• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

John McLaughlin's Les Pauls

CPM55

New member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
184
I have seen a few pics and even a few videos of McLaughlin playing what looked like either a really fine condition '58 or '59 Sunburst....I think that this is the one he traded off for a couple of vintage hollow bodies....anyone know who walked off with that guitar or where it is these days?
Also, I have seen in quite a few interviews that he still has a vintage black '50s Gibson Les Paul Custom that he used quite a bit back in the '70s...anyone have any pics of this guitar or know any specifics?
Thanks in advance.
 

keef

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,006
639_p17349.jpg


http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58504
 

spidey

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Messages
3,265
He used the black customer on the first mahavishnu album, Inner Mounting Flame. Very cool!
 

CPM55

New member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
184
:bigal

I am confused...maybe even a tad naive or perhaps ignorant....what do those last two posts even mean!?!?

Not trying to be disrespectful....just a bit clueless maybe.
 

Mahalo

New member
Joined
Nov 19, 2005
Messages
530
:bigal

I am confused...maybe even a tad naive or perhaps ignorant....what do those last two posts even mean!?!?

Not trying to be disrespectful....just a bit clueless maybe.

Just a gentle thread hijack, a bit of banter over an unintentional typo - "customer" instead of "custom" - caused by an auto-spellcheck program. All good.

Back on topic: I remember reading a Guitar Player magazine way back in which John mentioned he had loaned out the 58 to a colleague who apparently treated the guitar poorly. I also recall he said he swapped it for a few Johnny Smiths.

:2zone
 

CPM55

New member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
184
Thanks for clearing that up....I was starting to wonder if I were the "problem" and didn't even realize it.....:rofl:rofl

I think that last thread..."someone treating it poorly"....might testify to the fact that maybe WE all love these instruments to a higher degree than the artists who made them "famous". They were all "players" and the instruments were merely "means to an end"....the "players" often sounded the same regardless of what instrument they were playing.

Bloomfield beat the crap out of that infamous '59 (tossing it in the back of his car's trunk from what I've heard) and even leaving it behind...SACRILEGE to most of us!

Paul Kossoff looked like he attacked those Bursts like a great white attacking a seal!

How many times did Jeff Beck change the neck of one of his '59s to better suit his tastes.

To a collector these actions would be insane. Back then it was "just a guitar".
 

bern1

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
1,275
I don't think they've been "just a guitar" since about 1966, even for those players you mentioned....
 

mingus

Active member
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
4,243
I don't think they've been "just a guitar" since about 1966, even for those players you mentioned....

That's right. They were always difficult to find and if you did find one, it was very pricey (compared to other good vintage guitars)!
 

spidey

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 21, 2003
Messages
3,265
OOps! Yes 'Custom' not 'customer'! Well spotted guys.
 

sidekick

New member
Joined
Jun 20, 2005
Messages
3,060
Thanks for clearing that up....I was starting to wonder if I were the "problem" and didn't even realize it.....:rofl:rofl

I think that last thread..."someone treating it poorly"....might testify to the fact that maybe WE all love these instruments to a higher degree than the artists who made them "famous". They were all "players" and the instruments were merely "means to an end"....the "players" often sounded the same regardless of what instrument they were playing.

Bloomfield beat the crap out of that infamous '59 (tossing it in the back of his car's trunk from what I've heard) and even leaving it behind...SACRILEGE to most of us!

Paul Kossoff looked like he attacked those Bursts like a great white attacking a seal!

How many times did Jeff Beck change the neck of one of his '59s to better suit his tastes.

To a collector these actions would be insane. Back then it was "just a guitar".

True, insofar that the players of the day often played them hard and they were "tools of the trade".

AFAIK, Paul Kossoff had some "accidents", but others were quite aware... For example, Jeff Beck, (Yardbirds era) was known for becoming a bit frustrated at times... But, he realised that if you went back into the dressing-room and threw your Les Paul down, it wouldn't necessarily survive like a Fender... As you say... Perhaps that was the reason...:hmm
 

copernicus

Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
64
I don't think they've been "just a guitar" since about 1966, even for those players you mentioned....
Actually, at that particular time you could still pick up a burst for next to nothing, and the only American 'rock star' using one was John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful. In November of 1966, just before moving back to my native Holland, I saw a few burst going for around 150 bucks a piece in an LA pawnshop. Thoroughly underwhelmed by their stuffy looks, I bought an SG Special for 235 bucks instead. The Beano Album had been released in March of that year, but it actually took a few more years before Clapton, Greene, Beck and Page popularized the burst in its country of origin.
 

CPM55

New member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
184
Soory guys...I tried to post some picks that I saw on the net and saved, but they didn't show up. I saw a recent interview with McLaughlin in which he was sitting with his "famous" black Gibson Les Paul Custom. It had a bigsby and looked like a '55 as best I could tell. I'll try again this week end to either figure out how to post what I saved or find the original site to get you there. It was not a "Burst"....I believe his Burst was a really clean and fine '58 that he traded away for a couple of Johny Smiths. The black custom doesn't look like the one that was on the back cover of Extrapolation...it looks like a really great condition '55 with a Bigsby and maybe gold hardware and Grovers. I will keep trying. I have seen him mention that he still has, and loves to play, this Gibson Les Paul Custom, but this is the first time I've actually seen it.
 

lonesomesheik

Active member
Joined
Nov 18, 2009
Messages
1,217
I've heard the story that he exchanged his Burst for 3 Byrdlands in Paris from a famous Paris vintage dealer.
 
Top