Les Paul?

marshman · Post by **marshman** » Fri May 19, 2006 9:39 pm

Yeah, BB, I 'had' a ebony-board studio a few years back and it was definitely mucho brighter than a rosewood board.

I have a hard time believing that a 3-piece top is going to make a significant tonal difference compared to a 2-piece top. It may LOOK less cool, but if it sounds right, I'm there.

As far as price goes, $1000 for an LP as unusual as that one, might not be a bad investment. If I had it, I'd probably snag it up. But that's just me.

Guitar Adjuster · Post by **Guitar Adjuster** » Fri May 19, 2006 10:44 pm

LPC's in this area of Texas. from the mid-late 70's to the 80's are going for $1500 to $2000 range. You may want to snag it if nothing else to re-sell later.

Bad Kitty · Post by **Bad Kitty** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:42 pm

SNAGGED IT! He wanted $1200, I said $800, we settled on $900. I don't mind the three piece top. I'm 90% sure it's been refinished but who ever did it did a fine job of it. It looks just like a factory finish. He got it from a guy in Anahiem that had it as collatarel on a loan to another guy in 1991.
He just likes to strum a few chords and said he's had it out of it's case maybe three times since then.
I played it for a good three hours through my amp before offering anything for it. I usually don't go for maple fretboards but after ten minutes or so I didn't even notice. He had the same strings on it that were on it when he got it and they still had life in them. They're nines though so I'm going to put some tens on her, spend some time getting her all set up and tomorrow me and Blondie go to a double gig in Idylwild. Baptism by fire, the true test!
You guys probably all have lesters already but this is the first Gibson I've ever owned. Actually it's only the sixth guitar I've ever owned and I still have four of those. I"ve been playing my whole life in clubs and this is the first time I won't have to hear, "You play a WHAT?"
Like my Lester or hate it, I can now hold my head up and say, "Yea, I've got a Paul."

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:55 pm

ANY Les Paul Custom for $900 ain't doin' too bad!!! Good snag, and a unique piece to boot!!

I thought it looked quite cool in its' "all blonde" glory.

Guitar Adjuster · Post by **Guitar Adjuster** » Sat May 20, 2006 12:06 am

Can't go wrong with BLOND! Mine is 1/2 blond!

Allen

JD · Post by JD » Sat May 20, 2006 12:33 am

Sounds like a good deal. I've seen those maple board Customs in natural finish, so it may not be refinished. Actually there are probably only one or two colors with the maple board as I've never seen, and doubt they would put, a maple fretboard on a black one for example. I would agree, as unusual as it is regardless of the 3-pc top its probably worth more than $900 in decent shape. Congrats!

Bad Kitty · Post by **Bad Kitty** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:32 am

Thanks guys. I took the neck pickup off to see if it was refinished. This is what I saw:

http://www.badkittymusic.com/lester/colorcode.jpg

I guess that settles that.

marshman · Post by **marshman** » Sat May 20, 2006 8:47 am

As I said, I had an maple capped maple boarded copy as my first axe maaannnyyy moons ago and thought it was a fine lookin' instrument. Kinda made me wonder why anyone would paint over that cool maple, and mine was totally unfigured.

Loaned that axe to a "friend" that disapperaed for 4 years, came back w/o it. Bastard.

JD-I think I did see a black finished/Maple board LP in Manhattan a few years back, but wouldn't wanna swear to it.

Anywho, damn fine score, BK...Enjoy

JD · Post by JD » Sat May 20, 2006 3:40 pm

What I saw REALLY unusual was a NAMM display LP Custom from the early '70s that was SOLID rosewood (neck, fretboard, body, top - everything). I'd bet is was 20 pounds LOL!

Necrovore · Post by **Necrovore** » Sat May 20, 2006 7:43 pm

Good buy on that Lester. No I don't own a Gibson and at this point don't think I ever will.

Bad Kitty · Post by **Bad Kitty** » Sun May 21, 2006 7:25 am

When I got the guitar yesterday I was riding home and felt a cold coming on. I had to stay up till about 2 am getting Blondie intonated and setup. The double gig was about two hours away so we had to get up at 7:00am. As soon as I opened my eyes I knew I had a damn cold. What a miserable start to what was supposed to be a magical day. And it just got worse.
The only bright spot in this LONGASS day was Blondie, my new love. Played her on about half the tunes for eight hours. The maple fretboard is getting easier. Now I see why Les Paul are considered to be the best. During one solo tonight I thought I would see just how long this thing will sustain. After about 20 seconds or so I had to just stop the note for a chord change. DAMN!!!!!
I'm going to take some more pictures out in the daylight as soon as I sleep for a couple of days and recover. It looks totally diffrent in the sun. The dots on the side of the neck are red and the binding has this nice mellow yellow aging to it.
One thing that threw me for a loop was when you have both PU's selected and you turn down one of the volumes, both pickups are turned down.