First pix....Epi '56 Goldtop

[duhvoodooman***]

The '56 Goldtop I snagged on eBay was delivered today, and I've got much good news & a bit of bad news.

The Good News:

The guitar looks brand new, and I'm pretty sure that it's never been played. There isn't a scratch or gouge on it anywhere, and all the protective plastic is still on the guitar. The strings were all slack, and by a LOT, so I suspect this is just how it came from the factory. The setup is excellent, with a nice low action, but no buzzing. The strings are cheap 9's, but I'll put a set of D'Addario 10's on. The electronics work perfectly, and the P90's have that nice bright, snappy ring to them. Nice neck, a little bit thicker than the one on my Elitist LP Std., but not as beefy as my Dot. And it sure is pretty! See pix below.

The case it came in (Guardian; sells new on Amazon.com for $75) is quite decent, but is one of those square ones that is really better suited to a Fender guitar. The angle on the neck of the LP causes the neck to sit up off the support cross-piece, so it doesn't sit in the neck cutout and can slide back and forth. But I can always use my LP Std. case to transport it, if need be. And this case will be nice for my Nashville Tele or the Fullerton ST4, neither of which I have a case for.

The Bad News:

The guitar is clearly stamped as a factory second on the back of the headstock, and the last two numbers of the serial number have been intentionally scratched out, which is apparently what they do at the factory with seconds. This condition was NOT mentioned in the item description, and to make it worse, there were stickers intentionally placed over the "2ND" stamp and the serial number to conceal them. The "Inspected & Set-up in the USA" sticker had obviously been moved from down near the bottom of the headstock (there was adhesive residue still there) and placed over the "2ND" stamp near the top, and a paper label was placed over the scratched out serial number. Pretty disreputable, if you ask me. I've sent a message to the seller pointing these things out and asking for an explanation. We'll see what this guy has to say! Certainly shows why you need to be careful buying stuff on eBay....

Fortunately, as far as the reason for the guitar being a second, the only thing I can find is a kind of faint, wiggly crack mark in the binding in about a 3" section along the very bottom edge of the guitar. It's on the side edge, not on the top, so it's really not visible at all. I can't even get it to show in a photo. But at this point, I have to assume that's why it's a second. I'd heard that very often guitars get "seconded" for next to nothing, and this would seem to bear that out. Very minor aesthetic defect.

I've got a couple of pix below showing the back of the headstock with and without the concealing stickers, and a shot of the back of my Elitist showing where that sticker should be.

Here are the pix:

[Spudman***]

I love the 6 pictures of you taking a picture.

To bad about the deception. Still if it looks good, plays good and you like it then it is still a pretty good deal. However, if the guy is aware that you busted his deceptiveness maybe he'll comp you back some $ in exchange for not leaving him negative feedback, or in case you used Paypal, you can get all your money back and still keep the guitar.

Best of luck. It sure looks nice.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Wow, izzat sleazy.

Still a nice looking ax.

[Robert****]

I wouldn't be excited to find that out either. It could still be cool though, and it looks really nice. Do you like it?

[sunvalleylaw]

I love the 6 pictures of you taking a picture.

To bad about the deception. Still if it looks good, plays good and you like it then it is still a pretty good deal. However, if the guy is aware that you busted his deceptiveness maybe he'll comp you back some $ in exchange for not leaving him negative feedback, or in case you used Paypal, you can get all your money back and still keep the guitar.

Best of luck. It sure looks nice.

ditto that. Have you had a chance to see how it sounds and if you like it? It still is a purty lookin thing.

[duhvoodooman***]

Thusfar, I like the guitar very much. The setup on it is wonderful and it plays like a dream. I really haven't fully checked it out sonically yet, because I couldn't crank the volume up at all last night, with both my kids studying for final exams. But that won't be a problem tonight, so I should be able to "open her up" a bit. As I mentioned previously, the guitar is in beautiful shape, and has just that one flaw in the binding that nobody but me will ever know is there.

The guitar has just one significant problem at the moment, but it's a very annoying one--it won't hold a tune. I'm pretty sure this is just a matter of the strings binding in the nut, because:

• The strings don't change pitch smoothly but rather move in "steps" as the tuners are turned (both directions).
• The strings go sharp when I let the guitar sit for several minutes after tuning. This seems to indicate that unequal tension continues to slowly release through the nut slot. I always tune by lowering the pitch below the target note and then tuning up to it, so I would expect residual tension imbalance to release in this way, i.e. causing the string's pitch to increase.
• After tuning a given string, if I bend a note sharply on it, the string goes flat. If I bend that same string behind the nut, the string goes sharp.
• This behavior is more pronounced with the wound strings, where the friction through the nut is greater.

So tonight, I'll loosen & work the old strings side-to-side through the nut slots to open them up a bit, put on a new set of 10's, and lubricate the nut. Hopefully, that should clear things up....

[Lev]

That's a sweeet guitar, I played one about a year ago in my local store and fell in love with it. My Strat GAS took over after that but the '56 is still on my list of 'must buy' guitars. I really hope it works out for you and there's no major flaws because it's a very unique sounding and looking axe.

[Plank_Spanker]

If that guitar sounds just half as good as it looks, you still have a winner. I love it. I suspect that new strings and nut lubrication will solve your tuning issues.

That's one of the sharpest looking Lesters I've seen in quite a while!

[mikew]

Some people man! I can't believe they thought they could pass that by you. Yeah, the sticker doesn't looked peeled away, and the fuzz stuck to it is normal......yeaaahhhh right. Sleazy! Sorry about that man!

On the other side, I think it sure it a beautiful guitar, it looks flawless to me, almost kinda sad that you put it down to take a picture instead of spending time rockin' out on it.

Enjoy!

[duhvoodooman***]

A few more pix, now with the protective plastic removed and the guitar in "playing form". Yeah, Spuds, more photos of me taking photos!

Fooled around with the nut and changed the strings last night--tuning stability MUCH improved; only the D and G stick a little now, I presume because they're angled the most at the top of the nut. I'm sure I can work the rest out with a little more playing time. This puppy sounds SWEET! Will try to post a clip soon....

[duhvoodooman***]

Pix cont'd. Nice reflection of the oak tree in the middle of my back yard in that last shot. Nope, it's not a through-body oak neck!

[ted s]

She's a beauti DVM !

[duhvoodooman***]

OK, here's a couple of quick clips I dashed off. The first demos the clean sound of the guitar. Starts with a little Smokestack Lightning riff on the bridge P90, followed by a familiar Dicky Betts riff on the neck p'up. Recorded using the clean channel of my Delta Blues, no pedals.

The second clip shows the "dirty" sound of the bridge pickup on an SRVish passage. Still on the DB clean channel, but here I added my Radial Tonebone Classic OD pedal, which was set up to darken the tone a little. I'm no Stevie Ray by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it gives some idea of the nice grind you can get out of the bridge P90.

Goldtop Clean

Goldtop Dirty

[Iago]

wow, great growl from those P-90s!! Keep them sound samples coming!

[Leonidas]

Wow, DVM that is a SWEET looking axe! Sorry to hear about the factory second thing.. anymore eBay is filled with too many of those people looking to make a quick buck.

Anyway, it looks awesome, and from the sound clips sounds just as nice! Those P90s have an awesome sound.

[Tone2TheBone]

That's a neat lookin' Gold Top Voo. That neck looks sweet. Heck the whole guitar looks sweet. I'll have to listen to the clips at home tonight.

[warren0728]

very nice dvm....too bad you were mislead but it seems like you still got a great guitar! congrats!!

ww

[Justaguyin_nc]

Sorry to hear about the stamped second.. but from the looks and your sound..its a 1st class all the way.

If to have one LesPaul type.. wow... 56 gold top with p90s..A+++

really liked the dirty
but...
Loved the clean!!

[duhvoodooman***]

Thanks, guys! Yeah, it really is a stunning looking guitar and it plays and sounds great. I'm very pleased with it overall, but nobody likes to feel that they were "hoodwinked" on a purchase. I'm negotiating with the seller on a partial refund, since its "second" status definitely impacts the guitar's value, particularly if I ever decide to sell it at some point in the future.

The tough part now is that I have to keep up my end of the agreement and turn the guitar over to my wife until Christmas. But, hey--that was deal, and I'd do it again in a minute for a '56 Goldtop! But I got to play it pretty much all of Father's Day! Now, hurry up, Santa!