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Gibson 1960 Les Paul Special |
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The Les Paul Special was introduced in 1955 as a lower cost version of the LP Regular. It was the same guitar as the TV version with an extra single coil pickup at the neck and binding around the fretboard. The finish of the guitar was also a lime green color. This guitar is a VOS Gibson which means it has the 'Vintage Original Specifications' of that found on the original version at the time they were made. In 1959 it was renamed to the SG Special with no apparent changes to the guitar other than removing the Les Paul name. SG was an acronym for 'Solid Guitar' which ended up confusing SG collectors in later years. The confusion seems to have come about because of the introduction of the LP Special double cut-away version. This body shape was the forerunner of the SG body shape. To confuse things even more there was a 3/4 scale double cut-away version as well. It had a 22.75 inch scale length neck. There are apparently 3 different versions of the LP/SG Special: One with an LP body shape, one with the double cut-away shape, and another with the same double cut-away shape with a shorter scale length. It wasn't until 1961 that the body had the highly contoured horns that are found on the SG of today. The 5-ply pickguard is black and has beveled edges. The body of the 1960 version is that of a Les Paul (thicker single cut-away), which is made of mahogany and painted the TV model's yellow color. At the time there were a few that where cherry and mahogany colored. It uses a stopbar bridge and tailpiece and has nickel plated hardware. The 24.75 scale length neck is made of a single piece of mahogany and has a 1959 neck profile. The rosewood fretboard has 22 frets and has a single-ply binding. There are Pearloid dot inlays at the position markers. The body/neck joint uses a longer tenon which allows the LP body to have a stronger neck joint. The tuners are closed back strip type with oval plastic buttons. The electronics used in this re-issue are made to the same specs using CTS pots and Bumble Bee capacitors. The wiring diagram is the same as well with two volume, two tone controls, and a 3-way pickup selector switch. As with the original this one uses two P-90 pickups. The input jack is found on the side of the guitar as with other LP's. The 3-way pickup selector has a plastic ring which says 'Treble' and 'Rhythm' on it. The control knobs are the Tophat type which is just like the original. Other than the body shape and thickness other differences between the versions where that the location of the 3-way pickup selector. On the double cut-away model it was found near the bridge pickup above the volume control. On the LP body it was found where you'd expect to find it on any Les Paul, above the neck pickup. The other difference is the body/neck joint on the double cut-away was at the 22nd fret while the LP single cut-away was found at the 16th fret. Features
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