Gino

A 59 Les Paul Junior which I got dirt cheap in the early 80s as a trade for a Tokai Flying V which cost me about 600 Marks back then (about threefiddy in EUR...😁). Upon closer inspection I discovered an old pickup route for a neck pup. I made a pickguard, installed a S.D. P-90 in the neck position, added a toggle switch to the new pickguard - and eventually sold the guitar to the Nena ("99 red ballons") guitarrist for 2.500 Marks. Should've kept it - idiot...😬

As I stated in another thread, the store I worked for in the 80s imported Tokai guitars and were the German distributor back then, so we had the store loaded with Tokais. With Strats and Teles everything numbered 80 or above were very, very fine instruments. In fact, I owned a ST100 Strat, one piece ash body, Mary Kaye style, which was spectacular, a little on the heavy side, but fantastic. With the Les Pauls, "Love Rock", the top models were the LS120 and LS150, both with DiMarzio PAFs and the LS200. All were consistenty of great workmanship. They had the Gibson Heritage series, which appeare

I guess these two fellows got me started:

I've been down that rabbit hole in the late 70s. There was a lot of hype about certain Gallien Kruger guitar amps. "Sounds like a tube amp, costs a fraction of a Mesa Boogie..." Didn't do though. Sold it again - lost too much money - and got a Marshall 2204 halfstack. No more ss-amps for me!

Get yourself a decent 50 W head (to taste: Marshall, Orange, Mesa > Express 5/50+) and - IMPORTANT - a 4x12 Cab preferably Vintage 30s or their clones - you DO NEED to move some air, even at decent db-levels... At least a good sized 2x12. You don't want the beam of a 1x12 combo... Get some device to tilt the cab in your face. And yes: don't get yourself involved in the volume-wars!

I do remember that very well. We got 1 Rockman for the shop I worked at, Guess who took it home that night? 😎

Sunwurst! Or Sunworst?

Nope, that's the throw-away-handle...

I mentioned owning a Gibson Heritage Standard 80 in the previous Lester thread that I owned for a short time in the 80s. Before buying it back then, I was torn between it and a pre-lawsuit Tokai LS 200 (then the top of the line LP they made). The store I worked at was the German distributor for Tokai at the time which meant that I could have gotten the LS 200 for a really nice price. It was an absolutely fantastic instrument which was way above the Standard 80 in every aspect: workmanship, looks, sound, weight. Dumb me had to have the G-logo though... Have regretted that ever since. And it wou

Just because we're into pics 😁 Here's my R8. BTW: In the 80s I had a Les Paul Heritage Standard 80. And the R8 is so much better in every aspect! The quality of the Standard 80 was lousy. One of the neck inlays fell right out on me, the top had a knothole thing of about an inch in diameter, it's weight was about a ton and then some... And the thing cost a premium, too. Got rid of it in exchange for an early vintage reissue strat and some cash. Oh well, Norlin's first try on doing a reissue. The pickups - Shawbuckers - were nice, though...

(Young) Vintage import!

And then there's the half-a-million Klon!!🤣😂

I was in the market for a Les Paul a couple of years ago. Without being preoccupied with a particular line (C.S., Traditional etc.) I had some specific requirements: 1-piece body, non-chambered, substantial neck shape and a weight limit of around 4 kg / sub 9 lbs. "Flame" of the top was not important as I don't believe that translates to sound. With these requirements things narrowed down to a C.S. / Historic Lester. So I (painfully) paid almost 4K€ for a special run (for German retailer Session Music) 2016 Historic R8 with a rather nice top for a R8 (handpicked by the dealer at the Custo

Vents??

Everything that's HipHop, Techno, House (inside and outside...) and the like. There! I said it! And yes, I'm an old fart...