GUEST
My grandfather gave me this guitar when I was about 12, 12 or 13, 1967 or '68. And it's a 1955.
APPRAISER
It's from late 1955, which is about two years after it was introduced.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And this guitar was $325 in 1955 when it was new.
GUEST
That's a lot of money.
APPRAISER
That was a lot of money in 1955.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
It was Gibson's attempt to come up with a fancier, more deluxe Les Paul. So it had a lot of features that the regular Les Paul lacked, including all the extra black and white binding around the edges,
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
and the pearl inlay on the Fingerboard had better tuners than the regular Les Paul. The split block pearl inlay on the head stock. So it was a serious...
GUEST
Fancy.
APPRAISER
...serious piece of gear, and a major step up from the regular Les Paul, which had a gold top at this point.
GUEST
Oh.
APPRAISER
So this was quite different, you would have-- if you saw them both in the showroom, there would be this kind of gold, metal flake colored Les Paul, and then this one, which they called "The Black Beauty,"
GUEST
Ah.
APPRAISER
'cause it was pearl, and white, and black, and very dramatic.
GUEST
Yes.
APPRAISER
So it came in two versions. So one version had a Bigsby tail piece with a vibrato. And the other version had a stoptail piece. This guitar originally had the stoptail piece, but whoever had it wanted to be able to, you know, use a whammy bar
GUEST
Yeah. (laughs)
APPRAISER
and so they filled the holes for the stoptail piece.
GUEST
Ah.
APPRAISER
And bought this after-market tailpiece with the whammy bar on it. That was a major, major change, but it meant that they could get that, you know, kind of tremolo sound. Unfortunately, that didn't do a lot for its value.
GUEST
Lowers the value.
APPRAISER
It's a really nice version, it has, you know, all its original hardware, except for that change, and the original case, and the finish has some wear, but it's all what we would call honest wear.
GUEST
Yeah, it's been played.
APPRAISER
Tell us about what you played on it.
GUEST
I played... "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," and "Evil Ways," and all kinds of music like that in an all-girl band in the '70s.
APPRAISER
How many years did that band last?
GUEST
One. (laughing) One and a half, maybe. But we had two or three gigs.
APPRAISER
In its current condition, in a vintage specialty shop, it would probably sell for about $12,000.
GUEST
Awesome.
APPRAISER
But that's about two-thirds of what it would sell for if it hadn't been modified.
GUEST
Oh...
APPRAISER
So a 1955 with its original stoptail piece in the same condition would be closer to $18,000, maybe even $20,000.
GUEST
Yeah. Well, that's okay, it's a family heirloom, and it's going to stay in the family. Get the band back together.
APPRAISER
Lots of times people do that. They'll track down the ol' pals and...
GUEST
Yeah, lots of times they shouldn't.
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