The Gibson ES-335

George playing his beloved “Lucy”. Just a refinished 57 Goldtop and one of the most famous guitars on Earth.

I’ll move away from 335’s for a bit because I just got in a whole load of Les Paul conversions. Two of them are unusual in that they were converted to look like George Harrison’s well known Les Paul, nicknamed “Lucy”. I’ll get to that in a minute but first some history. At the height of Beatlemania, John, Paul, George and Ringo could afford any gear they wanted and, being Beatles, every instrument maker was clamoring for them to use their products-free of charge, of course. It is interesting that the guitars they first used were not particularly popular here in the USA (until the Beatles used them). Gretsch was well known but not at the level of Fender and Gibson. Once we all saw George playing his Country Gentleman on Ed Sullivan, sales went through the roof. Stratocasters were later acquired by John and George as were three Epiphone Casinos. Sales of those also went way up although Stratocasters were already wildly popular thanks to Buddy Holly and a zillion other players in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The Gibson Les Paul simply wasn’t a popular guitar at this time. A few British players discovered them as did John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful. The first time I ever saw a Les Paul was in 1966 in the hands of John Sebastian on “Shindig” on ABC or maybe it was “Hullabaloo” on NBC. The fact that no Beatle played one until 1968 isn’t that surprising. They simply weren’t very popular. Lucy was the first Les Paul owned by a Beatle. Paul still owns one (a lefty, of course).

According to Wikipedia, the Lucy guitar, in its goldtop finish, was previously owned by Skip Boone, brother of Steve Boone of the Lovin’ Spoonful. It is my understanding that it was also owned by John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful. Still a goldtop, it was sold to Rick Derringer of the 60’s pop group, The McCoys who had a few hits and Derringer went on to have a long solo career as both a player and a producer. The 57 Gibson Les Paul goldtop (SN 7-8789) was getting kind of beat up and he was convinced to have it refinished. It was sent to Gibson to have the top refinished in the translucent red that was popular at the time. When he got it back, he didn’t like it so much any more although no one knows exactly why.

Derringer traded it in at Dan Armstrong’s shop In Greenwich Village and, shortly after Armstrong acquired it, it was bought by Eric Clapton. Nobody cared much about refinishes back then. It was simply, a used guitar. Clapton never bonded with it and he gifted it in 1968 to his good friend, George Harrison. George, who didn’t seem the type to name his guitars, named this one “Lucy”. It was red, after all, and the world’s most famous redhead was one Lucille Ball. George had started to move away from the Gretsch’s he famously played in the early days. He and John had acquired Stratocasters in 65 and he painted his in psychedelic day glo colors and called it Rocky (maybe he was the type to name his guitars). Rocky saw a lot of hours in the studio. George acquired a Gibson SG around the time Paperback Writer was recorded and he was likely taken with the sound of Gibson’s humbucking pickups. His good friend Eric Clapton was certainly aware of this…he played an SG (“The Fool”) during much of the Cream era and also had a 60 Les Paul and a 64 ES-335 during that period. All humbucker equipped Gibsons.

When Clapton was invited to play on George’s “While my Guitar Gently Weeps”, he arrived at EMI without a guitar. George handed him “Lucy” and you know the rest. The story doesn’t end there, however. Lucy was one of George’s favorite guitars and it was stolen from his home in Los Angeles in 1973. By this time, George could certainly afford any guitar he wanted but he was set on getting Lucy back. It had been sold to a Mexican musician named Miguel Ochoa. After a lot of back and forth haggling, Ochoa agreed to take a 58 Les Paul burst and a Fender P-bass in trade for Lucy. Think about that-a real burst and a new P-Bass in trade for a refinished goldtop. George must have really liked that red guitar. George owned “Lucy” until his death in 2001. I believe the family still owns it.

George played Lucy for most of the white album and much of Abbey Road including the iconic “guitar duel” in Abbey Road’s “The End”-one of my favorite moments on any Beatles LP. Gibson reissued a copy of Lucy in 2007 and again in 2013. The range of prices for these reissues is insane. As much as $90,000 (2013-one of 100) and as little as $15,000 (2007 VOS finish). If you want a vintage version, there have been a few conversions made from 50’s goldtops like the original. As I mentioned, I have two of them. No fan worth his Beatle boots should be without one.

This is a converted 1952 center seam with a pair of double white PAFs. Conversion by Jim Weyandt

This one, also a center seam 52, looks a lot like the original Lucy. This one has double white PAFs as well. George’s Lucy did not. Jim Weyandt did this one as well.

There are conversions of all kinds-not just Les Pauls. This Ferrari Daytona makes the point more clearly than a guitar. They only made 122 convertibles but they made 1400 Berlinettas (coupes). So, some smart guy decided it made sense to cut the roof off of a $500,000 car and turn it into an $850,000 car. An original convertible? Two million and change. So, a conversion is less than half the price of the original. Sound familiar?

Conversions are nothing new. There is the religious kind and the football kind (a big deal here in Ohio). There is also a 335 conversion done by turning an EB-2 bass into a 335 (Ken McKay does those). But this post goes off topic a bit and talks about (gasp) Les Paul conversions. Yes, I’m being a bit self serving because, somehow, I have four of them in my inventory.

A great example that isn’t a guitar but makes the point rather well is the Ferrari Daytona. They made coupes (or Berlinettas) and they made convertibles (Spyders). Most of the 1400 or so that were built (oddly, a very similar number as Les Paul bursts) were Berlinettas and they got crazy expensive in the years between 1969 when they started building them and now. But the convertible was not only crazy expensive but crazy rare. There were only 122 of them made. Got an extra $2,000,000 or so? That’ll buy you one. Or you can buy a conversion (a Berlinetta with the top cut off and some body stiffening) for $850,000 or so. A 69-74 Berlinetta will cost around $500,000. So, a Spyder conversion is less than half the price of a real one. Sort of like a Les Paul conversion.

Most Les Paul conversions start as a goldtop. What’s under the gold is always something of a crapshoot. How many pieces is the top? Any figure/flame or birdseye? You can sometimes see a little figure in the control cavity but that doesn’t tell you much. The closer to a center seam, the better. rarely, there will be a one piece top but don’t hold your breath-it’s crazy rare. This 56/59 conversion done by Jim Weyandt has a one piece birdseye top. It is in my inventory and is for sale.

The problem with LP conversions is that they are not all created equal. Some are made by taking a LP Special or Jr and topping it with a maple cap and loading it up with repro hardware. These are relatively inexpensive but that type is more cosmetic than authentic. Or, you can take a 57 or 58 Goldtop with humbuckers and refinish it and sell it for well over $100,000 depending on the top. In between, the most common conversion is the 52-56 P90 Goldtop, stripped of its finish and rerouted for humbuckers. In so doing, you need to hope for an interesting top that isn’t made of too many pieces of maple. A center seam flamed top would be nice but that’s not common in GTs. There are one piece tops and there are three piece tops. The more pieces, the less desirable. There are plain tops and flame tops and birdseye tops. Some, like the 56’s don’t require too much work-just fill the P90 routs (they are slightly longer than humbucker routs and need to be filled) and rerout for humbuckers. A 52-53 conversion, which is one of the most common, requires a neck reset. A late 53/54/early 55 requires the wraptail holes to be filled and the top re-drilled for an ABR-1 and stop tail. Again, it’s a crapshoot when it comes to the very important top. You might see some flame on the backside of the top through the control rout but that doesn’t guarantee much. It could still be a multi piece top with seams in the wrong places. Another thing worth looking at when you are considering one is the conversion of the pickup routs. Some just enlarge the P90 rout leaving a small area unfilled (a P90 is wider than a humbucker. The really skilled guys will fill that tiny opening with a matching slice of maple. I look for that anytime I’m considering a conversion.

See that tiny piece of maple at the upper corner of the pickup rout? That’s how a P90 rout gets turned into a humbucker rout the right way. If you don’t have the skills to do that level of work, then don’t do your own conversion. This was done by Jim Weyandt (Jam City Guitars)

Next, what are the components like? PAFs are always a plus (and they are pricey). Plastic parts are crazy expensive so you rarely see a conversion with correct vintage pickup rings. You’ll often get an original pickguard cut to accommodate the wider humbuckers and maybe a proper vintage truss cover. Most goldtops had speed knobs so you’ll see plenty fo conversions with them. A set of burst knobs is expensive but I think your burst conversion should have them (or at least good repros). Now I’m going to make a point I’ve made a lot. Repro parts are often extremely accurate and most parts don’t make a lick of difference in the tone or playability of the guitar. A repro tailpiece or bridge will sound the same as the real thing. Plastic? Same deal. No effect on tone. It’s nice to get a conversion with all the correct burst parts but it’s gonna cost you. A short seam stop tail can run $3000. A set of back plates can cost the same. A set of pickup rings, if you can find them, might go for $20K. Crazy, right? Spend the money on the pickups and maybe the harness but save your money on the other parts if you are budget conscious.

Pay attention to who did the conversion. There are lots of luthiers who do them but the ones that seem to get the most attention are from Cris Mirabella, Terry Mueller, Jim Weyandt and Brian Monty. There are plenty of others who do quality work. Do your homework before buying based on looks alone. Personally, I would stick to converted gold tops if you’re looking to get the feel of a real burst. the Specials and Jrs can look right but to me, it’s still a Special or Jr. A maple top glued onto a Jr body is something but is it a Standard? I dunno. Doesn’t do it for me. A quality GT conversion with PAFs is going to cost you from perhaps $30,000 to maybe $125,000 depending on the donor guitar, the parts and the builder. Old wood is old wood and that’s the biggest reason to do a conversion (or buy one). A 58-60 burst is going to cost you $400,000 or more. Most of us don’t have anywhere near that to spend on a single guitar or, if we do, our wives or significant others would probably throw us out. It really depends what your goal is. If it’s an investment, buy a burst. Conversions don’t tend to appreciate like an original vintage guitar (although the parts certainly have).

Sometimes, you can get really lucky and get a center seam flame top (or very, very close to it) like this 52. They definitely exist but they are rare. This conversion was done by Cris Mirabella. This one is also in the OK inventory.

Finally, there are a lot of folks who believe it’s sacrilege to take a vintage guitar and convert it. Not me. Most of the conversions begin with a trashed donor guitar. Lots of guitars have already been refinished and there is no reason not to do a conversion in that case. The same goes for a guitar with a major repair-the vintage value is already diminished by close to half anyway so why not convert it? I think the burst market is insane (and yet I still buy and sell one or two a year). I also think a burst is a really excellent guitar (not my favorite but I like them). The conversion can get you very close to an original. So can an R9 but if you believe that old wood makes a difference (and I do), then a conversion might be the ticket. One more point…you could argue that a 25 year old R9 is old wood. That’s plenty of time for it to dry out and open up. But old wood is more than just old. Old wood is old growth as well. Twenty five year old wood is not. But that’s another post.

“Lucy, I’m home…” OK, you aren’t old enough to remember that reference. This conversion copies the Eric Clapton/George Harrison guitar that was converted from a 57 goldtop. This one is a 52. The advantage of a 52/early 53 is that there are no holes in the top to be filled (like a 54-55). A “Lucy” is a cool alternative when you have a plain top donor guitar. This was also done by Jim Weyandt (and is also in the OK inventory).