1957 Les Paul Custom

by Mick
(Fort Dodge, IA)

I have a guitar that I need to get a value on an possibly any info you can share about where / how to go about selling such an instrument

ANSWER

Hi, Mick--

This is confusing. The Les Paul Custom models of every manufacture year have GOLD hardware and the split diamond on the headstock. Your guitar has chrome hardware and no diamond on the headstock as far as I can tell.

Here is the General info:

LES PAUL CUSTOM (P-90 PICKUPS 1954-1957 MFG.)

- single sharp cutaway Les Paul-style mahogany body with a carved top, raised bound black pickguard, mahogany neck, 22-fret bound ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlays, multi-bound headstock with pearl split diamond/logo inlay, "Les Paul Custom" engraved on truss rod cover, three-per-side Deluxe Kluson tuners with plastic single ring buttons, tune-o-matic bridge, stop or optional Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, two single coil pickups with plastic covers (neck pickup has oblong polepieces, bridge pickup has round polepieces), four knobs (two v, two tone), three-way pickup switch, gold hardware, available in Black finish, 13 in. wide, 17.25 in. long, 2 in. deep, 24.75 in. scale, mfg. 1954-57.

OR This Model:

LES PAUL CUSTOM (HUMBUCKER PICKUPS, 1957-1961 MFG.)
- similar to the Les Paul Custom (1954-57 Mfg.), except has two or three covered humbucker pickups, available in Ebony finish, mfg. 1957-1961

As you can see, there are several details (including the ones I mentioned above plus others--like the color of the pick guard)which are not comparable to the Blue Book descriptions.

I can give you the prices for each of these models, but I really don't think that they apply to your guitar.

The pricing info:

P 90's:

Mint $35,000
Exc.+ $28,000
Exc. $22,750
Avg.+ $18,500
Avg. $15,000
General $11,500

Humbuckers:

2 Humbuckers
$75,000 $60,000 $48,750
$39,500 $32,000 $25,000

3 Humbuckers
$60,000 $48,000 $39,000
$31,500 $25,500 $20,000

Lynne