Gibson Les Paul Goldtop 53/57 Conversion (1953)

It's one thing to have a vintage Les Paul conversion in your hands, and it's another to have one completed by none other than Terry Mueller. He's one of the guitar industry's most respected vintage repair experts and long considered a conversion master in the vintage LP world. With this '53 Les Paul conversion in hand, it's no surprise his name carries the weight it does. This guitar started its life as a true 1953 Gibson Les Paul model, Goldtop finish and all. It eventually made it into Terry's hands, where he converted it to 1957 specs, adding humbuckers, an ABR-1 bridge, and a stopbar tailpiece. The original neck set and angle was maintained, and despite it being on the slightly shallower side (common through the middle of 1953), it adapted to the later 50s spec without issue. Terry did a fantastic job of blending the original Goldtop finish with repaired areas, only revealing a few small shadow spots from the previous hardware locations. Some light clear overspray is evident on the top, likely as an effort to give the finish some visual consistency.

The guitar suffered a headstock break as well (likely the impetus for the conversion), and was expertly repaired with little evidence to show for it. The body was refinished in a "darkback" style, but the original control plates and tuners were used again. The original pickguard also remains, having been recut to accommodate the larger humbucker mounting rings. Also original is the toggle switch plate, and the earlier thin variety at that. It still features its original Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard and original small frets all while maintaining great playability.

Outfitted with Throbak SLE101s, it delivers a powerful, punchy voice with excellent top end and sweet dynamic range. The modern CTS pots and 50s wiring keep things functioning great while retaining all the great tonality you achieve with volume and tone manipulation.

Give a great chef the right ingredients, and they'll deliver a quality meal - the same rings true with these golden era guitars. In the right hands, they can be revitalized in ways we probably couldn't have imagined decades ago.

Priced with a period Lifton hardshell case.