ID help

Hi all,

Back in 2006 I bought a Love Rock, brand new, from a music store here in Denmark. One of my friends, actually it was the bass player in my band, got the chance to play it in the store, and compare it to a '59 Les Paul, same amp and all. We were both completely blown away by the Love Rock. Quality, sound, playability, sustain, everything was as minimum a match in comparison to the Gibson. We agreed on a price and I've owned and enjoyed it since then. In recent years I haven't been playing it, or other guitars, as much as it deserves (workload, having kids etc.), so I'm probably selling it in the near future.

Now, I've been trying to Identify which model it is (didn't really matter to me when I bought it, just had to have it), and from the specs that I can see when I study the guitar, I believe it's a LS320, but I haven't got a clue how to confirm. The only modification I made is seen in one of the pictures of the headstock (you know, tuning stability issues and Les Paul style guitars), but same hole as used for the trus rod cover, everything else is kept as when I bought it. Well, I have been maintaining the fingerboard and occasionally polished and adjusted it when needed. I have checked the pickup cavities for model ID, but didn't find anything apart from confirming that the pickups are Duncan sh55's. The strings I put on after last cleaning was a little old, sorry.

Can any of you good people help me on this?

Here are some photos. Please let me know if you need more for identification.

http://imgur.com/gallery/A4s9TSq

Thanks in advance

You are feeling very ambitious if you think this is an LS320! It's much more likely that this is a lower end model with replacement pickups but there are a few things you can check.

Neck joint - did you take a picture when you looked? A 320 would have a long tenon joint.
Electronics cavity - what is in there? CTS pots and high end caps? Pictures will help.
Tailpiece - is it aluminium? You can tell by the weight.
Back - is it a one-piece back? Check the sides of the guitar to look for joints.
Top - is it solid? When you took out the pickups out did you check that the central join of the maple and the grain lines of the top line up with the inside of the cavity? Pictures would help.
Frets - on a 320 there should be fret edge binding. This guitar does not have that. Is there any evidence that a re-fret was ever done?

Thanks for the reply,

I don't know how ambitious I feel, since I'm by no means an expert on this, hence I'm not really sure what it means if it's a LS320. If you say that the LS320 has fret end bindings, I trust that and this would clearly not be. I just enjoy playing this thing, and my ambition here is to get help Identifying which model this is .

I've uploaded a shitload of photos for you, and other experts off course, to see. I have to correct myself though. The pickups are not Seth Lovers, they are sh1's. As for the top, it is solid. And I don't see any joints on the back and sides, so one piece back to my eyes. The pots are for you to decide on, hence my lack of knowledge on this. They look like good quality compared to others I've seen though. I don't know what the tailpiece and bridge is supposed to weigh, but pictures of both on the scale are provided.

Here are the photos, and a lot of them:

http://imgur.com/gallery/Ein35V6

Thanks again.

Well, the good news is it's definitely a premium model. One piece back, lightweight tailpiece, long tenon, solid top, factory-fitted CTS pots & Orange Drop caps.

The top line model in that year was the LS380 but that had Rolph pickups and a higher grade top. The LS150 was very popular around that time, and I have the feeling that someone who bought an LS380 would know about it (you don't buy a Custom Shop Gibson over a regular model and not realise it). The LS125 had a laminate top so I'm putting my money on LS-150.

A big thank you to you, Sir . I wonder how you know these specs from each year. I've been searching for 2006 catalogues, but only found a couple from the years surrounding 2006, like 2003-2005 and some a little later, but can't seem to find the 2006 catalogue.

Anyway, I'm glad to get confirmation on my take on the guitar as being in the premium class, since I payed good money for it and how I experienced it. The feel, playability and sound blew me away back in 2006, and it still does. But as I mentioned, I don't play it very often these days, so I might let it go one day. What would be a fair price in your opinion? It is almost as new, however I have performed a setup that suits my playing style and preferences, but other than that, I've been taking good care of it, cleaning it and maintaining electronics and so forth, so a new owner would probably have to do a setup to his or her preferences. That's at least what I've always done when getting a new guitar.

Thanks again for your help.

I have no idea of the value unfortunately.

If you search this forum you will find lots of info on the LS150. Try searching for posts made around the time yours was made.