Les Paul Modifications

My philosophy on modifying guitars is that of a doctors "Do no harm".

Meaning avoid drilling, cutting and things that can't be undone.
The Tobacco Les Paul has Gibson Reissiues installed. The Custom has a Bigsby installed and I was able to get a hole cap to cover the tunamatic bridge hole. I added the Bigsby because I felt it would add value, astetics and I wanted a wiggle stick. The Custom is tough I didn't want to do too much and wanted to keep it original. Note about Gibson the Tobacco LP I bought in '79 for $275.00 and the Custom I got new for $800 on 1987. They've both probably quadrupled in value.

The appreciation in value has happened to all Les Pauls across the board, the 50's and early 60's LP's make sense. The increased value of the late '60s, 70's and 80's may not be warranted based on a variety of reasons. First the construction of the late '60s & 70's were different in some key spots. Head angle was deceased, the volute was increased all to keep the headstock from cracking and breaking. This effected the tone. The book matched flame tops disappeared in favor of a 3 piece top. The components of the pick ups changed. Plus the wood itself, I've read that drier the wood the improved tone. This is way beyond the kiln drying that stabilizes the dimensions this is more about the long period of drying occuring in the warehouse prior to use. I surmize that the amount of kiln dried and 100 year old stored book matched maple may be of limited supply with the volume of LPs produced.