Les Paul Standard

Here's a few more of my "now-gone" collection. But it was fun while it lasted. Well a least until I couldn't fit one more guitar in my storage space. And if you look closely you'll see one of these is actually a Music Man - - but Leo and George were involved in that too. Both on the instrument and amp side of things.

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Some neat-o geetarage there, LJ. I really like the "quilted maple top" Tele (ASAT model, IIRC?)?
 
Hope you have a lot of pics! History of G&L right here. I can see Leo's finger prints all over designs!

Ya maybe don't know but I did a lot (weeks) of research to 'assemble' the Tele. and seemed to be the most favored from 53' up. aside from the strato-casters, mustangs etc.) I can only imagine playing any one pic'd. I think I'll name mine "Leo". need a decal..
 
Thanks for the links Louis; I can't imagine owning 126 guitars.. I do know there are collectors with several thousand even some with much more. lol my limit is 6.
 
Thanks for the links Louis; I can't imagine owning 126 guitars.. I do know there are collectors with several thousand even some with much more. lol my limit is 6.

@ my "personal" collection, i.e., geetars/basses that weren't counted as part of my partner's an my "vintage geetars for selling/trading" inventory, the largest number I reached was 142 -- that was in/about 1995. Drastically thinned the herd over the next decade and today have just eleven, not counting the three my son has and which, by this point, I sorta consider to be his collection. Oh, and one other, a very old Teisco, lent to a pal in the 1980s, turns out sorta for keeps, although he contacts me every couple of years to see if he can still hang onto it. He loves playing it so every couple of years I say "yes, keep hanging onto it."
 
that's not a story for this thread.
I started a new post for you both and any contributors experience. This is history in the sense of both of your experiences with these rare breeds creations.
Post away!
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Per the OP thread subjective.
After reviewing many pics on the previous Tele build I did compared to links posted. I can see now.. well just say the parts I got and fit and all my assumptions for expected performance was made in good $ sense. The pics in the gibsons were mostly reissues.. I didn't know they had that many reissues. G&L creations show a greater variance in design and creativity.

However; I could hand you blindfolded my chinese epi 2010 LP and you'd swear this was a 'gibson' brand.(if you didn't touch the head) 57'gibson pups set. bone nut, new caps pots. Plays like a 57 or era and fingering.
upload_2018-12-13_15-23-8.png

It isn't a fake epi btw. grover tuners, too. but it was a lotta diy work.. but yours is real pudy too and hope you enjoy it.
 
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If any of "us" had had a good Korean or Chinese or even Indonesian made guitar back when we first started out a lot more of us would have stuck with the guitar
Who recognizes talent? parents who don't know crap these days.

I bought a "Winston" from woolworths for $16 .. a real finger bleeder! but I didn't give up... eventually got a guild markII 6 string and traded for a 59-60 epi LP junior. Ran it thru a home made tube amp from a portable record player combined with a hendrix fuzz box and two oval 9inch 12 ohm car speakers. Found all the amp parts on the side of the road at age 13 on my bike. Had a good local mom and pop music store who adopted me for fun work and keeping the shop up and guitars tuned and played.. He had all the 60's brands, too. vox too. not the cheap ones. Got to work with a repair guy who needed me to hold a neck and he taught me a crap load.. Been hooked.
 
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I used to pull the tubes from road side t.v.'s, too. Some really expensive ones, I'd pull anything that looked good like tuners, too. T.V. shop guy gave me a few bucks for some and I tested his pulls for him. Free tubes! Had many friends who did the bike run so it was early bird/ worm as I'd come across stuff somebody beat me to it. LOL. Had a little tube black market, some speakers, good record needles. some table top radios. I'd even do milk runs for people on my bike, cut grass, trim hedges, rake lawns, shovel snow. I used to go through a lot of super slinky's :D
 
If any of "us" had had a good Korean or Chinese or even Indonesian made guitar back when we first started out a lot more of us would have stuck with the guitar and / or become even better players. My first "Tele" was a Sekova. One day I was doing Townsend windmills and the bolt on neck and body joint just crumbled. I also had a Tesico and Univox Flyer (Mosrite copy) which were OK but really unplayable. Now there's excellent quality to be had no matter the country of manufacturer. Have you seen the Eastman acoustic guitars and archtop electrics? Incredible build quality and great value. Your Epi looks sweet. Play it in good health.

My "first" SB electric was Korean-made w/ the marquis "Mayfair" stencil @ the headstock. It was a very decent geetar, better than my brother's T. Del Rey, and I stuck w/ it, which helped me reach a point, early, @ which my parents -- and I -- were sufficiently confident in my commitment to move "up" to my first (of thousands to follow) American-manufactured geetar, bought off (pardon the Chicagoism) a local Bluesman: 1963 Stratocaster, well-played and worn (e.g., not even a patch of finish remained @ the back of the neck), fully greened 'guard, Oly White but, owing to smoke, etc., "yellowed" to a dreamy Creamy White -- y'all know the color I'm talkin' 'bout. Still have this '63 Strat and that Mayfair in my collection.

Yep, the build quality and playability of that "first geetar" is often, but not always, of paramount importance. Same went for acoustic geetars, but here I was fortunate: my "first" was a Prairie State (roughly) "000" sized model, also still in my collection. I graduated from the PB to a circa '42 "banner" Gibson J-45, which I also still have.

How, after having engaged in several hundred geetar "deals" b/w the early 1980s and circa 2005, I managed to hang onto the '63 Strat, the Mayfair, and the PB & '42 J-45 geetars...I'll never know.
 
I started a new post for you both and any contributors experience. This is history in the sense of both of your experiences with these rare breeds creations.
Post away!
----------
Per the OP thread subjective.
After reviewing many pics on the previous Tele build I did compared to links posted. I can see now.. well just say the parts I got and fit and all my assumptions for expected performance was made in good $ sense. The pics in the gibsons were mostly reissues.. I didn't know they had that many reissues. G&L creations show a greater variance in design and creativity.

However; I could hand you blindfolded my chinese epi 2010 LP and you'd swear this was a 'gibson' brand.(if you didn't touch the head) 57'gibson pups set. bone nut, new caps pots. Plays like a 57 or era and fingering.
View attachment 1355693

It isn't a fake epi btw. grover tuners, too. but it was a lotta diy work.. but yours is real pudy too and hope you enjoy it.

Love the finish on that Lester.
 
I used to pull the tubes from road side t.v.'s, too. Some really expensive ones, I'd pull anything that looked good like tuners, too. T.V. shop guy gave me a few bucks for some and I tested his pulls for him. Free tubes! Had many friends who did the bike run so it was early bird/ worm as I'd come across stuff somebody beat me to it. LOL. Had a little tube black market, some speakers, good record needles. some table top radios. I'd even do milk runs for people on my bike, cut grass, trim hedges, rake lawns, shovel snow. I used to go through a lot of super slinky's :D

We did likewise, i.e., pulled any/all tubes from anything -- TVs, radios, audio gear -- anywhere, all in the name of trying out & maybe discovering different, hopefully better/more desirable, tones for our various geetar amplifiers.
 
I picked up a few Les Pauls over the years. The two Customs are 1976 (maroon/nickel) and 1974 (black/gold). They are very different guitars...they made big changes from 1974 to 1976, for example ABR-1 to Nashville bridge, Decal Serial Number, Shielded control cavity, big weight difference too. The blue one is a 1993 Les Paul Studio Lite with M-III electronics. The Standard is from the 2000s.

Gibson Les Paul Collection.jpg
 
Played a Standard for many, many years and loved most everything about it but had to switch to a Fender style with a forearm contour.
After so many years I started to lose some feeling in my hand because of the constant pressure on the nerves in my forearm.
Sold it right before the prices on these things skyrocketed to 5x what I sold it for. Just my luck. That blue Studio Lite looks like something that might be a bit more friendly..

BTW the strangest Les Paul I ever ran across was in the 80's. Some mom and pop store I used to frequent had the oddest bird for sale.
It was a true Gibson, Les Paul shaped but with the sloped edges of an SG, painted stark white with a Steinberger tremolo installed.
It was one of the fancy ones that you could lock in different tunings. It was going for less than the price of the Steinberger alone.
When I went back a few weeks later to inquire about it, it was gone. Was told by the owner it was a one off type of thing. Wonder if anyone else has run across one of these.
 
Played a Standard for many, many years and loved most everything about it but had to switch to a Fender style with a forearm contour.
After so many years I started to lose some feeling in my hand because of the constant pressure on the nerves in my forearm.
Sold it right before the prices on these things skyrocketed to 5x what I sold it for. Just my luck. That blue Studio Lite looks like something that might be a bit more friendly..

BTW the strangest Les Paul I ever ran across was in the 80's. Some mom and pop store I used to frequent had the oddest bird for sale.
It was a true Gibson, Les Paul shaped but with the sloped edges of an SG, painted stark white with a Steinberger tremolo installed.
It was one of the fancy ones that you could lock in different tunings. It was going for less than the price of the Steinberger alone.
When I went back a few weeks later to inquire about it, it was gone. Was told by the owner it was a one off type of thing. Wonder if anyone else has run across one of these.

Never encountered anything Lester as you've described it.

As for the forearm numbness thing, I can see that happening depending on one's picking hand technique. Because I learned on a Tele and Strat, I leaned more to the Tele-playin' style, where I'd rest the heel of my hand on the bridge, forearm up and barely touching the hard-edged Tele upper bout. Did the same w/ the Strat, though w/ a bit "lighter" touch owing to the trem tailpiece. Played several Pauls, esp. Lester Juniors through the years, and for those used the same technique I'd developed @ the Telecaster. Probably a plus that I'd learned from the start to play w/ fingers only, no pick, might've led to the (somewhat) unorthodox "pick hand" technique / arm positioning. To this day -- 53 years later -- I still cannot play geetar using a pick.
 
One of the finest, imho, Rock music thumb pickers ever and a verrrry sweet LP to boot:


Johnny Winter was primarily a "thumb picker" too, albeit one who used a thumbpick to get the job done. Watching Caldwell, I don't see (in this video) any sort of thumbpicking 'apparatus' on his hand.
 
Caldwell was a "bare" thumb picker. Always wondered how he got that sound until my pals and I saw him live.

That's what I thought I was seein' in the vid.

Funny, I saw Tucker twice, once @ circa 1974, the other circa 1986, and neither time did it "hit me" that Toy was doing his right-hand work w/ the thumb. Unusal b/c back then (and even still) I paid pretty close attention to the geetar player(s), certainly MUCH more than bassists (exceptions: Geezer Butler and John Entwistle), vocalists, drummers (exception: Keith Moon), and keyboardists. Perhaps, in both instances, I was seated back too far from the stage to appreciate Toy's right-hand technique and, to the best of my recollection, the video posted @ this thread is the first time I've seen Caldwell's playin' up close.
 
One of the finest, imho, Rock music thumb pickers ever and a verrrry sweet LP to boot:


P.S. This is one of my all-time favorite numbers in the (so-called) Country Rock genre. Less "Blues" than most ABB, more in the vein of Skynyrd, but albeit @ a smoother, more laid-back pace and style. A really, really good number which Toy's vocal style compliments to a tee.
 
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