#1
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NGD - another surprise
This one has been coming for a while but it was still a surprise. It shouldn’t be: I’m on vacation and that is usually tough on the guitar fund.
I’ve had an early '70s Les Paul for forty-one years. It is a great guitar and I’ve basically conformed to it – Gibson scale is my home and the body sitting up under my rib cage feels like home as well. However, it is heavy at nine pounds, eight ounces. That makes it hard to sling for long performances and sessions. Also, the neck pickup position of 70s Les Pauls sounds a little harder than the vintages ones and the modern reconstructions. For a long while I’ve wanted a sweeter sounding LP for sessions, and one that was lighter. This year I started checking them out and saving for one. I tended towards the LP Traditional model because they aren’t weight relieved and I wanted a fairly traditional LP. I’d gotten reasonably far along saving and then the fourth of July arrived and the guitar stores ran their sales. While I was in one store trying out LP Traditionals I asked for the prettiest one up high on the wall and spent an hour with it. I really loved it. It had a great sound and feel and wasn’t very heavy. And then I discovered I’d made a mistake: this guitar was an LP Standard. But Standards are weight relieved and have an asymmetrical neck carve and all these other weird switch options! Yes, but this one has a great sound, felt great, and was two pounds lighter than mine. But Standards cost a lot more than Traditionals. Well there is that. Then I discovered that this guitar was on sale, bringing it to very nearly the same cost at a Traditional. Oh, my. And the top was gorgeous, not too little flame and not too much and very 3-D. And I had a day left to think about it before the sale ran out. I went home and thought about it overnight. Having planned to buy a used Traditional, there was going to be a financial gap here. So, using the store’s published used gear trade-in percentage and Reverb.com, I put together some older pieces of gear that might bridge the gap. What I chose is another, interesting story. I discussed the whole deal with my wife, as I always do, because she balances out my obsessions and impulses. She was actually enthusiastic. So off we trouped to the store. Once there I looked up my salesman and told him I wanted to buy the thing with some trade-ins. He asked me to bring out my trade-ins and then asked me what I was hoping for. I told him my goal, he worked the math, and we met in the middle. Voile’! After a few minutes of paperwork I was on my way. And here is the guitar is at the store: I've got more pics if you are interested. Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#2
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Nice guitar. I hope you got a good deal on it. I was reading the GC July 4 flyer yesterday and on the cover they had "75 LP Deluxe Reissue" on sale for 3400 bucks. That's messed up. You can buy a real 75 LP Deluxe in decent shape on Reverb for less depending on condition. I had a '74 Deluxe for 30 years and i remember paying 400 bucks for it in 1982. Not exactly high on the desirability scale.
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Just an old drum playing guitarist now. |
#3
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That's really pretty! I like it.
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#4
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Quote:
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#5
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__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#6
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Congratulations on your new LP Bob! It looks fantastic!
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#7
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bob: you have all the fun. a 2nd LP, a fabulous career, a wife who enjoys your musical aspirations. man!
play music!
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2014 Martin 00015M 2009 Martin 0015M 2008 Martin HD28 2007 Martin 000-18GE 2006 Taylor 712 2006 Fender Parlor GDP100 1978 Fender F65 1968 Gibson B25-12N Various Electrics |
#8
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Very sweet.
There's a reason a Les Paul is an iconic guitar... The reason is that it really is a fantastic guitar. And the Gibson version really is very good despite all the online hate... |
#9
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Congrats! That is one gorgeous cherry sunburst!!
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#10
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Thanks, folks! Here's another shot:
Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#11
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WOW That is gorgeous. I am a sucker for candy red type sunbursts and your right the flame is just right ( sort of that understated elegance, if you will ) . Very cool and congrats
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Ventura 12.2.1 |
#12
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Congrats, Bob. That's a great looking LP, and I absolutely love that flame top!
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"It's only castles burning." - Neil Young |
#13
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Very nice Bob! Congratulations!
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#14
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Thanks again, friends. Here's the pic they include with guitar showing it on the final inspection bench. There's a hilarious bit of trivia hiding in plain sight in the pic: They use Peavey Bandit amps to test the guitars on the inspection benches. That's one at upper left.
Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#15
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WOW!!!!
Congrats Bob. That's one beautiful top you have on that LP. I bet it plays and sounds amazing. I've have several Gibson LP's myself. Here's the latest one I picked up earlier this year at a pawnshop. I found this '08 Wine Red LP Standard Plus at a pawnshop for $825 out the door. It was a steal I couldn't pass up.
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'49 Martin A Style Mandolin '76 S.L. Mossman Great Plains '78 Gibson Gospel '81 Martin 7-28 7/8 D-28 '03 Taylor Jumbo Custom '04 Ramirez 1-E Classical '09 Breedlove Roots OM/SR acoustic/electric ‘15 Martin Centennial DC - 28E |