Scott Gorham's Deluxe

jpap · Jun 9, 2009

Scott was just a way more consistent and reliable player, where Robbo was in fact pretty unpredictable (as he stated by himself), and this is clearly to see (hear) on the countless live sessions. On some tunes Robbo is really outstanding (he was just 17 when attended TL), but on others he can barely play a clean note... To my little opinion, I agree that Scott was the king of melodies in TL, but at the same time, Robbo was pure rock 'n' roll...:headbange
And a small story: During the Phil Statue event in 2005 in Dublin, some friends of mine where there. They met GM, Scott and Robbo at their hotel, and asked Robbo why he's not on the main cover photo of the Bad Reputation album. His answer was so simple: "Yeah, during that photo session, I was somewhere in a bar...":salude
Even at the same evening, during the concert for Phil's memory, he was already drunk...

eace2

Thin_Lizzy · Jun 9, 2009

jpap said:
Scott was just a way more consistent and reliable player, where Robbo was in fact pretty unpredictable (as he stated by himself), and this is clearly to see (hear) on the countless live sessions. On some tunes Robbo is really outstanding (he was just 17 when attended TL), but on others he can barely play a clean note... To my little opinion, I agree that Scott was the king of melodies in TL, but at the same time, Robbo was pure rock 'n' roll...:headbange
And a small story: During the Phil Statue event in 2005 in Dublin, some friends of mine where there. They met GM, Scott and Robbo at their hotel, and asked Robbo why he's not on the main cover photo of the Bad Reputation album. His answer was so simple: "Yeah, during that photo session, I was somewhere in a bar...":salude
Even at the same evening, during the concert for Phil's memory, he was already drunk...eace2

Yeah, I was there too at the concert in Dublin. My god, Robbo was so drunk...

fjminor · Jun 14, 2009

Not the greatest quality, but Robbo and Scott make the perfect pair here - Robbo using a sunburst deluxe also....JailBreak ...:yah

thin sissy · Jun 14, 2009

Scott had the more melodic quality, yes. But Robbo's rock 'n roll style was the perfect match for Scott's style IMHO. Robbo sure had a great sense of melody too in his playing, and no one uses the wah like he does these days...

Emerald · Jun 15, 2009

There is an interview with Gorham in this months Vintage Guitar player. A Deluxe was all the band could afford to buy Scott at the time and he took a liking to it..
yngwie308

JRW8214@AOL.COM · Jun 15, 2009

I wonder why he never bought a set of fullsize humbuckers for it like Robbo did, if he was unhappy with it.

Wine Red '76 · Jun 16, 2009

I read a short interview w/ Scott in a recent issue of G.P. Mag . and he was asked: What was your rig?
"In 1977, I would have been using a Les Paul Deluxe, with the mini-humbuckers, which I wouldn’t recommend to anybody. It was a nice little guitar but it just didn’t have the honk to it. Brian Robertson played a Les Paul Custom with much more powerful pickups."
So it kinda looks like he didn't really care for the Deluxe model after all!
I love LP Deluxe's

thin sissy · Jun 18, 2009

JRW8214@AOL.COM said:
I wonder why he never bought a set of fullsize humbuckers for it like Robbo did, if he was unhappy with it.

Sometime in '78 just before he bought his 50's conversion with full sized humbuckers, he used a Les Paul with full sized humbuckers, that MIGHT have been his Deluxe. I don't know if he routed it just before it was stolen, or if it was another guitar though.

Breakfastime · May 23, 2010

Seems like I read that he had the Deluxe routed out but where I read that I don't recall. Sometimes I get these long-haired dudes mixed up.

Anyhow, is this the '59/'57/whatever LP that he bought on tour in the US, '78 or so?

"We were touring in the US and a vintage guitar dealer came down to a show in Boston and flipped open about six boxes and I made a bee-line for this one guitar. He told me it was a ’59, but it was actually a ’57. I picked it up and it felt right. It sounded like a Thin Lizzy guitar. I asked our sound guy, Pete, what he was hearing and he just looked at me and said, “Buy it.” I looked down at the dealer and said, “Well, that just blew any negotiation on my part.” After a while, the wine red finish began to wear off and it appeared to have a gold top finish originally, so who knows what that guitar was."

(from http://www.woodytone.com/2009/05/08/thin-lizzy-john-sykes-and-scott-gorham-info/ )

Does anybody know more about this one?

JRW8214@AOL.COM · May 23, 2010

Its been covered many times on this forum. Its a '56 conversion with early Dimarzio PAFs. If i recall, someone on here worked at the shop that did the conversion.

Breakfastime · May 23, 2010

JRW8214@AOL.COM said:
Its been covered many times on this forum. Its a '56 conversion with early Dimarzio PAFs. If i recall, someone on here worked at the shop that did the conversion.

Thanks, I'll search it.

(Anything for a good excuse to post that cool pic, eh?) :salude

shep79 · May 25, 2010

If you find the link and don't mind posting it...that would be cool. I love reading the Thin Lizzy stuff.

Mats A · Jul 24, 2017

Old thread but i must do a correction to what i wrote then. There are Pictures from the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia where many of the songs on Live And Dangerous is recorded and Robbo is playing the Black Custom (probably a 1969) there. I believe 6 of the songs on the album is recorded in 1976 and there Robbo probably played the Deluxe. The rest recorded in 1977 and 1978 is probably the black Custom.

SpencerD · Jul 26, 2017

Live in Dublin '75. Fightin' and It's Only Money

Thin Lizzy = Rock Show. So good.

Crazy high platform shoes too! ---- Phil with a mirror pickguard.....they ARE rock and roll.:dude:

Snappy Joe · Dec 12, 2019

I've seen TL probably 20+ times during the seventies. They were EVERYWHERE,...almost no Rock event they didn't perform. Mostly as support group, within a festival and sometimes as one band act. I must say Scott was one of the best looking hot shots of the day. Great poser, skinny like death, just like we all were. He was the perfect identification figure as we were all pretty much in the same age group. As for the mini humbuckers those Deluxes definitely Rock. Much more aggressive and snappier that normal sized HB. This particular pickup paired w. the Marshall cabinets were the sig. sound of the seventies since many guitar players played them. Those minis were the shit back then. Mick Ralphs, Pete Townshensend just to name a few. I saw them all many times and it is exactly this Norlin min HB LPs that throws me back to my jounger and wilder days. The days when you had your ol' lady sitting on your shoulders for most of the concert

Scott Gorham's Deluxe

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