Gibson les Paul opinion

I had a chance to buy a 1983 gibson les Paul custom for $1000. I offered him $800 and he was appalled. The reason is because the pickups, tuners, and paint are all redone. And not in a tastefull way either! Also it looked like there may have been a nice sized repair at the neck joint that he couldn't verify which I found hard to believe since he repainted the ENTIRE guitar. Was this a fair offer on my part or was 1000 as good as it gets? [/img]

Your offer was generous.

80's LP's arent the pick of the litter. If that's the era you're going for, why not get a Burny?

Avoid it! 800 is a generous offer for a questionable guitar that has been obviously mistreated...

Based on what this guy did to the LP, I wouldn't put too much time into worrying about what his reaction was... doesn't seem like he knew what he was doing before, and when an instrument has that much done to it, the base value is completely changed.

Agreed here, $800 for a tampered 80's LP is waaay generous. Wait a couple months, he will come crawling back. Then offer him $500 because it's not original.

mikegyver said:

Agreed here, $800 for a tampered 80's LP is waaay generous. Wait a couple months, he will come crawling back. Then offer him $500 because it's not original.

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+1 If you realy want it I wouldn't do any more than $500. If it has neck issues save your cash and look for another one. Sounds like she was rode hard.

I am not up on what the street value is...
but in a sense it doesnt matter...if the guitar has a possible neck repair AND its been repainted AND its an 80-s Gibson (a very lousy time period imho)...

I would have even made an offer for it....more trouble than it is worth,imho.
yes, a Burny or any Matsomoku would be a better idea if you want a Les Paul that is affordable and high quality (90% of the MIJ Pauls meet the criteria..only a small percentage suck...and thast obvious when you inspect them carefully).
He was appalled because you were onto him.

GtrGeorge

I wouldn't have even offered $800, as that's halfway to a really kickass guitar.

As others said, '80s have no "vintage" collector value (around early '70s at latest for that)...and the build quality isn't close to what was being put out in the early '90s. About the only thing desireable from that era IMHO is Tim Shaw pickups. Other than that, '80s era are the last Gibsons I would consider.

IMHO, this guitar, based on the info provided, isn't worth what you offered. Despite all the frankensteining, there's always that slight chance it plays like butter and sounds like a demon choir, so for me, the ONLY way I'd ever consider buying it at all would be if it just played and sounded incredible against all odds and reason, in which case it could even be worth getting it properly restored. Some guitars DO just have the magic, even some that have had headstock breaks, neck resets, refrets, refins, cracks, splits, etc. All of those things kill their resale value, but they don't ALWAYS mean they're lifeless toneless boat anchors.

When he hears what the pawn shop will give him for it he'll be giving you a call.