Owning a Vintage Guitar
I was born in 1978 and for the last few years, I’ve had a desire to own instruments and amps from the year or, at least, the decade I was born in. Unfortunately, vintage instruments have increased considerably in price. This has tempered that desire quite a bit.
Recently, however, I came across someone on Craigslist that had a 1980s Burny Les Paul copy for sale.
The Japanese-made Burny models, along with Orville and Greco, are often spoken of quite highly as quality instruments that compared favorably to their American counterparts.
That made me realize that there was a whole slew of guitars out there that would fit the “made in the 70s”, as long as I was okay with not having a Fender or Gibson. I was and still am.
Does it Have to Be a Fender/Gibson?
I poked around on Reverb searching for some 1978 made guitars. I found one that really interested me, a Hohner Telecaster Deluxe, but it sold a few days after I added it to my watch list. My hesitation to pull the trigger cost me the chance of obtaining it, as when I’d gone to add it to my cart, it had been sold.
I then started searching again and found the Session for $400 and it was being sold by someone local. I reached out, asked a couple of questions, and off I went. I talked to Big John, the guy who does my guitar work, most of the way there and what to check and look for based on the pictures in the listing.
I walked away with the guitar.
One of the very common feature of import Les Paul copies is that the necks are bolt-on necks instead of set neck, or glued in, like actual Les Pauls are. This results in a lower cost to produce and a lower price to pay nowadays. You can find some import Les Paul copies, especially Korean (MIK) or Chinese (MIC) models, for $200 or so.
The fact that this had a set neck for the price was pretty nice. The neck is very comfortable to play, the frets have plenty of life left in them, and the only gripe about it is that it’s set up a bit slinky for me, which means the previous owner likely used a set of .10s instead of the .11s I favor for my Les Paul-scaled guitars.
The binding on the side of the neck has cracked where the frets are, which seems to be a common trait in the guitars I’ve looked at. The neck ends in the Gibson open book headstock, and the tuners aren’t the typical cheap tuners found on these imports. The tuners aren’t GREAT by any means, but they work. Ultimately, if I were so inclined, I could buy nicer tuners and not have to drill new holes in the head.
The Body is Laminate Wood
Like the Hondo H-737 that was in my possession for a little while, the Session has a Mahogany or Nato laminate body. In other words, that means it’s plywood. After I sent pictures to Big John where he confirmed it was plywood before we even saw the side of the body, he explained that the glue used to form the body made for a lighter, more resonant body. It still weighs in at a hefty 8+ lbs. according to the Reverb post.
How did he know it was plywood from the picture I sent him? He was able to tell from a shot of the control cavity because the grain of the wood went across the body instead of up and down it. I had no idea about this, but the more you know, right?
Now, how can I tell it’s plywood outside of how Big John saw it? When you look at the curves of the guitar, you can see the lines of the plywood clearly visible even though it’s covered in black paint.
Does that bother me? Not a single bit. The guitar actually sounds great. Interestingly, so did the Hondo. Perhaps I need to rethink Mahogany/Nato laminate bodies, eh?
Is it MIJ or MIK?
When trying to find out more information on the guitar after I’d bought it, one of the first things I tried to determine was whether it was made in Japan (MIJ), or made in Korea (MIK).
I came across a bit of info that MIK, Les Paul copies tended to have 45 degree angles cut in the pickup cavities, and something about the route from the pickups to the control cavity, but I can’t remember or find the bit of information about that latter detail.
The pickup cavities in my Session Les Paul are right angled, which was typical of the MIJ imports. MIK models also often have bolt-on necks, but that’s not completely indicative of being the country of origin.
Leaning towards the MIK is the fact that the truss rod cover has three screws vs. two and that the bridge posts are slotted instead of just posts. That being said, I have read and seen pictures of MIJ copies that had those, especially ones made earlier in the ’70s.
Does it really matter if it’s MIJ or MIK? No, at least not for me. For a collector, and for resale, most would agree it does. The quality of the instruments coming out of Japan were a step above the Korean-made instruments, at least back then. Ultimately, it’s a plywood body with cheap electronics.
Other Aesthetics
The body itself is actually in pretty sold shape. There’s some wear and tear but for what was marketed as a nearly 50 year old lower end guitar, I have zero complaints. I filled it what I could with some black paint and, at a glance, you’d never know it had the damage. Up close, of course, that changes.
The body has double binding, which I’ve long been a fan of. The pickguard was missing but I bought an all black one, including a black bracket, from Amazon for $8 and it was a cinch to install.
The Pots and Wiring
When it comes to these import models that resided in the lower-end of the cost spectrum five decades ago, the pots, wiring, and the pickups are mostly garbage and one of the first things people look to replace.
This Session definitely aligns with that for the post and wiring. I believe I saw 500k on one of the pots when I looked, but they are about the size of a dime, which makes it difficult to read much of anything on them.
The pots also don’t have a ton of range. I’d like to replace them, but the pickup cavity will likely have to be routed out a bit to fit the normal quarter-sized pots. The wiring is also such a small gauge and will likely be replaced.
The Pickups
A common “feature” of a cheap, and older, import model from the 70s and 80s is the fact that the humbucker pickups are not actually humbuckers and/or are microphonic. Microphonic pickups squeal terribly (and uncontrollably) when you add much gain to a signal. The Hondo H737 I had for a bit (and Big John now owns) was very guilty of this. This Session? Not at all.
I’ve thrown every drive pedal I have, from a low gain CKLAB VJR (Jan Ray clone) to my Boss HM-2, and it does not squeal at all. I’m curious how bad it would be if I played at higher volumes, but the Hondo squealed even at the level I play and record at, so I’m confident I’d just get a bit more noise but no squealing.
When comparing the old (Classic 57/57+) and new (GFS Pro Alnico V) pickups in my Les Paul Classic, and the Classic 57/57+ in my Les Paul Traditional, the Session holds its own. They are bassy but articulate what I play well enough, and just a bit hotter than either of my Les Pauls, at least to my ears.
While they like the brightness and clarity that I felt the microphonic pickups in the Hondo had, I am quite happy with the stock pickups in the Session. I think pairing them with better pots might open them up. That’s a long term goal.
The Switch
As far as I can tell, the switch is fine. It’s a three-position switch that doesn’t have any noise when I switch pickups.
In Conclusion
Was buying this maybe MIJ/maybe MIK guitar for $400 a good puchase?
Yes. I’d invested roughly $200 in the Hondo H-737 and was willing to accept it, warts and all. The Session is a significant step up, not only in aesthetics but with the set neck, tuners, and sound.
I picked both the Session because I wanted to have three humbucking guitars: the Les Paul Classic, the ES-339 semi-hollow, and the Session. Now, with my purchase of a 2012 Les Paul Traditional, I have four.
If for some reason I ever sold the Les Paul Traditional, it’d be great to have this fill that role again. I can only imagine that 197x guitars are going to get more expensive and to have one that’s already a “winner” would present a great solution to a currently non-existent problem.
Would I suggest you buy a Session, Gession (some online information indicates two are the same brand), Memphis, Hondo, Aria, or any of the other countless copies? If you can play it first, or buy it from a place that has a good return policy, especially if it has a set neck and you know someone that can correct the warts it will come with. Sure. 100%.
Unfortunately, there are A LOT of stinkers out there, and I believe I’m lucky to have found two, especially back to back, that were diamonds in the rough.