[ciou1953]

I have Gibson Triumph bass serial # 114109, which would indicate it was made in the 60's and there is NO MADE IN USA stampedon the back, which would support being made in the 60's. However, the Triumph bass was not launched until 1971 as a replcement for the Gibson Les Paul Bass.
I have had several Luthiars look at it and they all said it does not appear thst there ever was a nec reset or replcement.
With the Triumph being on the cusp of pre-post 70's production could they have used an old Gibson Les Paul neck tto make this Triumph bass?
Also, would this effect the value of the guitar?
Any help would be grestly asppreciafed as Gibson had no inight and I also tried to contact Walter Carter @ Gruhn guitars with no luck!
Ron

[jules]

Hi Ron,

Older parts were regularly used out of sequence. However the serial number and 'made in USA' stamps were done towards the end of manufacture.

Could we see some pictures please? Have you looked at pot codes?

Its quite likely that if this bass is a really early version, or even prototype there will be more differences than just the lack of 'made in the USA'.

In fact if this is a prototype, or early mock up, it may be simply that they didn't bother with the 'made in USA stamp', as it was never intended for sale.

In my opinion the lack of a 'made in..' stamp should not affect value, however if there are other significant differences and this can clearly be demonstrated to be a unique instrument, you may find a slight increase, if you can find a collector who wants it,