Re-Pete
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Marc Bolan had a favourite guitar. A Les Paul that was a road warrior but also used in studio. During the time he had it, it had undergone some mods, the most noticeable being a replacement neck after the one on it during his early days was damaged. The guitar went missing (allegedly stolen) at about the time of his death or just prior to that.
I'm linking this forum Thread from another forum. If it's unacceptable to Mods to have that, I apologise and please close this Thread if that is so. I got the link to the Thread froma Tweet by Seymour Duncan, who found it interesting.
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/vintage-les-pauls/352625-possible-58-59-les-paul-no-serial-no.html
The motive for showing this thread is to highlight how murky the waters become when you have gear go missing and suddenly surface many years after the artist had died.
Just recently a Gibson acoustic electric that had belonged to John Lennon was legitimately auctioned off, when it had been known for years to have been stolen. I believe his Estate did get a cut though.
The original poster for this linked Thread had the guitar from his father and just wanted to sound out if indeed the stories he'd been told about the guitar were true.
After some grain matching of the picture used by Bolan at the height of his fame and compared to the body of the LP in question, it became concluded that the guitar body was the same.
People have done similar grain matching to establish the authenticity of a Strat that was identified as the one used by Dylan when he went electric so that's nothing new.
But then it gets nasty. A dealer involved in the sale of the LP to the OP's Dad started getting emails (the Dealer had been mentioned earlier on as who sold the guitar to the person who had sold it to the OP's Dad) that were unkind and a lot of tension was caused with the publication of the photos as the guitar is now.
The guitar has changed appearance since it was in Bolan's hands. A poor replacement neck was fitted in a bad repair job. The hardware looks like it was, as is, and the body was definitely identified as being part of Bolan's LP. There seems to be one PAF pickup (at least ) with the body. The caps seem to be identified as from that era and have not been reproduced since the time Gibson used them, according to comments in the Thread.
To me, I feel the guitar has been modded beyond what it was famous for. If it is later acquired as a 'Bolan guitar' I'd like to see it properly repaired with a LP Custom neck, for which it is most famous for having.
Maybe the mods were done to hide it's identity? Maybe that was done as the guitar might've been damaged and an amateur did the repairs rather than risk discovery if sent to a pro repairer?
The OP and his Dad are innocent to any theft or improper acquiring of the guitar, but the dealer may well have been aware of who owned this LP and sold it to get it off his books before anyone came knocking asking. After Bolan's death it may well have been a case of someone selling it to the dealer to repay what Bolan owed them too.
Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?
I'm linking this forum Thread from another forum. If it's unacceptable to Mods to have that, I apologise and please close this Thread if that is so. I got the link to the Thread froma Tweet by Seymour Duncan, who found it interesting.
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/vintage-les-pauls/352625-possible-58-59-les-paul-no-serial-no.html
The motive for showing this thread is to highlight how murky the waters become when you have gear go missing and suddenly surface many years after the artist had died.
Just recently a Gibson acoustic electric that had belonged to John Lennon was legitimately auctioned off, when it had been known for years to have been stolen. I believe his Estate did get a cut though.
The original poster for this linked Thread had the guitar from his father and just wanted to sound out if indeed the stories he'd been told about the guitar were true.
After some grain matching of the picture used by Bolan at the height of his fame and compared to the body of the LP in question, it became concluded that the guitar body was the same.
People have done similar grain matching to establish the authenticity of a Strat that was identified as the one used by Dylan when he went electric so that's nothing new.
But then it gets nasty. A dealer involved in the sale of the LP to the OP's Dad started getting emails (the Dealer had been mentioned earlier on as who sold the guitar to the person who had sold it to the OP's Dad) that were unkind and a lot of tension was caused with the publication of the photos as the guitar is now.
The guitar has changed appearance since it was in Bolan's hands. A poor replacement neck was fitted in a bad repair job. The hardware looks like it was, as is, and the body was definitely identified as being part of Bolan's LP. There seems to be one PAF pickup (at least ) with the body. The caps seem to be identified as from that era and have not been reproduced since the time Gibson used them, according to comments in the Thread.
To me, I feel the guitar has been modded beyond what it was famous for. If it is later acquired as a 'Bolan guitar' I'd like to see it properly repaired with a LP Custom neck, for which it is most famous for having.
Maybe the mods were done to hide it's identity? Maybe that was done as the guitar might've been damaged and an amateur did the repairs rather than risk discovery if sent to a pro repairer?
The OP and his Dad are innocent to any theft or improper acquiring of the guitar, but the dealer may well have been aware of who owned this LP and sold it to get it off his books before anyone came knocking asking. After Bolan's death it may well have been a case of someone selling it to the dealer to repay what Bolan owed them too.
Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?
