1955 -1957 Gibson Les Paul Model Goldtop:

Between 1955 and 1957 Gibson made a wonderful Goldtop model here are the specs and visual indicators:

·         Tune-o-matic bridge added (with "ABR-1" on the bottom side of the bridge and no wire to hold the saddles in place)

·         Stud tailpiece moved back to anchor strings (stop tailpiece). This happened around serial number "510xxx".

·         The "Gibson" peghead logo moved further from the top edge of the peghead (some 1954 models also seen with this feature).

·         Tuners now had "Kluson Deluxe" stamped in the gear cover in a vertical line.

·         The four knobs change from a barrel shape to a top-hat ("bonnet") shape in 1955.

·         The tone capacitors for (all) Les Paul models changed in late 1955. Prior to this they used a brown waxy looking tubular Sprague capacitor called the Sprague "grey tiger". But by 1956 this changed to Sprague's "bumble bee" tube cap, which was black with colored value stripes (in the 1968 the same capacitor was again used on the single cutaway Les Paul standard reissues, but Sprague has changed the marketing name of the capacitor to "Black Beauty"). The Bumblebee caps were used from 1956 until 1960 for all pre-SG Les Paul models (Juniors, Specials, Standards, Customs).