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Topic: This was a rare '57 Gibson Ultratone v4 with PAF humbucker |
Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2014 8:47 am |
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According to the lovely and informative Gibson Electric Steel Guitars 1935-1967 by A.R. Duchossoir:
"The Ultratone was equipped with a humbucking pickup from late 1957..."
"A fully original Ultratone v4 is a very rare sight today because (i) less than 30 or so were made and (ii) those that have survived are often stripped of their highly coveted "patent-appled-for" humbucker!"
This instrument would appear to qualify, based on the the following observations:
1) There was apparently a humbucking-style pickup ring installed as evidenced by the four screw holes on each corner of the pickup cavity.
2) The "7" prefix on the serial number would seem to indicate this instrument was manufactured in 1957.
3) The (much more) common v3 Ultratone with the P-90 style pickup is equipped with a different bridge, with seemingly wider string spacing, such as on this 1954 model.
Would be interested to hear the opinions from the many Gibson aficionados who visit this Forum about what appears on the surface to be one of the rare v4 Ultratones.
Last edited by Jack Hanson on 16 Oct 2014 9:08 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2014 9:32 am
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| I don't know if that guitar had a PAF humbucker, but that guitar was on eBay last week, no? Did you buy it? |
Yup. Figured it was worth taking a chance on for $118.02. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 19 Sep 2014 11:32 am
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I was watching that auction all week because I wanted the fretboard for my Century 6 (the fret lines are slightly off on the upper end of mine). But then I realized that it wouldn't fit. Then I thought I'd buy it anyway and install the electronics from my Gibson into that body, but the pickup cavity looks quite a bit different from mine, so I passed on it.
BTW did you notice that the seller sold the bridge Cover and tuners Cover for that lap steel in a separate auction? Those covers sold for $300.00! 
-----> CLICK
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2014 12:15 pm
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| BTW did you notice that the seller sold the bridge Cover and tuners Cover for that lap steel in a separate auction? Those covers sold for $300.00! |
Those covers in decent condition likely are quite rare. Their selling price was surprising, nonetheless.
Personally, I feel the bridge cover just gets in the way of my right hand. I bought my black v1 Century 6 quite cheaply, likely because its bridge cover was missing. I removed the mounting stud and have never looked back.
I also removed the cover and its mounting stud from my blue v2 Century. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2014 3:34 pm
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| If you wanna put a hum bucker back in, see Jason Lollar. His are the best! |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 20 Sep 2014 12:41 pm
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| John Billings wrote: |
| If you wanna put a hum bucker back in, see Jason Lollar. His are the best! |
It should be fairly easy to determine by the bridge spacing whether or not the instrument originally had a humbucker installed. If so, will definitely contact Mr. Lollar. Have heard nothing but good things about his products. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 20 Sep 2014 12:48 pm
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| Oftentimes, Jason will have a tech online for info. Jason will know eggs-ackly which pup your guitar needs. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 9:28 am
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Just returned home from a six week tour of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Upon unpacking and examining this Gibson Ultratone body, it would almost certainly appear to be one of the rare 1957 models that originally had a PAF humbucker installed. The string spacing at the bridge is approximately 3/8" narrower than every P-90 equipped Gibson six-string lap steel I have measured.
The bridge would match up well with the polepieces on a standard Gibson humbucker, but would be far too narrow for the polepieces on a Gibson P-90 lap steel pickup. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 11 Oct 2014 9:34 am
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| Cool! Get Jason's Imperial humbucker |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 16 Oct 2014 9:04 am
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| John Billings wrote: |
| Cool! Get Jason's Imperial humbucker |
I sent a photo and the measurements of the rout to Jason Lollar and they confirmed that one of their humbuckers will fit the Ultratone.
They say that their Imperial "should be close to what it originally had," and for "more of a single coil tone the El Rayo model" would fill the bill. They further state that for "more of a modern pedal steel sound the high wind imperial- a little darker and smoother than the other two choices."
Now it's decision time... |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 16 Oct 2014 9:06 am
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| Jason knows what he's doin'! |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 16 Oct 2014 11:23 am
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| easy to see why it was parted out. the PAF is worth what...a grand or more? |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 20 Oct 2014 7:48 am
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| Bill Hatcher wrote: |
| easy to see why it was parted out. the PAF is worth what...a grand or more? |
It's unfortunate, but true. As Doug pointed out above, the plastic headstock and pickup/bridge covers sold for almost triple the price of what was left of the instrument itself after it had been stripped.
Fortunately, all the essential missing parts (tuners, pickup, mounting ring, jack, jackplate, pots, knobs, and capacitors) are still available from Gibson and other sources.
I have all the missing parts on order, and am anxious to compare the completed project with my similar blue Century with its original P-90 pickup.
One of the guys I play music with has an issue with 60-cycle hum from the fluorescent fixtures in his band cave that raises havoc with single-coil pickups. Hoping that this Ultratone with a humbucker installed will solve that problem. |
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