NGD, The Paul!

[Saul Goodman]

I had one of these briefly around 1980. I was 17 or 18. I saw it in a local pawn shop and traded an Electra Tele and $100 for it. It even came with a Gibson case. I told a friend at school that I got a Les Paul for $300. He made fun of me after seeing it and said, "That's The Paul, not Les Paul." I didn't care because I plugged it into my Peavey Classic 50 into a Marshall 4x12 and it was glorious. It also was the first time I played along with a record with success. The song was, "Hey Hey, My My," or whatever it's called on, "Rust Never Sleeps," or, "Live Rust." Can't remember. I had them both. My mom quickly came in and shut me down. Said it was too loud. I was like, "Goddammit mom!" and stormed out of the house. There was something magical, maybe Majik, about that guitar. Something that made me actually play a song. But, I was talked out of it in short order from a owner of a small, local shop. He offered me up a brand new Aria Pro II "Les Paul" in cherry burst with gold hardware. He said it was a much better guitar than Gibson. So I did it and could never bond with that guitar. I don't know if I ever tried to play, "Hey, Hey, My, My," again.

I happened to be in the same shop Friday where I bought my LPC/SG a few months ago and saw it as soon as I walked in the door. My heart skipped a few beats and I picked it up straight away. Man, it felt like a long lost friend. Felt just like I remembered. I looked and by gosh, no one had swapped out the pickups in 46 years. The original T-tops were there. Plugged it in, all electronics worked. Action was reasonable, I like it really low so it wasn't that but nice. It's quite clean with a few scars but not like you'd expect. Got it home, stripped it down, oiled the fretboard, adjusted the truss rod, changed the bridge because the original had collapsed a fraction, strung her up with .09s, set the action at 2/64" at the 12th fret and ironically, she played. I realized just how I have missed an ebony board on a Les Paul.

So I plugged her into the DenHer Deluxe I bought from @Dutchman with a little overdrive in front and next thing I knew it was 10:30 and thought I better shut it down for fear of the neighbors calling or banging on the door. Absolute insanely good player and sounding. It is just a different beast from everything else. The neck profile just fits my hand. And like I said, ebony. I also like the, "No Fret," frets as they were called. I think that's what they were called. Very low frets. She's a 1980 Firebrand LP, same guitar as the The Paul I had back when but a "fire branded Gibson" logo instead of the silkscreen. Nice walnut with no breaks or repairs.

[topekatj]

Great snag, Saul! Those pickups are worth up to 1K a pair on their own! One of those could be contemplated as the rhythm pickup for your SG custom! Rock on!

[Dutchman]

I let mine go and after 2 hi-end Les Pauls I want my "The Paul" back!!! I thought I had to have a "better" LP. Sometimes you gotta learn the hard way. Mine was a '79. 

I'm glad you're digging that amp! I built 2 and kept one, which is now my primary gigging amp. The Bandmaster it replaced just sit's now, waiting for a big stage. I don't know if that'll ever happen tho...

[Saul Goodman]

12 minutes ago, topekatj said:

Great snag, Saul! Those pickups are worth up to 1K a pair on their own! One of those could be contemplated as the rhythm pickup for your SG custom! Rock on!

Yeah, I sat the guitar down to work a deal with the owner and turned my back on the guitar. A guy came and picked it up and started to play it. I got the guitar for $1k and handed him the cash. Looked for my new guitar and saw the guy playing it. I didn't mind so I went over and watched him for a bit. He said T-tops were his favorite pickups and he was going to buy the guitar, take out the pickups, and sell the guitar back to the shop. I told him better luck next time and wheeled on out of there with my 1980 The Paul. I did think about putting the T-tops in the LPC/SG on the trip home but there's no way I'm touching that after the Friday night blowout in my music room. I have thought about this guitar off and on over the years. Looked a time or three for them on e-Bay as well. This is what I remember and I'm keeping it that way. 

[Menehune]

That is a profoundly clean guitar, @Saul Goodman. Was it put into experimental stasis just after manufacture?

[Dr. Bear]

The ebony ‘board The Paul (especially before Gibson added the “Firebrand” moniker) is my favorite LP variant. I still play both a ‘78 walnut with T-tops and a ‘79 mahogany. Other than butterscotch Teles, they’re the only guitars I’d sub for an oar to navigate through rapids and then bring  on stage for work. They do vary, though: most are around 8 lbs but I once snared a sustain-monster ‘80 that weighed close to 11 lbs.

Congrats!

Edited 9 hours ago by Dr. Bear

[Saul Goodman]

21 minutes ago, Menehune said:

That is a profoundly clean guitar, @Saul Goodman. Was it put into experimental stasis just after manufacture?

Yeah man, time capsule.