Deaj
Silver Supporting Member
- Messages
- 4,676
Well, not really a 'new guitar' day. I picked it up used a few months ago for $450 (in near new condition, with Gibson 57 Classic pickups installed, and in a generic but high quality hard shell case). The price made this too good a deal to pass up.
Les Paul's aren't much my thing, something I've proven to myself several times over the decades. Still I keep trying to get along with them - and here's why:
The person most responsible for my interest in playing guitar was my uncle John. He's been playing semi-professionally for 50 years to date and he's still at it (currently the founding member and guitar/vocals/keys for a Newport, RI Beatles tribute band named Abbey Rhode - get it
). While he no longer owns it his primary guitar for all of my growing years was a black 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom. I now know that his sound, the sound I dug so much as a kid, was him and not the guitar (perhaps him and the sum of his entire rig).
I have owned several Gibson Les Paul's over the past 30+ years and each time I ended up selling them and deciding that it would be the last time. The first one was a 1974 cream LP Custom. I purchased it a few years after I started playing for $450 (those days are long gone). Well, having started out playing alder / maple/maple strats (HB bridge pickup) I found the Les Paul to be too... thick sounding I guess. I gave that first LP almost a year before selling it (and for a profit).
I tried again to get a LP to work for me but came to the same conclusion each time. It has almost certainly been nostalgia that drives me back to them. I bought the Edwards E-LP-92CD to flip but I've been dragging my feet on selling it. Though not a Gibson it is visually quite similar to my uncles 68 black Custom and so I've had it hanging from my wall for a few months. I like looking at it.
It came time to clean house and sell stuff not being used so I took the Edwards down and gave it a quick setup. Not pleased with the results I changed the strings to a 9-42ga set and tried to set it up again. Again I wasn't pleased with the results so I dropped it off at Mike Lull guitar works and had Mike set it up to play as well as possible by my preferences.
I picked the Edwards LP up this morning and was immediately surprised by how much I liked playing it AND how much I liked it's sound. I took it home and played it for a while. This guitar sounds fantastic!! I'm not quite used to the 12" radius fingerboard or the Tune-O-Matic type bridge but this will be easy enough to grow accustomed to in time. It stands no chance of becoming my primary guitar. I still very much prefer bolt-neck guitars (PRS CE24 & Hiland Sig, 25" scale length USACG 'homebrew' Strat will still get most of my play time) but I can definitely see putting the Edwards LP Custom to good use. BIG change from all of my prior LP experiences!
The Edwards could use an upgrade in pots, caps, and toggle switch (though not entirely necessary at this point - the original electronics function well enough for now). For the first time ever I'm finding I enjoy playing a Les Paul. NICE!!
Here's a stock pic of an Edwards E-LP-92CD as a placeholder for when I've had an opportunity to take a good picture of my guitar:
Les Paul's aren't much my thing, something I've proven to myself several times over the decades. Still I keep trying to get along with them - and here's why:
The person most responsible for my interest in playing guitar was my uncle John. He's been playing semi-professionally for 50 years to date and he's still at it (currently the founding member and guitar/vocals/keys for a Newport, RI Beatles tribute band named Abbey Rhode - get it
). While he no longer owns it his primary guitar for all of my growing years was a black 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom. I now know that his sound, the sound I dug so much as a kid, was him and not the guitar (perhaps him and the sum of his entire rig).I have owned several Gibson Les Paul's over the past 30+ years and each time I ended up selling them and deciding that it would be the last time. The first one was a 1974 cream LP Custom. I purchased it a few years after I started playing for $450 (those days are long gone). Well, having started out playing alder / maple/maple strats (HB bridge pickup) I found the Les Paul to be too... thick sounding I guess. I gave that first LP almost a year before selling it (and for a profit).
I tried again to get a LP to work for me but came to the same conclusion each time. It has almost certainly been nostalgia that drives me back to them. I bought the Edwards E-LP-92CD to flip but I've been dragging my feet on selling it. Though not a Gibson it is visually quite similar to my uncles 68 black Custom and so I've had it hanging from my wall for a few months. I like looking at it.
It came time to clean house and sell stuff not being used so I took the Edwards down and gave it a quick setup. Not pleased with the results I changed the strings to a 9-42ga set and tried to set it up again. Again I wasn't pleased with the results so I dropped it off at Mike Lull guitar works and had Mike set it up to play as well as possible by my preferences.
I picked the Edwards LP up this morning and was immediately surprised by how much I liked playing it AND how much I liked it's sound. I took it home and played it for a while. This guitar sounds fantastic!! I'm not quite used to the 12" radius fingerboard or the Tune-O-Matic type bridge but this will be easy enough to grow accustomed to in time. It stands no chance of becoming my primary guitar. I still very much prefer bolt-neck guitars (PRS CE24 & Hiland Sig, 25" scale length USACG 'homebrew' Strat will still get most of my play time) but I can definitely see putting the Edwards LP Custom to good use. BIG change from all of my prior LP experiences!
The Edwards could use an upgrade in pots, caps, and toggle switch (though not entirely necessary at this point - the original electronics function well enough for now). For the first time ever I'm finding I enjoy playing a Les Paul. NICE!!
Here's a stock pic of an Edwards E-LP-92CD as a placeholder for when I've had an opportunity to take a good picture of my guitar:
