Problem is it's not really the sound that drives most of the White Falcon's appeal for me. 
 
I contemplate putting some Filtertrons in something more affordable on occasion, but it wouldn't be the same.

spacey
I grew up playing with a guitarist that played a Black Beauty.
 
I wasn't "into" Randy but I really liked his playing- I thought the "V"
was his main guitar. ? ( I don't know why I think that)
 
 
 
 
I know if I went to the store looking for one that I don't think I could
expect to find something like this from Gibson and I know that if I did
I'd pay no telling how much more for it and I also believe that it would
need to go to a luthier to get it setup for me.....when  I could have just
called a luthier from the start. Probably saved a lot of money and ended up
with a guitar that was built to fit and look as I wanted.
 
 
Here's one a "nobody" built. ( not me although I have had templates for one for years)
Personally I don't like the jack location or the fret dots but isn't that what is really cool...being
able to have little things changed to make it "right" ?
 
(magnetic control cavity cover and truss-rod cover- nice touch)
 
 

Judging from all the live pics and footage, he seemed to stick to 3 guitars: a white Les Paul, the custom Sandoval V and the white Jackson he designed, aka the concorde (which later got replaced by the black one, upgraded to his requirements).
 

 
Which is to say that he mostly played custom guitars, I guess.
 
I like that V on your pics - though I agree about the dots and the jack location. That's one guitar I'd like to add to my collection eventually - a V, custom built or other, I don't care much if it's an actual Gibson or not in that case.

 Interesting read Mike.
 
 I am surprised that the Beatles didn't use a strat with a white maple fret board. Clapton loved the simple varnished maple. According to him it was much easier to make  bends...this makes sense because on a grainy fret board you might be fighting the grain of the rosewood. Varnished white maple would have been like glass almost. Now I remember that it was an interview recently I read in a GC catalog where Clapton mentions that strats were not that popular for awhile.
 
 Here is probably more than you want to read on this. Some of these guys were alive and playing guitars in the mid 60's to early 70's. I was only a 10 in 1972 although that music had a great influence on me.
 
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-489386.html

Starise
 Interesting read Mike.
 
 I am surprised that the Beatles didn't use a strat with a white maple fret board. Clapton loved the simple varnished maple. According to him it was much easier to make  bends...this makes sense because on a grainy fret board you might be fighting the grain of the rosewood. Varnished white maple would have been like glass almost. Now I remember that it was an interview recently I read in a GC catalog where Clapton mentions that strats were not that popular for awhile.
 
 Here is probably more than you want to read on this. Some of these guys were alive and playing guitars in the mid 60's to early 70's. I was only a 10 in 1972 although that music had a great influence on me.
 
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/archive/index.php/t-489386.html

Man Star...I sure don't want to shoot down your points of view but I sure see things differently.
First...everybody has their reasons for thinking the way they do...and that's cool.
 
There are two main factors when it comes to bending strings on a guitar. One is the radius of the fretboard and the other is the fret height. When a guitar has low frets the guitarist may have bending issues because of two main reasons. It's hard to get "under" the string and then having to push the string on the fretboard. When the frets are to low and one is having to work against the board then the type of wood is such a very small factor that the difference is mostly that maple usually has a finish and rosewood doesn't...nothing really about woodgrain is an issue...of course should one believe there is that is fine by me.
If woodgrain is an issue then there are bigger problems than string bending at hand.
Should I have low frets I would without doubt prefer the natural oily rosewood over a plastic coated maple. YMMV.
 
"Varnished white maple would have been like glass almost"  - if that's true then why do most guitarist remark about  necks feeling sticky- from being plastic coated and prefer oiled necks? There are also many treatment tips for players to relieve some of that problem with plastic coated necks/fretboards.
 
Now what I'm not sure of is; Are you referring to nitrocellulose lacquers, polyurethane or oil (varnish) finishes?
I'm inclined to think you are referring to Fenders finishes which are not oil (varnish)
 
Linseed oil or tung oil (which is what I prefer, "Tru-oil") are varnishes because they are reactive finishes - meaning that they change into a hard film by exposure to air (oxygen) not by the evaporation of the solvent like lacquer or shellac.   These oil varnishes are probably the earliest and simplest wood finishes and the natural luster, or glow, of  wood under an oil finish is very appealing and most players love the natural feel on their guitar necks.
Maybe Clapton had an oiled (varnished) neck of which he was referring...I don't know.
 
 
There have without doubt been at least three poplular electric guitars since they were marketed.
The Tele, LP and Strat. I am not aware of anytime that Gibson or Fender had a slump in sales based on lack of popularity.
 
 
 
 

here are two main factors when it comes to bending strings on a guitar. One is the radius of the fretboard and the other is the fret height. When a guitar has low frets the guitarist may have bending issues because of two main reasons. It's hard to get "under" the string and then having to push the string on the fretboard. When the frets are to low and one is having to work against the board then the type of wood is such a very small factor that the difference is mostly that maple usually has a finish and rosewood doesn't...nothing really about woodgrain is an issue...

 
Three fingers usually work best for bending as well.  
 
I first discovered the "size of fret-wire" influence with an American Deluxe Strat that I had a few years ago.  What a difference medium jumbo frets made for ease of bending.  I would think that preference of rosewood or maple fret board would be more for tone.....and looks.
 
I am not sure what clear finish Fender is currently using on the brand new Mexican-made Strats, but I really like it much better than the prior thick clear finish.  My hands would kind of stick to the old finish.  I believe the Deluxe that I had, had more of a "gun-oil" finish.  I loved the neck on that Strat...was like butter.

Is the '75 Jazz Bass supposed to be period correct or something like that?

one of my customs:
 
The Williams Special.
The Williams Special is a Les Paul-Strat-Mustang-Explorer hybrid, with hollow body cavities, Mustang scale length, built like a paul with mahagony and maple top, but with blueprint-accurate strat body, explorer headstock.
 



back of body/neck:




(semi-related: my first guitar was a '75 Fender Mustang.)
This guitar was commissioned in 1986.
It is a Gibson Les paul-Fender strat-Fender mustang-Gibson explorer HYBRID.
-built by Stan Williams, Rome Georgia.
-based on the Fender Mustang scale length....this design is also similar to brian may's red special.
-honduras mahogany body, with air cavities carved in the body below the maple top.
-flame maple top, 3/8" thick.
-blueprint-scaled strat body.
-2-piece flame maple neck, with ebony fingerboard.
-no truss rod! there are (2) rectangular pieces of aircraft aluminum running the length of the fretboard.
-flame maple veneer on headstock, front, sides, and back.
-24" scale length.
-jumbo frets.
-custom inlays: mother of pearl, diamond shape, with a split diamond around the center pickup.
-Kahler 2300 pro tremelo.
-(3) off/on switches
-master volume, master tone, 3rd switch now unwired-
it was originally equipped with a EMG SA assembly, and the 3rd knob was the presence control.
it now has (2) bill lawrence L-280's, and a duncan Little 59 humbucker in the bridge.
-explorer headstock shape, true to scale.
-long tenon set neck
-13 degree tilt back headstock
-graphtec nut, with locking kahler nut behind it.


the Flame maple used on the top and neck, and veneers, was from a large timber (136 years old as of 2011) salvaged from a barn in Illinois.
The honduras was acquired long before there were conservation laws on that particular wood (blank dates back to pre-1980).
___________________________________________________________
design criteria:
the les paul connection.
the basics of the les paul (the obvious basics) are:
slab mahogony body;
maple top;
strings on top of body;
2 piece maple neck;
glued in neck, long tenon;
tilt back headstock, no string trees required.

later, in 2008, they started weight relieving the standards, but remember, i built this in 1986.
so, the Gibson nod starts there.
mine has:
Honduras mahagony body -- maple top -- strings on top of body via the Kahler -- 2 piece maple neck -- a glued in neck with long tenon -- tilt back headstock.

it's really not hard to see the connection.
but my design tried to improve on all of this, because it also was capturing the best ideas of other guitar designs.

for example:
the volute on the explorer headstock is inherently stronger than the les paul (commonly known over time for breaks at the neck), plus i liked the headstock shape;

the weight relief is secondary-- the sound cavities i had routed strictly for that semi-acoustic property, making the guitar, at stage volume, extremely lively - this followed the basics of the Brian May Red Special, which was my starting point. his guitar is designed more like a 335 than mine, but i went there as much as i could without floating the top over a central beam;
the ebony fretboard brings out more les paul-style tonal characteristics than, say, a rosewood fretboard would have;
the glue in neck was a must, and unlike the les paul, which has that awkward heel, mine is smoothed out right into the back of the body, without so much as a line. the tonal effect with the glued in neck, and the long tenon is an obvious connection to the les paul lineage;
the tilt back headstock was unnecessary with the kahler locking nut, but i added it anyway, feeling that the downward pressure of the strings still helps to maintain a strong connection to the neck, vibration wise, and this is very much in les paul territory;
the strings on top, versus thru the body, is a very important link to the overall sound, and the use of the kahler is a great way to bridge the gap between a stop tailpiece and a floating trem.
tho they didn't have them then, now kahler has a 'hybrid' tailpiece, that can lock as a hard tail, or float as a trem.
best of both.
 

The shielding job looks really nice.

Hi Starise,
 
The time period that you describe, which I take to mean that short period before Jimi Hendrix broke out happens to be the end of the great electric guitar boom and every one had a huge slump in sales.
 
Gibson did not even make a Les Paul at the that time.
 
Jimi blew up in 1967 and Gibson didn't make a Les Paul between 1961 and 1967. They reintroduced it in 1968 because of Eric Clapton making the old ones popular. Old timers immediately pointed out that they weren't made the same as the old ones... but people made do.
 
Guys that played 335s probably didn't think about Strats much.
 
I don't know... what other professional grade guitars compare in popularity that might have out sold a Strat on occasions?
 
I've never seen actual sales figures... just serial numbers. Are sales figures by model public?
 
 
All in good fun!
 
best regards,
mike
 
 

"Blueprint scaled" - Bat don't you think that should be defined?
It could be very misleading to some.
 
The finishes Fender used and uses can be misleading too because of peoples opinion.
 
I'll try to help muddy the water...
 
"Blueprint scale" means close to body size. It in no way reflects the contours.
Two reasons. When they were making them by hand..self explanatory. When CNC started they
changed it everytime you turned around.
 
Nitro - Hogwash with any sound improving claims. Spray it on and tell yourself the sound improved.
Nitro was used to seal the pores as protection. It isn't as good as the polys at that because it gets hard, turns yellow and brittle. (unless you like that)
What's good? It is thin. It doesn't get in the way of a guitars tonal characteristics.
 
Poly is good but they sprayed it on so damn thick it turned a lot of players off. Also help kill the guitars tonal characteristics. Done right it actually protects better and is safer than Nitro. They started spraying it on thinner now...that's a good thing...they realized players weren't happy with that thick coat.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mike when I talk with somebody that can tell me how the guitar will sound that they are going to start building tomorrow..and when they're finished, it does..that's when I'll start listening.
Until then...how does sound while you are playing it.

 Mike- "I've never seen actual sales figures... just serial numbers. Are sales figures by model public?"
 
 I really don't know. I was referencing the comment from the Fender sales exec. who said that Hendrix did more for the company than all of their sales staff combined. 
 
 I guess if I were really prone to investigate the matter I would determine if the guitars indeed sold in vast numbers starting around 1968 as compared to earlier sales.But then the question of why still remains which could still be hotly debated. In a comparison we would also need figures from the other makers. I think the Tele was the guitar of choice right before 67-68 as compared to the strat. So probably the only guitar out selling a strat before 65 was a Tele or a Gibson. After 68' my guess would be that the two major makers went toe to toe and back and forth in sales over the years. I'm sure Gibson's marketing strategy lined up with what blew open in 68' concerning the strat. They might have begged Clapton to play one in 68'. The smaller guys cleaned up the leftovers.
 

"Blueprint scaled" - Bat don't you think that should be defined?
It could be very misleading to some.
 
 

well, it's not that complicated, really, i just means that the major dimensions of the body match a typical strat...
i think the model used was a '57
 
but this was made by hand, so all contours are unique to the decisions made by the luthier at the time, and his choices were spot on.
 
the nitro?
well, i've played every kind of finish, and the 'sound' differences are subtle, but the way the feel and vibrate in your hand is something i picked up on very early....
 
over the years, i've come to care more about the sonics of the wood, i think that the thinnest layer of finish possible is the best, and damn the 'wear', just enough to protect the wood from the elements, and no more.
 
it's subjective for sure, but i am unanimous in my voting.
LOL

Starise,
 
I liked the tone of maple better.  A little brighter.  Plus, I just like the looks of maple on a Strat.  Goes back to the Clapton influence, I guess.
 

i guess i'll just say 'body based on a '57'
 
that'd be more accurate.
 
it truly is a hybrid, so in the long run, it's uniqueness is enough.