'90 Les Paul Classic "cut-out"

I received this guitar as a body and neck only, with no hardware. It was a "cut-out", that is, the body was cut so as not to be sold normally. Remember "cut-out" records, cassettes, and CD's that had a notch taken out of the case and not sold for full price? That is what this was. It was given to a large case manufacturer to be used for sizing their products for Les Pauls. The burn marks in the photo show that the cut was very rough, and that this was never really intended to be used as a guitar. The second photo shows a "sound chamber" partially exposed by the cut. These were drilled into the mahogany body (and hidden by the maple top) to lessen the weight of hefty LP's that could easily top 9 pounds. There were production notes written on the body by the case manufacturer and finish wear in a couple of areas from repeatedly being placed in and out of cases, but it was in overall excellent condition. The guitar bore a '90 serial number and cherryburst finish, so I outfitted it with the year-correct hardware and electronics of a '60 Classic, which had begun production that year. The guitar had been unstrung for its first 10+ years of existence, so there was no guarantee that the neck would be straight or that it would be playable at all, but it turned out to be one of the easiest playing guitars I have.