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Glenn Frey's guitar

TimmyM

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Jan 10, 2011
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I have another post that I just put up abour Les Paul Junior and Specials but I was wondering if anyone knew for sure what the black Les Paul is that Glenn Frey from the Eagles is often seen playing (it looks like a Junion that has a front pickup added) wikipedia has this written when you look up Les Pauls and go down to the Juniors area
"Special-Special, 1964 , two pickups, on a flat maple top, mahogany back, and a skinny flat '60s neck, with dots. Loud with bass overtones. Glenn Frey's sound on, "No Fun Aloud", a 1982 solo album". I don't know what they are talking about, special-special" what is that? Any help would be appriciated.
 

marshall1987

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Jan 30, 2005
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3,278
I have another post that I just put up abour Les Paul Junior and Specials but I was wondering if anyone knew for sure what the black Les Paul is that Glenn Frey from the Eagles is often seen playing (it looks like a Junion that has a front pickup added) wikipedia has this written when you look up Les Pauls and go down to the Juniors area
"Special-Special, 1964 , two pickups, on a flat maple top, mahogany back, and a skinny flat '60s neck, with dots. Loud with bass overtones. Glenn Frey's sound on, "No Fun Aloud", a 1982 solo album". I don't know what they are talking about, special-special" what is that? Any help would be appriciated.

Yeah Glenn has owned and played that black Gibson guitar for years. You can see him playing it on "Already Gone" back in 1974 on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL6Fa_1pMCU&feature=related

I have a couple of recent Eagles DVDs but the camera man doesn't zoom in close enough to identity it.

Given the fact that Glenn's has owned and played that same guitar since at least the early 70's, I would wager it's a pre-1958 Gibson Les Paul Special. That model was not in the Gibson catalogs from the late 60's to the early 70's. IMO, It's got to be a vintage Les Paul Special.

He must have a sentimental attachment to it, because he always pulls it out in concert. It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that his buddy Bob Seger may have given the guitar to Glenn back in the 60's just when they were breaking out of Detroit. It would be interesting to do a search of Bob Seger live concert videos on "You Tube". You might come across a similar black Les Paul Special.


It soun good.:ha
 
Last edited:

soulbrojcs

Les Paul Froum Member
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Apr 14, 2009
Messages
939
I have another post that I just put up abour Les Paul Junior and Specials but I was wondering if anyone knew for sure what the black Les Paul is that Glenn Frey from the Eagles is often seen playing (it looks like a Junion that has a front pickup added) wikipedia has this written when you look up Les Pauls and go down to the Juniors area
"Special-Special, 1964 , two pickups, on a flat maple top, mahogany back, and a skinny flat '60s neck, with dots. Loud with bass overtones. Glenn Frey's sound on, "No Fun Aloud", a 1982 solo album". I don't know what they are talking about, special-special" what is that? Any help would be appriciated.
If I'm not mistaken, that was a guitar that he got from Paul Paul Barrere of Little Feat, who did the mods before Glenn got hold of it. since he's had it practically forever, I think he likes it quite a bit...
 

TimmyM

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Jan 10, 2011
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Marshall 1987, Thanks for the reply...you are correct, Glenn does play and had palyed this guitar for a long while. The problem that I see is that it has only two knobs like a Junior but it has a front pickup like a Special. I think that maybe it is an old Junior with an added front pickup and a toggle switch. All I know is that I want one! BTW what the hell is this?
les-paul-special-prototype-closeup.jpg
 

kharrison

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May 18, 2006
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4,225
Marshall 1987, Thanks for the reply...you are correct, Glenn does play and had palyed this guitar for a long while. The problem that I see is that it has only two knobs like a Junior but it has a front pickup like a Special. I think that maybe it is an old Junior with an added front pickup and a toggle switch. All I know is that I want one! BTW what the hell is this?
les-paul-special-prototype-closeup.jpg

Looks like a renecked 70's Les Paul Custom with P90's added :wah
 
Y

yeti

Guest
Marshall 1987, I think that maybe it is an old Junior with an added front pickup and a toggle switch. All I know is that I want one! BTW what the hell is this?
les-paul-special-prototype-closeup.jpg

Must have been a common mod back in the day.
LPjrFront.jpg
 

TimmyM

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Jan 10, 2011
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5
Thanks everyone for the replys. I had read someplace that he got this guitar from Jackson Browne (not the guy from Little Feet, but who knows). Jackson couldn't get the guitar to stay in tune or something and gave or sold it to Glenn...maybe that's when he had the TOM added? Rev.WillieVK, that is a great straight on picture of Glenn with the guitar. Definitely a dog-ear in the front and a toggle switch added below the bridge. Strange though, no Gibson markings at all...total refinish?
 

marshall1987

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Jan 30, 2005
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3,278
I vote for a '50s Junior with an added neck pup, ABR/TOM, and toggle.

800px-Glenn_Frey.jpg

Yup, I think you are right. I don't see any neck binding in that photo. Plus the control layout and pickups are not consistent with a Les Paul Special.

It's amazing how some of these famous and wealthy performers tend to hang on to "mutt" guitars they acquired as teenagers or young bloods. Must have something to do with the neurons and wiring of the left side of the brain. Or is it the right side? Argh:bug
 

soulbrojcs

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You could be right about Jackson Browne, but I THINK I remember reading in an interview that Paul (Little Feat guy) spent a summer sanding down a Jr. or Special, painting it red/orange in imitation of a Gretsch color maybe, and then never liking it. and then doing the current mods before giving/selling it to Glenn. that first part is in the Guitar Player Magazine interview with him and Lowell from the 70's (sorry, my books/mags are still packed up from a recent move). I believe I read the second part (about him passing it on to Glenn) in another publication later... again, my memories of this are a little foggy. I'll try and dig the interview out as soon as possible.
 

Flogger

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Sep 23, 2008
Messages
555
looks like a 50's single cut Junior with a lot of things done to it. :ganz

Norlin made some flat maple topped Les Pauls in the very early 80's, I forget what it was called (XP2?), but they had humbuckers. Maybe the dogears are retrofitted.
 

58Lover

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Oct 27, 2001
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My guess is someone in K-town made himself a custom piece. It's happened before.
 

marshall1987

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Jan 30, 2005
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Norlin made some flat maple topped Les Pauls in the very early 80's, I forget what it was called (XP2?), but they had humbuckers. Maybe the dogears are retrofitted.

Glen Frey has played that black guitar publicly since at least 1974.
 

albacorky

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Mar 5, 2003
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28
holy shit .. i ain't been here in about 11 years and i'm still a member .. who knew huh ?? i put up a post about glens guitar in 2003 and nobody knew anything .. i do know a few things tho .. 1st he did get the guitar from jackson browne .. he may have gotten another one from paul barrere of little feat but not that one .. i heard glen on a radio show actually say he got it from jackson who said i can't keep this sucker in tune you want it ?? what i don't know is what it looked like when jackson gave it to him .. was it a sunburst that was later painted black ?? i'm pretty sure it was originally a junior that had a neck pup added .. i think if you look at it close you'll see the toggle is more like a tele toggle than a lester .. but because everything is black its really hard to get a good look to see for sure .. i saw glen at the capitol theatre in passaic playin that guitar in 1972 so any stories of it bein a 1980's guitar are untrue .. what has crossed my mind is this is not a gibson but a jap copy .. why do i think that ?? cause if i was gibson i'd have already made about a million glen frey les pauls and sold em for 2 grand each .. but if the word ever got out it wasn't even a gibson it would make gibson look silly to have a guy like glen still playin a jap copy instead of the real thing after all these years .. it would only reinforce the jap myth of superiority and wouldn't help them at all now .. when i saw the eagles at the capitol it was back when nobody even knew who they were yet and they only filled the first few rows if everyone in the place moved up so it was pretty easy to get a look at the guitar .. problem was i wasn't such a gear hound back then so i didn't really take notes .. what i will say was i was kinda surprised that a guy like glen who was playin in a tourin band back then was playin a cheap knockoff of a gibson cause it had no markins on it at all to denote otherwise .. but then who knows i could be wrong .. maybe it was just repainted and the guy who did it got carried away .. maybe he botched up the neck pup so he repainted to hide his screwups ?? and ended up paintin over the gibson logo on the headstock too ?? i dunno .. all just speculation on my part tho .. maybe by now somebody will have some new info on this .. this is somethin that has haunted me over the years.. when you think how long glen used this guitar and that its on almost all the greatest hits and the eagles have sold more records than just about anybody except the beatles that old black les paul is probably on more records sold than just about any other guitar in rock and roll history .. no small feat for some who knows what for sure modified lester or lester clone .. either way it should get its due when you talk about a special lester like jimmy pages or slash or gary moore or peter greens .. what do you guys think ??
 

albacorky

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Mar 5, 2003
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thats a pretty good shot of the guitar in the first pic there rev .. one of the best i've seen .. try to look at the headstock tho .. i know its hard to tell .. i'd love to see guitar player or premier guitar or vintage guitar do some kinda pictorial on this thing .. maybe even have an interview with glen himself .. get jackson to say where he got it from if possible .. cause i just don't know .. you may be right .. it could be an old 57 jr. .. but then .. it just might not be .. i wonder if anyone has any definitive info on the jap copies from the early 70's or late 60's .. or as one guy said it could just be a ktown employee custom as it was known to happen .. glen where are you and what is this thing ??
 
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