Need your opinion

[Basvarken]

Dear Outposters,
I want to pick your minds on the following:
As some of you may remember I own a Les Paul Prototype bass.



I scored it off Ebay long time ago. Back then it wasn't entirely clear what it was; a prototype or employee build. Maybe even a fake.
But I was intrigued by it and rather confident it was legit. So I put a bid on it. Uwe gracefully stepped aside and agreed to let me win the bid if it would stay under a limit we agreed upon. I ended up winning the bid. Thanx to Uwe!

A few years after that I saw a picture of this model in the Les Paul estate auction. Which confirmed mine is a legit Gibson prototype. Not an employee build or fake.
The Les Paul Bass in the auction was sold together with a six string version for a staggering amount of USD 40,265



The bass that I own does not have the celebrity certificate, nor does it come with the six-string sibling. But I do think it has a certain value. And that is certainly more than what I bought it for.

But, there are some issues...

The bass has had the neck joint broken off at a certain point. The fracture took parts of the surrounding body with it. It was (solidly) glued back together.
But the neck/body angle is completely wrong.
My theory is that the neck was originally set at a faulty angle. And maybe that was the reason why they broke it in two. And maybe an employee picked it out of the trash and decided to resurrect the bass? Who knows...




Because the neck angle is wrong, the original two point bridge (Evertilt) was way too high. Someone took out the bridge post inserts and routed a rectangle, about 4 mm deep into the body to fit a Badass bridge.
The action is perfect now and the bass is fully functional. I have gigged with it numerous times.


But that neck angle and the Badass bridge have been bothering me for a long time.
I am contemplating on bringing it back to it's original state.
Fill the rectangle with a matching piece of mahogany. Re-install a two point bridge.
Remove the neck and reset it at the correct angle.

This would involve a partial refin (with nitro).

And while I'm at it I would re-install period correct machine heads. The bass now has (black) Gotoh res-o-lite tuners. Which helps to fight the neck dive a bit. But not enough to fully cure it.


I have been building bass guitars for quite a while. And lately I feel I have built up enough confidence to take on such a project.
I would never have dared to do that ten years ago.

My question;
Should I do it? Or should I leave it as is?
Would a faithful restoration raise the value? Or would it do more damage?

[uwe]

Holländer, I'm sure you could do wonders to that bass. The outcome would be beautiful and a better bass.

But think about your pension and the costs when your lovely children



study God-knows-where one day. I'd test the market with it first as is.

[Rob]

study God-knows-where one day. I'd test the market with it first as is.

I agree.

[Pilgrim]

What's your intention?

You don't say that you plan on selling it, or even that you might if the value were high enough. 

Are you going to keep it but want to repair it so that its value is maintained?  Or is the problem such that it bothers you, and you want to get it set up correctly but don't plan on selling it?

If you can correct the neck without making the repair more visible than it already is, I'd say that makes perfect sense. I'm not fan of BA bridges, and that monster doesn't belong on the bass. Correcting the neck would probably mean that you'd have to install the filler piece you suggest under the bridge, coupled with an original style bridge and careful finish work on the filler piece.  That will be a lot more visible than the neck and body repair.

If you want to get good advice, you might have someone like Gruhn evaluate it and give you a recommendation.  If you just want to sell it, as noted, you can "test" the market...although I don't know exactly how you would do that, other than putting a high price on it and seeing if it sells.

[Grog]

I’m sure you would do a phenomenal job restoring this bass. It is a historically significant bass, at least to the bass nerds on the LBO. I had similar thoughts when I had my EB-0F refinished, but am glad I followed it through. If you are happier with it restored, then it’s worth it.

P.S. This bass is celebrity owned, by the author of “The Gibson Bass Book”!

[morrow]

I believe you would do a faithful restoration .
And believe it would be worthwhile .

[Basvarken]

Thank you for your input.

Yes, the idea is to eventually sell it. I'm not in a hurry to get rid of it. But since I don't play in a band any longer, I guess I could let it go without too many regrets.

How do I "test the market"? Put it up for auction and see how she goes (without the intention of actually selling it already)?

[uwe]

That's what I'd do - unless you want someone like Gruhn to opine on it (whatever that costs, might be worth an investment). But this forum here is probably the most concentrated mass of Gibson bass knowledge anywhere.

Getting in touch with the guy who bought "the twins" from the Les Paul Estate might be an idea. I would assume that the celebrity aspect and the fact that the two instruments were a "set" compounded the final price heavily. Whether in its state now or refurbished, I don't believe you'd go much over US-$ 5.000 at the best with yours.

A few years ago, I would have been your buyer! I was always jealous of you having it, but you know ... those bikes weighed down my conscience.



I had to make good on grandpa's potential sins!

[uwe]

Seriously, why not start a poll here to see what people think it might be worth - it's a start ...

[Basvarken]

Seriously, why not start a poll here to see what people think it might be worth - it's a start ...

Good idea. Poll added!

[morrow]

There seems to be more interest in Gibson now . And vintage prices have been rising .
But I would not realistically be able to place a value on it .
I think it is deserving a restoration . I’d be tempted to document the work and post the aims and progress , you might create some interest …

[BTL]

I'd say that with your current reputation as a builder and as the author of The Gibson Bass Book, you have a unique opportunity to set the market on this, especially if its story can be included as a supplement in a future printing. Provenance is a big deal to collectors, and you have a unique opportunity to establish the baseline here.

[gearHed289]

I checked the wrong box for restored.  Meant to make it $3500-$4500...

[Basvarken]

It's done!

In january I started the restoration project.

Here's the result:








The entire restoration project was documented step by step.
You can find it here:
https://www.brooksbassguitars.com/gibson-les-paul-prototype.html

[ilan]

Excellent job. You've done justice to a piece of bass history that should be kept as close to original as possible.