Univox Gimmie
1970's Univox Les Paul copy
Nothing says the 70’s like a metal flake paint job. Whether it’s on a custom van, a dune buggy, motorcycle gas tank or helmet, back then you knew something was made for speed if it had a bright metallic finish. Just like this mid-1970’s Univox “Gimmie” electric guitar.
The Gimmie was one of three different Les Paul copies made by Univox from 1976 to 1979. They were offered in Natural, Sunburst, Black and Gold finishes. This particular one was part of a limited run that featured a special metal flake gold painted top and black pickguard. It was Univox’s attempt at copying the rare 1957 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top “Black guard”, but with a little 70’s bling added for extra sparkle. The rest of the guitar’s body is finished in a dark mahogany stain.
Similar to a Les Paul, the Gimmie came with two humbuckers, two volume, two tone controls and a 3-way pickup selector switch. It has a two piece mahogany “pancake” style body which is also what Gibson was using at the time. The bolt-on mahogany neck is stained to match the guitar body. It has a rosewood fretboard with block inlays and a scale length of 24 3/4”. The neck on the Gimmie has a medium thick, rounded profile with a 1 5/8” wide nut and a 7.25” radius fretboard. Its medium sized vintage nickel frets feel nice and playability is very good for a budget guitar. Hardware is gold plated including the pickup trim rings, “tune-o-matic/stop bar bridge and tail piece.
The Gimmie’s headstock closely resembles the Gibson Les Paul Custom model, open book design with split parallelogram inlay and 3 on-a-side tuners. Gibson eventually sued Japanese guitar makers for use of the headstock shape. That’s how these became to be known as “lawsuit guitars.” Notice that it is missing a Univox logo on the headstock. Univox guitars were made at the famous Matsumoku factory in Japan along with other brands like Aria, Greco and Ibanez. Apparently some of these guitars were shipped to the U.S. directly from the factory missing a logo. Some guitarists would also remove the logos in order to hide that it was an import copy. You can tell that this guitar is a Univox by the pickups and bolt on neck plate. They were the only brand that offered the Phase III humubuckers. The neck plate has “Steel Reinforced Neck” stamped into it which is also a Univox trait.
One of the original tone knobs was replaced by a non-matching gold, Gibson style knob. The A string bridge saddle was replaced at one point along with the 3-way toggle switch. Tuners are original, but the buttons are newer vintage style Kluson buttons. Otherwise the guitar is original.
Les Paul copies from this era are very cool and are a total bargain compared to the real thing, but if you’re buying one with the hopes of it sounding like a real Les Paul, you may be a little disappointed. While copies like this have the same look and basic components of the real thing, they are their own unique guitar. The bolt on neck, neck angle and headstock angle compared to a Gibson with set neck give it an entirely different feel. I’ve heard people say lawsuit Les Paul copies were better than the Gibson’s at the time. I disagree. I think they are very good instruments, but they are not as good as the real thing. That said, the neck feels great. The Phase III humubuckers are some of my favorite pickups. They sound incredible. Blues legend Earl Hooker played a Univox Les Paul Custom copy that he decked out with stickers. The model Earl played was called the “Mother”. It’s very similar to the Gimmie, but used different pickups. Watch Earl play his Univox behind his head, on the ground and with his teeth. He doesn’t miss a beat!