VIntage Gibson Headstock

[Ed Minch]

I have a '34 Gibson L-00 that I am doing some repairs on. I have 2 questions, and the photos are here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby16...7646291196614/

As usual with Flickr, click on the first shot to get a larger image and some text.

First, I am missing 2 of the grommets that fit around the tuners on the face of headstock. Are these reproduced? Anyone have a couple they would be willing to part with.  I have found that StewMac offers replacements so I think I have this covered.

Second, the tuners are 3-on-a-plate and are identical and seem to be the same age - patina on the metal and the buttons are all the same side to side. However the plates are different.

I know that Gibson had trouble with consistency, but on the same instrument? What do you think - are they origianl?

thanks so much

Ed Minch

[Ned Knepp]

Hi Ed,

 I can't get the link to your flickr page to work. The error tells me that the page was not found.

I'm aware of how vintage Gibson instruments can show a lot of variation with some instrument having parts that seem to be from the wrong model or year.but I've never come across the sort of "use what we had" practice that would have used two different tuners. My personal opinion is that ,given the age of the guitar, it's much more likely that one or even both tuners were changed as some point. I think it's more likely that one was changed and the other is original. The replacement was probably picked because it look so much like the original, at least from the front.

If you can't find replacements for the grommets, I might have a few in my collection of "stuff" I don't know what size they are and I'll need to locate them before I can say more. 

[Ed Minch]

Ned

Looks like the forum has taken a bite out of the address.

Here it is again:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/sets/72157646291196614/

or:

http://tinyurl.com/mhvpuyc

I would be interested in your opinion once you see the shots

Ed

[Greg Mirken]

Yeah, link no workee. It's not surprising to find one side of old tuners replaced. You might be able to tell more by pulling them off and looking at the various marks on the wood beneath the plates.

oops, wrote before I refreshed...

[Mark Pollock]

Pretty cool. I would pop off the tuners and just look to see if there are outlines of other sets from the past.

[Ned Knepp]

I see what you mean, Ed. Maybe they are both original.  Mark's idea may help determine for sure. 

[Ed Minch]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I added 2 shots at the end of the album showing that these mismatched tuners are original.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/sets/72157646291196614/

Ed

[Mark Pollock]

The 30's were not a good time for anyone, especially Gibson. I have one of their Cromwell acoustics here that may be the most lopsided guitar I've seen (that wasn't intended to be lopsided). The bottom bouts are uneven, and the endpin area is sloped far forward towards the top. 

Mismatched tuners are pretty wild, though. 

[RETROROD]

This pretty wild Ed. Different foot prints for sure. Would you post pics of the underside of the tuner plates also?

Thanks if you will,

Rod

[Ned Knepp]

First of all, credit where credit is due... I mentioned Mark's idea but now I realize that Greg also mentioned pulling the tuners.

 

That pretty much "put paid" to the question.  When I've seen this sort of thing before, it's usually trim level items like inlays and binding or older style fitting on a later model year. It seems to me that there was a lot of using what they found in the bin on A style mandolin pickguard mounts, but I've never before seen mismatched hardware like this. The "use what we got" thing with Gibson seems to  something that was just a part of their working paradigm across decades but, like Mark said, this probably is a direct result of the the realities of business during the Depression.

 I think it kind of a cool detail about the guitar. 

How about the Grommet? Should I start looking through my collection of "stuff"?

[Ed Minch]

Ned

That would be great - they are the smaller diameter ones,  Do  you know how they were held in?  A couple are loose.

Thanks

Ed

[RETROROD]

If you can give exact diameter  (caliper) dimensions, I will look also.

[Ned Knepp]

As far as I know, the grommets are held in by friction. You might try a drop of glue just to hold it in place but I wouldn't use anymore than I needed to make them stay if it were me. You definitely want to do something or you may have a rattle once you string it up.  

As Retro said, we probably need measurement to insure that our's will work. I don't remember clearly but it seems to me that some had larger diameter rings exposed on the face of the head than others, longer shafts and I don't have any idea about the inside shaft diameter at all. Honestly, I can't say if the grommets I have are from a Gibson or not. I can only see if they are the same as what you already have.