Gibson "The Paul"

[travisvwright]

Tell me something about it. One just showed up in a local pawn shop and I'd never even heard of it. Where better to get info on it than here? How LPish is it? What are they worth? (This on is pretty beat up and ugl...uh...has beautiful deep relicing, yeah that's the ticket.)

[Pax]

I just sold mine in the emporium. I was going to send you the post, but I deleted it. Anyway, they were produced from '78-'81. Solid walnut body, ebony fretboard, grover tuners, dirty fingers pups, decal logo. That’s how the ’78-’79 came stock. Later versions changed up a little and introduced colors. You’d have to check for original parts on the one you’re looking at if that matters to you. They were intended as quality, entry-level LPs. That’s exactly why I got mine. I was in high school, needed a good guitar and that was what we could afford. All in all, it’s a solid workhorse guitar and some folks really covet the DF pups (others hate them – whatever). They’re valued at $800 - $1200 depending on condition. Mine sold for $750 and was in decent shape.

[thatguitarkid]

The T-Top pickups are quite good from what I've played, and the ebony fretboard has a really good feel to it. If it's The Paul version one, it's entirely Walnut, as pax said, but the later versions have Mahogany bodies.

I'd pick that up, if I were you.

[travisvwright]

Wait Dirty Fingers vs. T-Top what pickup did this come with?

[thewalkingboss]

If it's a '78 or '79, pick it up. Don't even think twice. You can tell easily because it will be made of walnut with a clear finish. The '80 on ones are mahogany and I believe they say "firebrand" on them. These are not as good. Mine had some DiMarzio pickups in it and some botched wiring, push/pull pots, an aftermarket tremolo tailpiece, and some other evilness. I bought new Gibson pots, a set of SD Antiquities, Jensen tone caps, and stock LP tailpiece. It's a great guitar now. Mine is also "highly relic'd", the result of having been someone's workhorse for 10 years before I bought it, and then my workhorse for about the next 10 until I could afford some pricier stuff.

['70 RS]

Originally Posted by travisvwright

Wait Dirty Fingers vs. T-Top what pickup did this come with?

The ones I've played had Dirty Fingers....and they were badass R&R machines.
Nothing subtle about them, plug into a Marshall or tweed fender and watch out.

[nmiller]

They're well-built guitars that can be had for cheap. That said, they're really not LPish at all - much brighter due to the solid walnut.

[Blues Power]

I Bought mine new in Dec of 1980. Paid $375 with the chain saw case. I owrked a lot of OT in them days ot pay for it lol.
Absolutly the best and most comfortable geetar I ever played, and light to. Kalamazoo built to boot
I changed out the T Tops in 82 and wish I hadnt and thyere long long gone to who knows where. she stays in tune for ions and the tone is big, clear and fat. The chrome is still shiney unlike my 02 which is dulled already

The neck is fast and still have the original un touched frets. you can see how flat theyve become but it still plays great

the only mod youll need is to change out the stock 100K vol pots for a pair of 300 and she'll be real sweet.
today i see them going for about $800-1000 and def worth it imo

EDIT: oh yeah the body i think is 7 peice and the neck 5 so its not like a real solid body guitar. that bothers some people but i guess thats why they cost what they cost back in the day.

[27sauce]

Not to sound cliche, but, they make great slide guitars. the walnut just has that EQ thing going on, like a big lap steel.

[Crimson Queen]

My first guitar! I had the Walnut model. Basic no-frills rock guitar is how I saw it described in store catalog (Rainbow guitars in Buffalo I think). That description is about right. The pickups did not have much character. Still, I wish I still had it.

[Troy T. Blues]

I had a '78 and the pups were T-Tops. I think the Dirty Figers came after that and especially with the "Firebrand" Gibsons. Anyways, it sounded fantastic and it played great too. I gave it up to fund for something else, but I really liked that guitar.

If you go to my MY Space site and click on "One Room Country Shack", that's the guitar I was using through my '66 Super Reverb. Most of it is clean, but if you hear OD....it was a pedal that I was trying out and I did not keep it. This was only a rehearsal take.

[Gibson 1964]

Have an '81 firebrand deluxe (made on the same day I was born.) With dirty fingers and a mahogany body. Mine has insanely low action and plays wonderfully, but in all honesty, Sounds a bit more like an extraordinarily fat sounding SG than an LP.

Lets just say mine breathes fire and is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the head.

[Bluedawg]

Cool guitars ... a few different flavors over their life span .... I liked them all .. good bang for the buck

[ajchance]

I had an '81 (I think) - all mahogony. Also picked it up from a pawnshop. It was a dog. Couldn't get it setup worth a darn and it had a bland, muddy tone. Got rid of it as fast as I could. My contrasting $.02

[Bluedawg]

Originally Posted by ajchance

I had an '81 (I think) - all mahogony. Also picked it up from a pawnshop. It was a dog. Couldn't get it setup worth a darn and it had a bland, muddy tone. Got rid of it as fast as I could. My contrasting $.02

The occasional lemon is not surprising ... the factory spit those out at warp speed, I'm sure.