While browsing Craigslist for guitars I came across a real nice Gibson Les Paul Custom. I'm meeting this person tomorrow to play and possibly purchase said guitar. Do any of you know of a way or website I can visit to verify this is indeed a Gibson LP Custom? I know the serial number but haven't had much luck finding a website where I can plug the number in. I'm trying not to get too attached to it, but the asking price for a real Gibson LP Custom of this calibur would be a steal.

By the way I'm bringing a friend along just in case there's any funny business.

Thanks!

http://www.guitardaterproject.org/gibson.aspx

Interested to know what you find out...

It doesn't list on this website. I wonder if this website is up to date. The home page says "A new look for 2008". The serial number on the head stock matches the COA shown in the picture. Obviously this could be fabricated but there is another pic showing "Gibson Custom" in the finish which might not be easy to fake.

There's also this...

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Support/SerialNumberSearch/

Seems like there's also good information here.

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson-les...paul-101-a.html

Is it an Epiphone or Gibson. Big difference.

Is it a Zakk Wylde Les Paul Custom? Those ran about $3500.

Just asking, without know any info or seeing pics this is all I can think of that might bring the price down.

He said upfront that it's a Gibson.

Here's the listing.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/msg/1574307279.html

His original post has me a little concerned which is why I'm trying to do some home work. I mean who buys a $4200 Les Paul then decides he's more acoustic and is ok with a $1600 loss?

ajs, I'll check out those other links. Thanks for the help.

You can verify it through Gibson with the number on the cert of authenticity in the final picture. Gibson had a lot of trouble with this in their early years and some serial numbers were duplicated, making the verification of an early Gibson Custom very difficult (which is a shame since the early ones are the most sought after and can value in the tens of thousands), but they fixed that problem in more recent years and keep a good data base on all their custom models.

They should be able to help by contacting Gibson directly. 800-4-GIBSON or service@gibson.com. Just make sure the actual serial number and the one on the cert of authenticity match when you go to make the exchange.

If you look at it too, make sure it's never had a broken headstock. It's very common for a Les Paul. When repaired properly, you probably wouldn't even know the difference when playing it but things like that affect the value a lot.

Well, it looks like a pretty beautiful guitar to me.

Hope it's real, hope you get it, and hope it plays great.

I called the 800-4-GIBSON number and they said it's a black custom LP with gold hardware. Assuming everything goes well tonight I'll be purchasing this beauty.

Many times you will see listings for Gibson Les Paul's which are in fact Epiphone Les Pauls. Either the seller hopes someone won't realize that there is a difference or the seller just thinks that since Epiphone is a division of Gibson that they are the same thing when they are not.

I was looking for the listing last night on my own and actually found someone selling and epiphone as a gibson. Said gibson all over the listing but the headstock was an epiphone headstock.

And also, jesus christ that thing is beautiful. One day I will get one, one day.

I would suggest what the above person said about calling Gibson and having them look up the serial.

You are getting a deal and a great guitar. You will love playing it. I have an 89 custom, white with gold pickups, and it is my favorite guitar. Best jazz sound ever.

That is one gorgeous instrument, good luck and enjoy!

Thanks for the help guys. I hope everything works out tonight. I'll report back if I get it and how it sounds.

Play it before you hand over the cash!!! If he won't let you, that's a giant red flag.

Update for anybody interested. I ended up passing on that guitar. I just didn't get a good vibe from the seller. He cancelled our appointment that night and I never called him back. I did buy a Gibson Les Paul Traditional and I really love it. I was playing a MIM Fender Strat prior to buying the LP. Now the strat feels like a cheap POS. Here is a link:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product...itar?sku=519321

Beautiful. I was wondering about this. We talked about guitars a but when you were considering this. I have a great original 1972 Les Paul. A MIM Strat (I have one and a MIM Nashville Tele) is a fine instrument - but no match for a real Les Paul.

I've been mulling over the idea of upgrading my amp. Currently I play through a 75W Line 6 solid state amp. It has several effects built in as well as 400+ pre programmed songs, which I never use. I'd like to get either a Marshall all tube combo, or all tube Marshall head and half stack. The thing is I don't really need all that fire power. I'm not in a band and can't really open it up without pissing of the gf and driving the dogs crazy. It's really more for the great sound I've heard several people talk about when comparing all tube amps to solid state. That being said is it true that tube amps don't starting sound great unless you have it pretty loud? Any opinion on combo or head/half stack? What models do you recommend?

Yeah. I am a bit of a tube snob. And you really don't get that "crunch" unless you're overloading it. You can get a device called an "Attenuator" that reduces the volume going to the speaker while still allowing you to crank up the sucker and not lose the tone. It plugs in between the Amp output and the speaker.

The Hot Plate is one example, but there are cheaper more simple versions (I built my own for about $20):
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product...ator?sku=481283


I've never owned a Marshall, but that is certainly the classic Rock Amp for the Les Paul. But would be total overkill for a non-gigging situation.

Most of my playing lately has been on my American Vintage 1952 Reissue Telecaster or AV 1957 Strat pushing thru either a Blues Deluxe or Blues Junior. The Deluxe is still a little loud for a "Bedroom Amp". The BJ breaks up at a much lower volume. I used to play thru a bunch of effects, but now only use a TS9 (Keeley Mod), and Keeley Compressor, and the ever popular TU-2. Rarely I'll add an Ibanez SD9 for extra distortion. I do miss the old Big Muff sometimes. But again, these days I am going for more of a Stevie Ray clean distortion rather than booming rock.

I have been saving up for a tube amp. I have a 2x12 Behringer SS right now which I love but I want a nice head since I can use the Behringer as a cab as well and the 2 Jensens are pretty great imo.

I have been looking at the VoxAC4TVH. Pretty reasonable 4W amp and won't break any windows.

I wish I knew more about guitars, amps, effects petals, and such. Sigh.

Since this is as good as place as any for us to talk guitars...


I took some pics of my two latest acquisitions this past weekend...

They are no Les Pauls but that is fine by me. I love these two guitars and will love them more once I fond the time and energy to switch out the pups.


Ibanez RG3EXFM1










Ibanez S470DXQM












Have a Duncan JB/Jazz for the RG3 and a Dimarzio Tone Zone/Breed for the S470.

Sweet pointy guitar. Where'd you go guitar hunting?

I think this should become the official Guitar Porn Thread.

I don't know how to post pics or I'd post some of my Harem.

RG3 was bought at Guitar Center.

S470 was the last of the 09 stock at AMS (american music supply). $900 guitar, 65% off. Couldn't pass it up since i have been GASing for a S series. So thin, so nice.


In regards to posting pics...

Get a free account at photobucket.com. Upload your photo's. Then post a link to the photo's in a post by surrounding your link with [img] [/img]

I've had "relationships" with 12 Guitars. Certainly I've had a bunch of Flings here and there where I flirted with another guy's Guitar. But I've only gone home with 12. I thought it might be fun to share the story of each relationship in my past and present. I thought about starting a new thread. Let me know if you think it should be a new topic. To keep it readable and interesting (to me anyway) and to keep the thread moving, every couple of days I'll post about a different liaison. Feel free to ask any questions or share your own stories.

My First Time.

We will call her Harmonie. Birthdate unknown. I think I was about 14. My step-brother had a nylon strung guitar and we'd been taking turns having some fun with her. Just learning how to treat a Guitar. I was starting to pick up a few tricks and decided it was time to go all the way and find a guitar of my own. A Stoner dude in my High School sold me an old Harmony electric for about $20. Basic Strat knockoff. She was originally a blond (Yellow), but I changed her to a brunette with a can of black spray paint. All other details have been forgotten. I used to carry her to the Music Store without any case or gig-bag for lessons. I didn't have an amp and I rigged a guitar cord with an RCA plug so I could plug into my stereo.

Status: Deceased. Donated her body to science. Used her as Parts for various Franken-Guitar Projects.

lol

Sounds about right.


I still have my first guitar my parents bought me. A Lotus strat. Red with a black pickguard. She is sitting propped up against the couch in my current house (though I am moving tomorrow to a new house). She has no strings, no pups, no pots, no pick guard. She is just a body and neck and a freshly cleaned bridge. I am going to use her to get to know the ins and outs of a guitar better to save money on taking my guitars to my "guy" who does it for me.

New pickguard, pots, and pups are on the way. Might look into sanding the paint off and re do it with a sinister orange color. Frets are a little worn so if I get ambitious I might do something about that as well. But she was very good to me for a long time and I miss playing her. For a cheap strat knockoff she played really well thanks to my guitar instructor spending 2 full lessons setting her up.

My first guitar is one that I still play today, and the only electric I've ever owned.

Got it about 14 years ago. It's a red Ibanez GAX70. I also have 2 acoustics, one of which is some crappy Washburn with extremely high action. The other is my baby. A Fender (not sure the model) acoustic/electric nylon string that plays and sounds like a $1,500 guitar, but only cost $400.

I'm a Gibson guy historically, but recently I started buying Fenders because I have a weakness...those AVRI are no joke.

I have a Fiesta Red '62 TBCS strat with a nitro finish I recently bought, and it's possibly my favorite (favorite RI Fender).

Amp-wise I am all over the place. Traditionally I like my Twin and my Princeton, but pretty much every time I buy anything it becomes my new favorite. Last year it was the Tiny Terror, now it's the Avalon 30.

Awww man. A Fiesta Red 62RI. One of my my all time favorites. I still mourn the Fiesta Red Baja Strat that I didn't buy - but it was Polly. I played a 62RI two-tone just before finding my 57RI, but think I found a bit of a dog. It was a little worn and the neck just felt "funny" to me. More rounded and beefy than I like. There was also something weird about the frets. I actually like the 7.25 radius but on that one I was fretting out all over the place and bends just didn't feel smooth. A good set-up and fret dressing would have helped. Plus I like the Maple fretboard on the 57. If I'd found a Fiesta Red 62RI I think I wouldn't have been able to resist (And I don't even like Campbell's Tomato Soup).

At the time I told my wife that I wanted a Fiesta Red guitar and she said: "You already have 3 red guitars. You need something different."

I said: "But I'm talking about FIESTA Red. Look. How many pairs of black shoes do you have?"

The week following that comment was cold and lonely.

Lately I've been lusting after the Thin Skin Telecaster RIs - they have them in Fiesta Red, but FR just looks perfect on a Strat. That or a Copper 52RI will likely be #13. Need to decide if I'm ready for a Rosewood Fretboard. I have 4 Fenders and each is Maple.

I really like the rosewood. I don't have a tele yet...I am actually close to buying a Road Worn. I am not a relic guy, and I blow money out of my ass on this shit so I'm not specifically looking MIM, and I know I would look like a horse's ass with the cheesy fake wear, but those things (strats too...more so even) just sound nuts. And they are like $800. It's only a matter of time I think.

(Speaking of fingerboard woods and value, for around $500 you can pick up new MIM Roadhouse, which is the only maple necked guitar I've ever owned I think...if the Tex Specs are your bag, and the wife has you by the nuts on the guitar collection, it's a pretty amazing deal imo.)

But yeah...the Fender site seems to convey that they offer the '62 (which is pound-for-pound my favorite non-Les Paul on the market I think) in Surf Green, which is probably my second favorite color (I'm a Daphne man personally). If you want a rosewood FB strat...I think it's safely the choice, if you aren't going custom shop (I drove to Nashville twice to buy mine, used).

I just like how Maple ages and feels. I don't think I can detect any effect on tone, but I can feel it in my bends and vibrato. Regarding "fake" relic aging - I used to think it was silly. But now I am OK with it. It is just another look. A ton of furniture comes with a relic look and no one seems to comment on that. And it gets you past the whole "first scar" issue where you really get pissed over that first time you bash the body or headstock against a cymbal or table top. I'd rather get a NOS or even Closet Classic, but I have seen some light relics that are really cool and "warm" looking.

I do like the Texas Specials - I instantly put a set of Custom Shop Texas Specials in my first MIM. They really need some adjusting but when you find their sweet spot they really scream. The Roadhouse and some of the Classic series guitars are great MIM values.

As far as my wife having me by the guitar balls... Nah. She's pretty ****ing cool. I was just kidding about the whole black shoe comment. She really did make the "Too many Red Guitars" comment, but she is a big enabler of my Guitar Addiction. She's always supported my playing and gigging and is happy with my plan to turn my space over the Garage into a Man Cave/Studio. Pretty sure she's spent more on guitars for me than I have myself.

I don't hate relicing. I don't like it, but I don't entirely think it's a complete joke. It's not even that I don't want one...there are some that I would own. I love the closet classic finishes. But the Road Worns look really cheesy and fake to me.

I'm not sure that I'd ever buy another set of Tex Specs, but I'm not changing them out either. They are frustrating. Some days they sound unstoppable to me, and I think they are the greatest, and other days I just need the 57/62s. It's a great toy, but not a good everyday driver.

I'm a big MIM proponent, though, as I am of the Classic Vibe Squires. I think most of the custom shit and MIA shit is a bit of a scam, and where not a scam, at least just poor value on things that don't actually matter. But at the same time I seem to buy them anyway, so *shrug*.

I don't even think it would be uncool of your wife to pressure you not to spend $1100 on a guitar every month or so, just being folksy.

Edit: I think I can tell a difference in fingerboard tone, to some extent. But maple just feels and looks like a strat to me. It seems right. I think it's probably the reason the Roadhouse gets played at all given the '62 being there.

I'm like 80% sure I'm going to buy this:



That color suddenly appeals to me.

I agree about the TxSpecs. Inconsistent is a good word. You might try raising them as high as possible without actually touching the strings. Then experiment by lowering them just a touch to find the sweetest spot. Higher was better for me. They really hit the mark with the 57/62s.



That is a cool looking guitar. Do they call that "Pelham Blue? Looks more Green to me - I like it a lot. Probably even better in real life when you can see the depth and the light plays with it a little.

I have mine set really deep, which is how I got them to settle down and start to sound reasonable. I still change them a bit probably weekly though.

The 57/62s I was having some trouble with too, trying to get a modern tone to work with a band, and raising them up as high as they go before they start to wolf-out was just the ticket. Go figure.

The world of single coils has been weird for me, but I'm starting to love them. Just a bit of work.

(Actually, despite commonly held sentiment, it's twice as much work to keep most Les Pauls from sounding muddy and awful. I have one with the 490R/498T that I'm about to give up on.)

Yeah, it's sort of Gibson's "mint green" thing...it was initially this ugly blue they made with an apparently poor quality pigment, and it turned that funny green with age, and people liked it, so they started to just shoot them in the green.

First Love.

Woody was a Fender Lead I, born in Fullerton CA sometime between 1979 and 1982. Natural wood - no stain, just a layer of clear coat - and a maple fretboard. Purchased Used but I can’t remember the details of where we met, I think at the Music Stand guitar store in Berkley MI for around $150. Woody was basically a Strat with just a bridge humbucker. Not knowing anything about pups, I went to the Music Stand (that part I remember) where they had these used pickups that cost a TON (Probably $100 which was a "ton" to me back then!). They said they were a set of original 1957 Strat pick-ups. Being ignorant, that meant absolutely nothing to me. I figured that since they were expensive, they must be good. WOW. Don’t know if they were real 57s , but they were pretty great. My brother helped me wire a Strat 5 position switch and a couple of polarity toggle switches. I could get about fifteen permutations for different tones. Woody and I were partnered for years to come.

Status: Deceased. Alas, Fate parted us in a tragic incident which I shall only foreshadow for now.


Note: I'd always assumed she was born in Japan. But based on my research for this post I learned she was born in Fullerton. I also thought she was born with just a single coil bridge pick-up, but found a picture of her with a humbucker. And I also assumed she was older when we met.

Oh shit! The Roadhouse wasn't my first maple fingerboard...just my first maple fingerboard that wasn't scalloped. Because I rolls('d) that way.

Note: although the Yngie (clone) is no longer a functioning shred machine, its body was rebirthed as into faggy pink '60s clone partscaster.

Nice. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your ladies.

My introduction into guitar is a little embarrassing, Guitar Hero and watching my boss play a gig with his garage band. I knew full well that playing a real guitar would be light years different than playing a plastic toy with buttons on it. My first guitar was purchased on Superbowl Sunday four years ago. I'll never forget it. I knew nothing about guitars or amps. I walked into Guitar Center around 1:30pm, about 4 hours from kick off. One of the guys asked if I needed help and I said "Yeah I'm thinking about taking up guitar". "What do you like to play" he asked. I told him and about 30 minutes later I had a new MIM Strat and Line 6 amp. Total cost about $900. The guitar has a sunburst finish with rosewood fretboard, two single coils in the neck and middle position, and a humbucker in the bridge. Didn't play either of them prior to purchasing LOL. He did so I could at least hear what they sounded like.

I practiced for a good 6 months just following the beginning guitar section on about.com. I'd also youtube songs I wanted to learn and try to pick them up. The guitar then sat on the stand unplayed for about 6 months because I wasn't getting any better. I really enjoyed playing but was getting frustrated. I picked it up again determined to get better and have never looked back. I started taking lessons about 5 months ago and am really glad I did. It has helped so much. I wish I would have started all this about 15 years ago and took lessons right away.

Solid, Dice.

I remember thinking that scalloped FBs were silly and sort of a "one trick" pony. Then I played an Yngwie and realized it is not only a great guitar, the scalloped FB is way more responsive than I thought it would be. I loved the one I tried and VERY nearly brought her home with me. Still not my cup of tea, but at least now I can appreciate them.


Pretty sure that at the exact moment you were purchasing your first guitar, I was in a Guitar Center in the Detroit area playing the Yngwie as described above. Small world.

It is always cool to hear how people got started playing. Everyone wishes they'd started earlier in life. Sort of like Karate.

They are also a tone-sucking pain in the ass. They help give you better control (which includes control over whether or not you fret every note sharp)...you have more finger on the string, and more leverage just with the way it wraps your finger, so I guess it helps keep things from sounding too sloppy if you are playing fast with a ton of distortion...but the funny thing is, the guys who use(d) them never play(ed) with much distortion anyway. I think those neoclassical guys mostly just liked the idea of it. Because all in all, it's pretty ****ing terrible. Coming from a former 13y/o shred fan, anyway.

I was Her First.

Skunk – Vantage something or other born in the late 70s or early 80s. Purchased New from some Guitar Store – again forgetting the details and not sure of price – I think around $200. Natural wood with rosewood fretboard. Two tone with a lighter stripe down the center. Three humbuckers. Good versatile Guitar.

Status: Deceased. She was subject to the same tragic fate as Woody. We were victims of a home robbery. Most of our gear was stolen. I've never felt so victimized in my life. I think I was literally in shock for several days. Just a horrific feeling of helplessness and anger. And knowing that the culprits would probably get about ten cents on the dollar for what the stuff was worth was even worse. My one of a kind guitar, special only to me, was either going to fetch a few bucks, or worse be abused and unappreciated by someone who had no idea what they had.

Life went on...

Insurance rider FTW?

Yeah. Sort of. Certainly helped soften the blow.

How tragic!

I'm loving this feature, by the way. Keep it up.

Were you home and actually robbed or did they break in while you were away? That really sucks. Somebody broke into my uncle's house and stole a few expensive guns that were given to him by my grandfather.

It was a break-in while we were away. I think you're right, I used the term "robbery" incorrectly.