonic said:
People playing them, yes. But a shop that owns one and is at least theoretically trying to sell it?
Click to expand...
They'd stand far more chance of selling the guitar with a MojoAxe tailpiece on it and the original in the case pocket. The 52s / early 53s are the least desirable of all vintage Les Pauls because of the bridge - literally everyone including staunch vintage freaks accept that replacing the original bridge with something like the MojoAxe (which is a totally reversible mod and leave no trace whatsoever if/when removed) is a distinct improvement that makes the guitar into a genuinely playable instrument rather than a pretty wall ornament. It's not a big deal, seriously and unless the original tailpiece disappears it has zero impact on the value of the instrument - more likely positive in fact.
Andy Eagle said:
Mojoaxe actually ;
View attachment 131640
totally fixes the problem.
52 Les Pauls do have a neck angle but only around 2 degrees instead of the more typical 4.
Click to expand...
Kinda makes me wish mine was a 52 rather than a shallow neck angle stoptail 53 :(
 
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