Beautiful Navigator copy of a '56 Gold Top that appears all original other than the rear control cover.  Back of the headstock designates the model as an 80 which corresponds to a Navigator originally priced at ¥ 90,000 and I believe as an LP-80G.  The first gold tops appear in 1981 as LP-90G, this one predates that, so can't be certain of the model.  Update, I found an ad from 1978 showing a new model, the LG-80 with a gold top and P-90 pickups and original price of ¥ 80,000!

Pickups are Maxon P-90 with an 'S' stamp dated to late August 1978, which corresponds to the pots which are dated to the third week of August 1978.  Had not seen references to 'S' stamped P-90's, but Maxon 'S' stamped humbuckers are found in Navigators from this time and are highly desirable.  I've compared the resistance of these pickups to a set of 1980 Maxon made Greco P-90's and it is very close on both sets.  Tuners are no-name copies of Grover Rotomatics, which are common on Navigator's made at this time. 

The gold finish is beautiful and has some really nice subtle aging, including checking in the top which can be seen in some of the photos.  Guitar came missing its rear control cavity cover, which will be replaced with a reproduction, otherwise, I believe the guitar is in all original condition.  There are nicks, scratches and dings as one would expect with a guitar of this age.

The guitar has been completely gone over, with a full setup - truss rod adjusted (relief), action and intonation set, nut relief checked, pickup height adjusted, nut/pots/switch/jack/fretboard cleaned and frets polished.  A new control cover has been installed, see last two pictures.  Guitar plays and sounds fantastic, no dead spots or buzzing anywhere on the neck.  The guitar needs nothing.

Navigator has been one of the highest quality Japanese guitar brands from its inception in the 1970's, all the way through to today. 

This is a pretty rare find, especially given its condition, originality and its Maxon P-90's. 

The guitar is located in the US and will come with a non-original hard case.

SOLD

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