Serial Number Lookup [upd] | Les Paul

Leo wasn't a superstitious man. He was a forensic luthier, a guitar archaeologist. His job was to separate the genuine artifacts from the clever forgeries. And this guitar, at first glance, was either the Holy Grail or a million-dollar fake.

J. Rushmore. Jonah Rushmore. A session guitarist in Chicago in the early '60s. A legend in the blues clubs, but he never made a record. He died in 1965—a fire at a boarding house. The story went that his guitar was destroyed, too. But here it was. les paul serial number lookup

Here's a step-by-step guide to help you decode your Les Paul serial number: Leo wasn't a superstitious man

He pulled a high-intensity lamp closer and a jeweler’s loupe from his vest pocket. The first test was the ink. Original 1959 stamps used a specific aniline dye ink that bled slightly into the porous grain of the mahogany. Forgeries often used modern, crisp ink that sat on top. He touched it with a micro-swab dampened with naphtha. The faintest red haze bled out. Authentic ink, he thought. But that just means the stamp is old. And this guitar, at first glance, was either