History Vs The Internet ....les Pauls

[AlvisX]

So ,of course there's a thing been goin around for years (especially since the coming of the www) that the Norlin era products weren't "real" in their mass produced klunkiness, or that they didn't "bring it"

It started me to thinkin ...do you think these guys knew their guitars were sh*t ?
I suspect they / we didn't find out 'til the internet came along and told us
What I remember , generally,a Les Paul was a Les Paul
Buckingham

Bob Welch

Mick Jones (Clash)

Steve Jones

The Rhoads

Space Ace

The Great Mike Campbell

Stevie Guitar Miller

EVH

Robbo / Gorham

 

[slide222]

don't forget kossoff

 

[jstich]

Theres a dumb amount of shit regarding the mystique of les pauls.Play it. If it sounds incredible at 1000 clams,its a good fucking guitar. Buy it and be done with it.If it takes a 3000$ guitar to get the same feeling, buy that one.

 

[ibmorjamn]

They can still bring it , even though my sought after guitars are in the 70's
I would guess that in the 70's the sought after guitars were from the 50's
But the Web coming of age has driven prices , ebay setting the price list for everyone on the used market

The low end stuff is getting pricey. No doubt they can build some sweet guitars. They are just above my price range now a days. Lol

Different story if I made money with them.

 

[AlvisX]

don't forget kossoff

Koss played the so called "real" sh*t
His 1st Les Paul was a soapbar 50's Custom ....lucky duck

 

[AlvisX]

The big question
The Custom Shop Steve Jones & Rhoads ....wouldn't they be copies of a NORLIN ?

 

[jstich]

You guys like p 90S? My friend has a goldtop with them for sale.Too loose for me but it sounded good in a proper p 90 way.

 

[AlvisX]

I've been told Robbo still plays his Deluxe from Lizzy days ,now routed for big Humboners
I think he played it in Motorhead

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Hell what about not sure of the spelling, Gary Richrath from REO

 

[Dogs of Doom]

I think the '69-79 guitars get a bad rap because of the crossbanding - gluing several pieces of wood together, rather than having a single chunk of wood. Also the volute was one of those additions that "nobody asked for". You've seen how doing a few changes went over in 2016...

 

[Easton55]

The WWW can be such a wealth of info, but it can also be a huge detriment at the same time. Opinions get put up on anything, and it becomes sheep herd/follow the leader/mob mentality, however you want to word it. Researching something is great, but it is still the best to go out and try things for yourself first. And that goes for pretty much any object you can mention. But back to the topic, there were clunkers in all eras of the LP, but the early ones were a lot fewer and less discussion for bad opinions. The players had to go out to play the guitars and find the good ones, just like it should be now. And even with the clunkers, the great players made them sound great.

 

[Wildeman]

I think the real reason the first batch of rockers used the '50s one's is that they had no choice, '62 to '67 you weren't gettin no new Paul. After '68 you could just go to the store and buy a new Les Paul....and they did, well Clapton, Bloomfield and Green who were the biggest cause of L.P. fever just stopped using them. Funny shit is that Clapton wanted a guitar like Freddie King and he bought the wrong one, shoulda been a gold,P90 one.

 

[RLW59]

I was born in '59. Started playing guitar when I was 12. That year I got a subscription to Guitar Player magazine, and a subscription to The Guitar Trader's quarterly price list.

Thanks to Gruhn's and Wheeler's columns in GP and Dave DeForest's price list, I "knew" way back then that CBS and Norlin were just shadows of the Golden Age. Not utter crap, still way better than early '70s imports, just not as great as the classics.

Never got lucky and found a Golden Age Strat or LP at a pawnshop or garage sale. So I "settled" for an early '70s Goldtop Deluxe, replaced a couple years later with a brand new '75 Strat.

They weren't terrible, but they certainly weren't great. I've had Epi's and MIMs that were better.

Long story short -- the reputation of Norlin and CBS didn't start with the internet. It started back when those companies were in the guitar business.

 

[AlvisX]

Hell what about not sure of the spelling, Gary Richrath from REO

He used the pre Norlin sh^t too (which I think he ended up losing thru "the habit")
RIP

 

[Deep Purple fan]

I knew a guy....very below average player (for a guy who played in a band) about 10 years ago. I actually jammed with him a few times for fun. I was at a bar his band was playing one night. He had a white Gibson Les Paul Studio...pretty new. I held it but never really played it. Nice enough studio. The dude was getting these incredible tones out of it that night. I didn’t believe he could do it until I saw it. Point is, hell yeah there are some nice guitars out there by Gibson and others which I’m very happy about. I’m with the guy who says if you like it and it moves you play it.

However, some things are hype and sometimes, reputations are well deserved. I’m not saying, for a player, any guitar is worth a million dollars. But the reputation of the original Les Pauls as incredible guitars is well deserved. Price aside, these guitars are the standard that all Les Pauls are compared against in tone, feel, playability and quality. It’s not hype, the internet or anything else. These guitars are wicked expensive because they are rare (1954-60 models), fantastic instruments, and used by the biggest guitar hero’s in the Les Paul camp. I’m talking about some of the biggest names in rock history. Today Gibson builds custom shop guitars to similiar standards, specs and techniques to the golden era. They are a bit pricey....probably too pricey....but truly great instruments. I am convinced these new Custom Shop 58-60 reissues are very close to the vintage guitars. Too often Gibson in their history went on a dumpster dive in quality and almost ruined the brand. But their lineup of Custom Shop Les Paul Standards is worthy of praise. It’s not snobbery or anything other than appreciation of a fantastic product.

I’ve come close to pulling the trigger on a vintage 70s Les Paul Deluxe Standard or Les Paul Standard a few times. You can get a nice one well preserved for $2500-$4000 easily. Trust me, I’m a trigger puller if I like the kit. For a vintage Les Paul I think they are a pretty affordable option. But, I could never pull the trigger. The ones I held are heavy ....say 9-11 pounds. Quite frankly, my 2013 Les Paul Standard, which I’ve bitched about the quality but not playability, is a much better player. I may find one one day that blows me away... who knows. There is a black 77 on reverb that looks killer and I’m sure the seller is anxious to move it.

 

[axe4me]

I bought my first Gibson Les Paul Std new at Sam Ash for $500.00 in 1980.

The LP DeLuxes were $500.00 too.

I sold that LP Std for $1250.00 to a dealer about 15 years ago.

IMO, the current prices are inflated.

$2500.00 to $4000.00 for a 70's LP is crazy.

50's LP Std.'s at $200K+ are insane.

Most of those 50's LP's were incredible but the price prohibits most musicians from owning them.

 

[axe4me]

I have this Model 58 Les Paul Standard Gold Top.

Mine is from 1971.

At the time, my friends thought I was nuts to buy it used for $750.00 (around 1995).



Les Paul signed the pick guard.

Mine doesn't have the Boo Boo rings.

It's actually a 1954 re-issue.

Norlin didn't know their own history.

 

[chiliphil1]

I had a ‘77 custom years ago. It had the T tops and it definitely had the crack running around the perimeter where the body had separated a little. The neck was very thin for a Paul but what a player! I can’t say anything bad about that one.

I also had a sonex 180 for a while with the velvet brick pups, again, thin neck and killer tone.

Of the 2 Norlin era guitars I cannot complain, they were both great. I’ve never played a “golden era” guitar so I can’t compare but, versus today’s guitars I feel that the Norlin ones hold up just fine

 

[AlvisX]

It's funny to me that Deluxes are now "vintage" and cost a fortune.

I really didn't know sh*t from shinola ,but I "approved" of the Deluxe because Lizzy had 'em ....and Barry Bailey from ARS
I got my 1st Deluxe for my 21st birthday with my tax return (because that's what a kid does with his tax return) 400 bucks ,'71 Goldtop.

The FIRST generation of Les Paul rockers all had p-90's.I thought they LOOKED cool, didn't know what the really were ,but I always wanted to try em.
I had the realization "Hey ,those soapbar pickups will fit in here !!" That was all she wrote Twas a woody screamer .....
sadly it fell victim to "unplugged" ....Man, Fck unplugged !

I had a '75 sunburst Deluxe that I got pawn shoppin for 750 Canadian about 20 yrs ago.But I ended up tradin it for a '65 SG Special which I still have ...that's a nice couple pieces of mahogany ..

I got a great deal on a 2001 Gibson USA Deluxe about 9 years ago . One of my favorite road guitars ......once I got a p-90 in the bridge . I highly recommend those if you can find one cheap

 

[anitoli]

This is no different than the constant complaining about 70's CBS Fenders being utter shit. SOS.

Don't forget this guy: