First old LP experience

EFburst58 said:

The guitar player in my brothers band owns his 59 burst since '75 .I never noticed that until ca.'85
Here she is featured in a german calendar from 2009.
Second pic shows her (middle) at a vintage show.
He still owns it
In 2008 i had the chance to held her in my hands.





My first 'WANT A VINTAGE GIBSON LP' was back in '86 .It was advertised in a local paper for sale and the ad says 'Gibson Les Paul 1961 -1000 DM '
When i met the seller i was dissapointed because it was an early Les Paul SG with a headstock break .He makes me an offer for 800.- DM (Deutsche Marks).
Silly me - i don't buy it.Some weeks later i found a '79 LP Deluxe for 1500 DM.:bh

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Where about in Germany was that? About 5 years before this incident i had to sell my 61 SG and 1000 DM was exactly the money i got for it, but it had no headstock brake. Each of the both PAFs would be worth 4 times as much as the whole guitars back then. Sigh!

Was back on Long Island for a couple of months in 1970.
Saw an ad for a Les Paul in Newsday..went to see it.
Mint 1952 with Les Paul memorabilia in the case. The woman selling it
said her husband brought it to the Brooklyn Fox Theatre where Les was playing a show and got Les to play it...true? who knows..
I bought it for $425....great guitar

51nocaster said:

Was back on Long Island for a couple of months in 1970.
Saw an ad for a Les Paul in Newsday..went to see it.
Mint 1952 with Les Paul memorabilia in the case. The woman selling it
said her husband brought it to the Brooklyn Fox Theatre where Les was playing a show and got Les to play it...true? who knows..
I bought it for $425....great guitar

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Wow! That seems like an incredibly high price to pay at that time.
Full list on a new one was less that $50 more. :hmm

If Specials count, late '67 IIRC I wanted an old LP. The only one I could find in town was a bit of an odd '55 Special. I played it through my High School rock band years.
Couple things I didn't like, the neck was about the size of a 2x4, and that brown case had girly pink lining.
But damn it sounded good. Started my love for P90s.

I traded it in '69 for my '64 ES330, I was into BB at the time, but stuck with P90s. Still have this one.

Finally, after all these years, I have a '57 Special project guitar sitting at BCR for a headstock repair and refinish. Full circle I guess. And Greg should have it done very close to when I turn 60.

60pinstripe said:

In '72 I first heard the famous local bank "Crank", who were very big in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. They had the distinction of having opened for Jimmy Hendrix at the Baltimore Civic Center in the late '60's. The guitarist was from England, and played a '57 goldtop that had been refinished tobacco sunburst my "Marty" at Chuck Levins Washington Music Center. That guitar set the standard for me in the tone department.
Next step for me in the obsession was another DC local guitar wizard named Ray Tilkens , who had a fabulous '58 sunbust that I had the great opportunity to play a few times.
Then, my good friend, Jeff Adams, bought Sandy from it's original owner sometime around '76, and it was all over for me.
I bought my first burst shortly after that.

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Nick[60 pinstripe]Here is a shot of the refin you sold -traded to me years and years ago.Hope you are well.I think i gave you this photo last time i saw you.Mike B.

My first old Les Paul experience was in November 1985. I found out that Guitar Trader in Red Bank, NJ, had the left handed 1959 sunburst Les Paul for sale. (the one that would wind up in John MacEnroe's hands a few years after I saw it. I hopped a People Express flight to Newark, and rented a car for the drive to Red Bank. I got to the store just before the place opened, and soon, walking up the sidewalk came Jay Scott to open up the store. He opened the door and the cockroaches all scurried. Jay lead me to the back room, which was were all the vintage guitars were. Before he pulled out the 59' lefty, he opened ten burst cases and laid their contents out on the floor for me to admire. Finally out came the lefty, which was well-worn, and had a separation in the center seam. This was the first vintage Les Paul that I had ever seen in person, so I had to tonal reference point, but I wasn't floored by the tone of this particullar Les Paul. Even so, it was as amazing a vintage guitar day as I've ever had. Jay Scott and Tim Kummer (who's an amazing player,btw) were great hosts, and it's a day that I'll never forget. here's some pics from that day.

Over the past couple years I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to play my friends 59 burst along side my RI. It is a wonderfull guitar that plays and sounds fantastic. After hours and hours through various vintage and modern amps (Vintage Plexi's, Vox and Fender, modern DR Z, Germino, Soldano etc...), pot/cap and pup changes I have finally got my guitar to sound soo close to the real deal. I would love to have the real thing but the RI will have to do for now.

The real deal


My 2003R9