Thinking about selling my LP...

[jbright44]

There was a time when if the house was burning down, I would have only grabbed one thing. My beloved 2004 Les Paul Standard. Now here I am, full circle, thinking of selling it. A little back story:

This guitar was given to me by Gibson in 2004 as a thank you/payment for a project my best friend and I did for them as undergraduate engineering students. We did it as our capstone design project and Gibson actually implemented our recommendations and built the machine we designed. Every every solid body guitar that bears the Gibson name that comes out of the Nashville factory runs across our machine. It has a lot of sentimental value for that reason I've always hung on to it.

However, I play primarily at church now and don't have a lot of use for the LP. I don't really see myself doing much playing other than at church any time in the near or distant future because hey, wife, kids, work, etc. Between my Duesenberg Starplayer and my ASAT Special, I find myself rarely going for the LP and the few times I've taken it with me just for the sake of playing it, I've found myself wishing I would have brought one of the other two.

On top of all that, I find myself continuously disappointed by the quality of components for a 2k+ guitar new. The neck pickup is muddy, the tone and volume controls are barely functional and I've already put new tuning machines on it because the ones that came with it were garbage. The fret work is bad and it needed a pro setup out of the box. Compared to my G&L ASAP Special TRIBUTE it's like night and day. HOWEVER it is a REALLY good piece of wood and there is some magic in there.

I've considered having all the guts ripped out, taking it to a tech and having them replace everything, give it a solid set up and put some Loller Low Wind Imperials in it to see if that rekindles the fire a bit. I've also considered just selling it and buying a nice rifle that I've been wanting since I think I've played it once in the past year and it just sits in the case most of the time.

So, what would you do? Sell it and get the rifle? Give it a Loller overhaul? Do something else?

 

[ldizzle]

Not gibson, Although I've had several...I work for a church and play my h157 with lollar low winds nearly every Sunday. Bright, articulate, and sounds excellent ambient or driven. The Lollars are a bit flatter in the mids to me, and slightly less compressed-that really helps not go too rawk but still have some power!

I'd really say hold on to your git just in case you might miss it later...

 

[AParrotLooksAt4O]

I’d say hold on to it, but it sounds like you’re holding on to it for sentimental reasons and not musical enjoyment. If you’re looking for money to fund something else that you’re excited about, sell it. If you’re just indifferent to it right now, maybe keep it until you DO need some money. Its not going down in value, and you may end up wanting it once its gone.

I almost never play my Strat, but I won’t sell it both for sentimental reasons and because I only have one Strat and I usually end up enjoying it when I actually take it out for an hour or so. I’ve been on the fence about selling it for the last year, but can’t bring myself to do it just yet. My SG and ES135 are my main electrics, but they can’t do everything my Strat can, and since I’ve already invested in it, I haven’t found a reason to sell it at a loss just yet. Its beautiful, it was my first REAL electric and I’ve put many hours, years and gigs into it. At this point, if I sold it, it would be because of impulse, which usually ends in regret.

I chose the third option in your poll, but I'd say doing an upgrade or adding a bigsby or something like that might renew your interest in it.

 

[scelerat]

A good setup and thoughtful component changes can turn a dud into a #1.

Sentimental feelings isn't the worst reason to hold on to something. It is a guitar though, and they're made to make music, not hang on a wall.

 

[c_mac]

I suppose if I had that kind of back story behind a guitar that I would try to do some mods and see if that helped. I know it would suck to spend the money just to find out that you don't like it anymore than you used to but I'd give it a shot. I think if you were to just sell it without trying anything first, you might regret it down the road.

 

[TheClev]

My Dad bought me a Les Paul when I was 16, but I eventually grew into other instruments and it sat unplayed for years. I talked myself into selling it, and I've been kicking myself for that ever since. There are millions of toys out there, but only a few of them will ever mean something to you. Those ones are keepers.

 

[Totally Bored]

Keep her it's a great sentimental story.


Place her on a wall hanger and consider her art.


Unless you need the money

 

[mschafft]

I would always prefer a guitar over any other sort of weapon.
Have it set up with new pots. See if that rescues the original pickups.
Nice story. Seller's remorse warning sign here.

 

[Käivärä]

OK, I truly understand the sentimental value, but you explained it pretty clearly that you don't play the guitar and you find too many flaws in it. So, I'd sell it. Talking from experience, first it might sting a little but why hold on to it if you don't find the joy playing it. Yeah Gibson gave it to you but so what. It's no Picasso if you know what I mean.

 

[dwoverdrive]

I am of the opinion that the money you would get for selling an instrument like that, isnt really that much considering the finality of it. Once its gone its gone.

 

[darchirnoj]

Too cool a story.
Make it work.
Change pickups, pots, sand the back of neck....
Good to go.

 

[Blue Light]

My question would be this: If it WAS set up to perfection, would you then want to play it? If so, I'd keep tinkering until you got it right. I had the muddiness issue on my LP until I got busy with the pickup heights. It still doesn't strum as clean as a Tele, but, you know, it still has the thunder.

If it is still not the sort of guitar you'd want to play, then I wouldn't feel too attached to it. Maybe if the Dalai Lama tossed unicorn dust on it....

Much as I like my LP, there are other humbucker guitars out there that even I'd consider as closer to my needs.

In other words, I'm not feeling sentimental this morning.

 

[chrisrocksusa]

it'd be foolish to sell it.

 

[jb2]

I'd keep it. On cheaper side u could make ur own harness or get a mojo harness 50's wiring. Swap out pickups, like stew macs parson street. I can't remember if I have the a2 magnet neck a5 bridge. Stew mac also has a part set for jimmy page wiring setup that has instructions if u want tweaking.
But u get options for decent price. Swapping out pups and a harness not too difficult.
A decent set up and frets by someone knows what there doing shouldn't be too bad cost wise.
Then plug it in see what does for you. No magic then u might have less regret getting rid of it.

 

[Thames]

Have it inspected/tuned by a pro first.

Now, whatabout that machine ? Use ?

 

[WoodyStrat]

I have literally changed everything on my 2009 Gold Top Standard that is not made of wood. Even had those stupid square frets crowned so slides are possible. Sheptone pups and good caps and pots made the most difference. It was a terrible value in a guitar and sometimes I felt as though I was throwing good money at bad, but now I would burn to death trying to figure out which guitar to grab in a fire!

Stick with it, you will get it there but it takes patience and cash to do so.

 

[axe4me]

Keep the LP.
Check out various other pick ups.
It could add the presence/tone that you'd like.

 

[Stephans]

You need a ES335 ;-)

 

[DustyRhodesJr]

Sell it if you arent using it.

 

[McQ7]

If there's any chance at all in the future that you might like to have a Les Paul, then I say keep it. If you're not sure, then keep it. Things have a way of coming back around, in my experience. If you wanted it once, you may want it again.