Gibson Les paul with facotory Kahler Tremolo

[sniperfrommars1]

I bought a gibson les paul from the early to mid eighties last night for 500 bucks. Its candy apple red with ivory body and neck binding, mother of pearl dot inlays, and what appears to be a factory installed kahler tremolo system. Its a really pro looking original job. Any concept to how much this guitar is actually worth now/ I emailed gibson with the serial number but im dying to know something about the history of these instruments. Ive used the kahler quite a bit before on another gibson and i dig the trem, its just cool having a locking trem on a les paul.

[Scott Smith]

I've got a DiAdario poster with the guitarist from Creed playing that exact model. As for price, those don't fetch alot. True Les Paul freaks don't like the Kahler route. But they do appeal to "shred" guitarists somewhat. If it's in decent condition it sounds like you did pretty good. I'd call Gibson and have them run the serial number for you. They are faster over the phone...

[Scott Smith]

Another thing that has an adverse effect on the price is the dot inlays. Some of the 80's Studio's had dots and they don't get as much as ones with full traps in the used market...

[sniperfrommars1]

Its in decent condition a few dings here and there. I could really care less about who likes locking trems as im a major fan of them and theres something cool about being able to do all the parts from for the love of god on a les paul. lol WOuld you have any pictures of that poster of yours? perhaps you could upload some in this thread for me. This morning i took the cover off the bridge pickup and cleaned it up a little, took off the fingerrest and slapped some good strings on it. The guitar sounds good so Im damn happy. I did email gibson though by the way and they dont have a clue what guitar it is. Its an 86 is all they know but im gonna send em pictures to see if they can identify the model name. Im just glad its NOT a studio that was the only thing they could confirm for me. Still i got a good sounding guitar for a good price so Im happy. Now I just need to get that half stack and im set.

[Scott Smith]

I take it that it doesn't say Standard on the Truss Rod Cover? I'm positive it is a Standard.

[sniperfrommars1]

Originally Posted by Scott Smith

I take it that it doesn't say Standard on the Truss Rod Cover? I'm positive it is a Standard.

Well it doesnt but it does have the factory trussrod cover, remember on this model the trussrod cover isnt full sized so it can accomodate the kahler locking nut. Not enough room to say standard. I agree about the inlays i wish it had trapezoid, although the dots are rather nice looking, most likely abalone from what i can tell with lots of nice color. I wonder what it would look like with a nice vine inlay. Standard it is then. It plays exceptionally too.

[Scott Smith]

Forgot about the small truss rod. Yep, it's a Standard. They only put those Kahlers on Standards and Customs. Nice score there. At a good price too. I'd like to get one someday...

[sniperfrommars1]

Ill let you know first then if I ever decide to sell her, but i doubt that as ive still got all but one of the 12 guitars ive purchased. ANy clue as to what model pickups were in this one? They dont have a model number on the bottom of em just the patent number or whatever it is.

[pawel]

congrats on the purchase - Mind sharing some pics? I'm curious as to what an LP with a Kahler looks like...

[sniperfrommars1]

Originally Posted by pawel

congrats on the purchase - Mind sharing some pics? I'm curious as to what an LP with a Kahler looks like...

Ill take some pics some time tommorrow im dead tired. I will do that though. IF you check out ebay right now though I found a nice white les paul custom with a factory installed kahler earlier.

[Scott Smith]

I'm not really sure what kind of Pickups are in yours. I think the 490 series didn't start that early. And I think they were done using Dirty Fingers at that point as well. If you want, check out www.lespaulforum.com and post an inquiry. Those guys know everything about all Les Pauls. I've gotten great insight there...

[sniperfrommars1]

Oh yeah scott there were a few models released with the kahler with a different nut design, but hte ones ive seen were custom shop models. It looks like a completely different nut design with 6 allen screws instead of 3, and it fits around the trussrod cover. This may be a retrofit though the guy who has it doesnt know if its original or not.

[zebopper]

If it has dots it's a Studio model. Standard's have the trapezopid inlays. The Kahler is most probably non-original and installed as an aftermarket mod. Still, $500 is real fair deal for a solid working Gibson, and if you like whammy bars the Kahler is a really cool bonus.

[LonePhantom]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

[ZOMB13]

6 year old bump.....6.....