NGD: 1985 Norlin Les Paul Custom (Update!!!!!!)

harddriver said:
I'm glad you like your Norlin glpg80 I'm sure there are some good ones out there. I owned a 1983 pearl white Gibson Les Paul custom with an ebony board and gold hardware it probably weighed 10 or 11 pounds and it would NOT stay in tune for shit but it did have the Gibson prototype tremelo from the factory that was pretty much a Khaler ripoff trem, I even hardtailed the trem and it still would not stay in tune. It was a beautiful guitar and looked just like Randy Rhoad's LP it just was not a player by any means so I sold it in the 90's for a little more than I paid and said good riddens to it. The guy I sold it to took it to a guitar show and said he was offered big bucks because of the Gibson prototype tremelo bridge on it since Gibson never went into production with them.

The guitar probably still doesn't stay in tune today but I'm sure it's beautiful to look at...:LOL:

I do think the maple necks are the way to go for a LP rather than the mahogany... break if you look at it wrong headstock.:2thumbsup:
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I think a large part of it is that you pretty much need a luthier to really go through them top to bottom. When I got my 76, it was in collectors condition. A fretboard that went every which way but straight, tarnished hardware that collectors Jack off to, a paint job that hadn’t seen a coat of wax in who knows how long, and fucked up hardware. Frets were worn as well - just all kinds of problems but all things that can be fixed. When you do go through them top to bottom including radiusing the fretboard and refretting them with a proper nut job, they’re top of the class.

I do agree there are some real piles of shit in this era and you damn sure have to know what to look for. I’m thankful ive resurrected one and will gladly go through this one too. I can’t wait to post finished pictures :rock:
 
No doubt there are some real piles of shit with Marshall too. You just have to have a good starting point and the rest are things that can be fixed.
 
I bought this guitar in 1986-87. So it was essentially brand new. No doubt there are some great ones in this era, but mine was a complete dog, a beautiful dog but a dog nonetheless and a really heavy dog that really dug into my shoulder when playing.

I didn't miss that guitar when I sold it then and I don't miss it now, I was ecstatic that I sold it for what I paid for it!:yes:

I think the prototype tremelo system was mostly at fault with the tuning issues but the excessive weight of it made it unpleasant to play. Maybe if it had the traditional tailpiece maybe it would have been a different story so I'm not going to cast a wide net on all of the Norlin era LP's, this is a snapshot of my Norlin 1983 experience as disappointing as it was.
 
glpg80 said:
Sorry but this is slightly misleading information. My 76 has two distinct pieces of wood and a single glue line just like my traditional. Maybe some were made in your manner of speaking, but they get a bad wrap because of dwindling quality especially in the earlier years when Norlin took over and accountants pushed products, not luthiers.
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Not exactly sure how my info is misleading. All apologies if it is. I’m probably not describing the construction as accurately as I can. I completely stripped all the paint off my Les Paul at one point and kept it like that for a few years. That’s why the neck profile on mine is completely unique. I sanded and sanded on it until it was perfect.
At any rate, mine is a 75 made in Kalamazoo. The body contains 3 pieces of wood, two slices of mahogany with some other very thin strip of wood (not sure what kind, think also mahogany, but the color doesn’t seem right) in between them. They’re layered like a cake. The neck is a single piece of mahogany. The maple top has three pieces. While no luthier worth their salt would do this today, unless specifically going for the Norlin vibe intentionally, it doesn’t affect tone at all in a negative way. My “dog” Norlin screams and growls.
 
Incredibly bad ass. Good god!!!!! Give me, give me, I want, I want I NEED!!!

Best Les Paul I ever played was a Norlin. I have played a ton of them and owned many. Norlin era Les Pauls are bitchin.
 
Update:

The 12th fret tested out as mother of pearl, so the 12th fret being replaced with a better cut of laser-cut mother of pearl.

The original pickups are JB/59 original to the guitar. Apparently back then you could order non-Gibson pickups from the factory direct from the Kalamazoo factory. 1984 was the last year of Gibsons being made in the original Kalamazoo factory before they packed up and moved to Nashville.

Lastly, the refret job was done incorrectly and the frets all had a gap below them due to the slots not being cut deep enough. It means it has to be refretted to correct. Jescar .110x.057 is going on this one just as my other one. It already had a bone nut so that isn’t an issue.

I have EMG 81/85 coming in to do a pickup swap. She should be a real screamer after all is said and done. ETA looks like sometime after the new year. I’m putting new historic pickup rings on it and they’ve been back ordered for the majority of the year.
 
Awesome guitar & congrats! I have a Norlin 1980 LP standard and I love it. It has three piece plain maple top. It does NOT have a pancake body, its a solid 10.2 lbs piece of wood.

I hardly ever see any with a pancake body....

Mine has "SECOND" stampled on the back, under the serial # but fore the life of me, I can't see why????
 
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I was looking at the picture you posted of the back of the neck. Are you sure the neck is maple? It almost looks like it could be mahogany. I think Mr. Willy said his was mahogany.

Were all Norlin era LP's maple necks or just the solid color customs that showed no wood grain like the burst finishes?
 
harddriver said:
I was looking at the picture you posted of the back of the neck. Are you sure the neck is maple? It almost looks like it could be mahogany. I think Mr. Willy said his was mahogany.

Were all Norlin era LP's maple necks or just the solid color customs that showed no wood grain like the burst finishes?
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100% positive.

Mahogany streaks are much longer and skinnier, they don’t have specs in them. You have to remember these were 3 piece quartersawn maple necks so that’s why you see the grain pattern that you do.

Yes correct, Norlin used maple necks because they got tired of warranty replacing entire guitars with broken headstocks/necks made of mahogany. Little did they know they’d created one of the best most aggressive sounding wood combinations a Les Paul can have even today.

Norlin carried through with maple necks all the way through 85 and 86 is the transition year that is personally start questioning what’s maple or mahogany as they sold the company in 86.
 
matttornado said:
Awesome guitar & congrats! I have a Norlin 1980 LP standard and I love it. It has three piece plain maple top. It does NOT have a pancake body, its a solid 10.2 lbs piece of wood.

I hardly ever see any with a pancake body....

Mine has "SECOND" stampled on the back, under the serial # but fore the life of me, I can't see why????
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There’s no telling - it could be finished too thin for their preference or just the wood they chose to use, no one will really ever know or notice the difference. As long as it sounds good and plays good you’re Golden!
 
You guys look to know a lot about this era.
Would you have any information on my Custom?
It is an 83 and has the built in string winders in the tuners.
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Kevcleat said:
You guys look to know a lot about this era.
Would you have any information on my Custom?
It is an 83 and has the built in string winders in the tuners.
View attachment 95277View attachment 95277
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Man that thing is just gorgeous. I love the yellowed nitro finish over the mother of pearl headstock detail - it’s just beautiful.

83 puts this at the original Kalamazoo factory as 84 was the last year they made guitars there. 83 also means it was weight relieved just like mine is with the 9 hole method. Mine still weighs in at 10 lbs even so still no slouch. They started doing weight relieving in 83.

Pickup wise it’s too early for Tim Shaws. That didn’t happen until mid 80’s close to when they sold the company. I believe the originals are T tops or in the case of my 84, it was custom ordered to have Seymour Duncan’s stock.

Wood wise it’s maple neck like the other Norlin eras, although since it’s not a translucent finished guitar you won’t be able to tell if it’s a pancake body assembly or not.

Beautiful guitar and a great year too!
 
glpg80 said:
Man that thing is just gorgeous. I love the yellowed nitro finish over the mother of pearl headstock detail - it’s just beautiful.

83 puts this at the original Kalamazoo factory as 84 was the last year they made guitars there. 83 also means it was weight relieved just like mine is with the 9 hole method. Mine still weighs in at 10 lbs even so still no slouch. They started doing weight relieving in 83.

Pickup wise it’s too early for Tim Shaws. That didn’t happen until mid 80’s close to when they sold the company. I believe the originals are T tops or in the case of my 84, it was custom ordered to have Seymour Duncan’s stock.

Wood wise it’s maple neck like the other Norlin eras, although since it’s not a translucent finished guitar you won’t be able to tell if it’s a pancake body assembly or not.

Beautiful guitar and a great year too!
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When the lacquer shrinks you can see the parting lines on a pancake body clearly, even on a solid color.
 
Kevcleat said:
Thank you so much.
I have owned it since 1997.
It weighs a ton! It’s getting to the point where I’m getting
too old to play it for long without back ache. I‘m 52😂. View attachment 95289View attachment 95292
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You ever want to sell it let me know.

It’s also been refretted at least once in its lifetime. I can tell because the fret tangs that came stock on them are gone which is common in refret jobs. Looks like Dunlop 6100 was installed, they look nickel and not stainless. It means the nut is also new and likely bone although it’s tough to tell.
 
Mr. Willy said:
At any rate, mine is a 75 made in Kalamazoo. The body contains 3 pieces of wood, two slices of mahogany with some other very thin strip of wood (not sure what kind, think also mahogany, but the color doesn’t seem right) in between them. They’re layered like a cake. The neck is a single piece of mahogany. The maple top has three pieces. While no luthier worth their salt would do this today, unless specifically going for the Norlin vibe intentionally, it doesn’t affect tone at all in a negative way. My “dog” Norlin screams and growls.
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The construction changed around '78/'79. From that time onwards they have the "pancake" maple layer between the maple top and a one piece mahogany body.

Which is probably why Adam Jones insists on using Norlin Silverbursts. Because that finish coincides the spec change so it's easy to tell.
 
glpg80 said:
Norlin carried through with maple necks all the way through 85 and 86 is the transition year that is personally start questioning what’s maple or mahogany as they sold the company in 86.
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Some sources would say it's '81 when they started bringing in the mahogany necks again but there's no definite answer. Yours look like a mahogany neck considering how big the spores are.

A mahogany neck is probably more desirable for many though.
 
harddriver said:
I was looking at the picture you posted of the back of the neck. Are you sure the neck is maple? It almost looks like it could be mahogany. I think Mr. Willy said his was mahogany.

Were all Norlin era LP's maple necks or just the solid color customs that showed no wood grain like the burst finishes?
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Based on the pic, I would have also thought it to be a mahogany neck. Those pores in the grain do not look like maple, to me.
 
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