Conference napalm::guitar

    Not too subtle was I ?   8^)
    
    I'm going back down there this afternoon. They've got a new Gibson
    Chorus combo I wanna air out too.
    
    
    Scary (who got a pair of gold Lace Sensors for his Strat this weekend)

>>    Anyone else tried one of these ?  Anybody know what it's even called ?
    
I know it sounds like a Kitty Hawk amp, but isn't this guitar
called the M1 or something? (M presumably stands for "Metal"?).
*DC

    Very well could be - it seems destined for metal, even though no
    metal_shredder would buy a Gibson .... it's not cool enough for metal.
    
    Jerry  (who's played Judas Priest on his stock Strat with no problem 8^)

    -1
    
    You're obvioulsy not keeping up with Metal, as all the players are
    going back to playing Les Pauls and Flying V's!!!

    RE: -1
    
    You're right, I'm not keeping up with metal.  Besides, it's just a
    trend 'cuz all these kids are going to back to roots they swear they
    never had in the first place ....  8^)
    
    Scary (who bets if Ibanez made a boat paddle guitar, and `insert name
    of any generic metal guitar god *here', it would sell zillions ...)

    
	When I think of high-end acoustic guitars Martin immediately
    comes to mind, but Gibson has also made some great acoustics as
    well. I recently played a reissue of the J45. This guitar has the
    older style Gibson headstock logo. The one I played was sunburst
    and the tag indicated a list price of about $1600.00. Gibson is 
    also still making the J200.

	I've read that Gibson is offering (as an option) something called
    a SARS (??) pickup system on most of their acoustics (I think this
    stands for symbiotic acoustic response system). I've been told this 
    consists of a film transducer which is attached to the bottom of the 
    soundboard and makes contact with a large area. Has anyone ever tried
    Gibson acoustic with this system ?

	I thought of starting a base note to discuss Gibson acoustics,
    but decided this note would be a good.
    
    	Mark


	Mark Jacques

The re-issue LP gold tops have 'P100' pickups - anyone know if
these are humbucking ?  At medium/loud voulumes on my amp, I'm
getting quite a bit of hum, which stops when I touch anything metal
on the guitar (strings, bridge, tailpiece etc). I don't notice it
all the time that I'm playing 'cos I'm touching something, but when 
I stop it's quite noticable. Is this hum likely to be created by
the pickups, or the amp itself ?

Also, I've seen a picture of an old Les Paul with very slim 
humbuckers - Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy used to play one. Are these
standard gibson humbuckers ?

question, questions...  :-)

regards,
Pete

    The P100 is a version of the old P90 single coil.  I don't remember
    what the difference is, but I'm pretty sure it's not humbucking.
    
>Also, I've seen a picture of an old Les Paul with very slim 
>humbuckers - Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy used to play one. Are these
>standard gibson humbuckers ?
    
    That's probably the mini-humbuckers that they put in the Les Paul
    Deluxe models.  Firebird's also had that pickup.
    
    Greg

Thanks for the reply.

Any suggestions about my hum problem though ?

Pete

    There is a Gibson "Custom shop" that showed up on the internet boards
    for sale.  The guy says it's strat shaped.  
    
    Whats kind of gibo is it, and what might it be worth ??
    jc (by direction)

    It could be a Gibson M3 that came out earlier this year.Strat shape
    with a reversed headstock,humbucker,single coil,humbucker.I think that
    I read that Buck tried out one and was amazed but the variability of
    sounds that he could get!
    
    
                                               Staynz

    Reading .0 I have to agree; a friend of mine bought one that fits this
    description and it's an M3 (or M-III).  It's got a very thin neck, 24
    frets, very low action, hum-single-hum, and man, when Gibson makes an 
    ugly guitar they really do it!  %^)
    
    Dave

    I thought the M3's had been out longer then a year?  I remember Jerry
    telling me he tried one something like 2 years ago.  
    
    gh

    I may have been out longer than a year in the US,I was refering to the
    UK.
    
    
    
                                               Staynz

    Can someone describe what a Gibson Hummingbird is?

    Its an acoustic. As I recall, it was a dreadnaught shaped body,
    a red and gold sunburst. Some inlay work on neck. It has a toritoise
    shell pick guard with some flowers and a hummingbird on it. 
    
    I believe theres a picture of Keith Richards with one inside the
    High tide and green grass alb album.
    
    Almost bought one in '71
    
    jim

    The natural finish Hummingbirds are pretty nice. Take it from a fool who
    knows. I sold mine back in '74. I think that with a natural finish (and
    the better top that they used on the natual finish ones) it is pretty
    much the equivalent of the Dove.

    
    Interesting question. In the 'Ultimate Guitar Book' there is no mention
    of any guitar called a Gibson Hummingbird and yet I can remember it was
    THE acosutic to have in the early 70s. So, was Hummingbird ever an
    official Gibson name?
    
    Richard

    Of course the Hummingbird was (and still is) an official Gibson name,
    and it has been in production since 1960.
    
    The Ultimate Guitar Book is not a reference-quality publication, but
    merely a collection of interesting pictures of a variety of guitars.
    
    Danny W.

    This is directed to our unofficial Gibson guitar historian: Danny W.
    
    I have an L7C of, I believe, late 50's vintage.  Fat bodied jazz
    guitar, with rounded single cutaway (*not* like the ES-175 cutaway) and
    a single small pickup which is mounted to the neck of the guitar.
    Controls (volume and tone) are mounted on a floating pickguard.
    
    Could you elaborate on L7's in general?  I'm not very knowledgeable on
    this type of guitar.  It certainly has that fat yet clear tone that I
    associate with all the great jazz players...and it wants to feed back
    at C#.
    
    Thanks.

Yeah, I second the motion.  My father-in-law has an L7 of the early forties
vintage...I might get to inherit it one day.  It's a FINE playing instrument!

    re .-1:
    
    a strong argument for remaining married!

re: Coop

> My father-in-law has an L7 of the early forties vintage...I might get to 
> inherit it one day.  It's a FINE playing instrument!

I've seen (and heard) this guitar - it's a beauty, for sure!!!

alan

You should check out the blackface Twin he's got too !
The man is a "stasher" - he gets a hold of stuff and stashes
it away - he's got an original Kustom with sparkles too.  :)

jc (who'll stay married, but not just cuz he wants the old gibbo!)

    see 1016.2 and 1016.171

From: [email protected] (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.local.tennessee,clari.living.music,clari.news.music
Subject: Gibson Guitars Turns 100

	NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- They've been played by the likes of
Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. And this year, Gibson
guitars added another achievement -- turning 100.
	But just eight years ago, Gibson Guitar Corp. seemed unlikely to
be strumming and plucking its way through many more birthdays.
	Nashville-based Gibson had hit a sour note. Quality was spotty.
The company's offerings were limited. Gibson was losing money, had
to cut its staff and, eventually, closed all its divisions except
for one electric guitar line.
	Then, in 1986, just as things looked darkest, investors Henry
Juszkiewicz and David Berryman bought the company for $5 million
from Norlin Industries, an Ecuadoran conglomerate, and began to
turn it around.
	Under the new management -- Juszkiewicz is Gibson's chairman and
Berryman its president -- Gibson upgraded the quality of its wood,
electronics and paint. Sound pickups, devices that translate the
vibrations of guitar strings into electronic signals, were
improved.
	Gibson, founded in Kalamazoo, Mich., by an amateur guitar player
and woodworker, began re-emphasizing its ties to famous musicians,
and renewed relations with retailers.
	``It was like restoring an old house,'' Juszkiewicz said in an
interview.
	The house is now gleaming. Gibson has returned to profitability,
and has gone from producing one electric model to more than 80.
Gibson now runs neck-and-neck with Fender as the industry's market
leader, each with about 25 percent of the business, Juszkiewicz
said.
	While the privately-held company does not make its profit and
revenue figures public, Music Trades Magazine of Englewood, N.J.
said Gibson's wholesale shipments last year were an estimated $70
million, up from less than $10 million in 1986.
	Last year's figure puts Gibson slightly behind Fender, which had
shipments of $113 million, said Paul Majeski, Music Trades'
publisher.
	``You won't find anyone with anything bad to say about
Gibsons,'' Majeski said. ``They are first-rate quality. It's a very
competitive market, and this is a great time for people to be
buying a guitar of any kind.''
	Gibson makes about 200,000 guitars a year at plants here and in
Montana, Illinois and California. Many aficionados say it
manufactures a greater variety than anyone else. The
top-of-the-line guitar, which is custom-made, can cost about
$100,000.
	What does a musician do with such an expensive guitar?
	``Mostly you just look at them,'' Juszkiewicz said.
	The 41-year-old Gibson chairman, an engineer with a Harvard
business degree, loves guitars, owning a half-dozen himself. In his
office, two acoustic models lean against a wall. In his outer
office, copies of Musician Magazine, Bass, Guitar Player, Jazz
Times and Acoustic Guitar fill a table.
	Juszkiewicz plays in a home studio, mostly on weekends when he
has time, and said he learned to play when he was just 9 years old.
While studying at Harvard he was a guitarist in a rock 'n' roll
band, Tony and the Tycoons.
	``We had a checkered career,'' he said. ``Toward the end, we
were good. But before that, we had a drummer who couldn't keep the
beat.''
	During the interview, Juszkiewicz mused over the appeal of the
guitar.
	``It's one of the very few things in society where you have no
bad effects afterwards and it's fun. You strum and sing along and
it's pure joy. You stop and you are no worse off.''

    "You stop and are no worse off"
    
    Except for the ringing in your ears ;-)

   ... and bleeding fingers.  (Hi Butch!)

   -- Sam

	Referring to the recent discussion about Goldtops, I visited my
	friend in his music store, and he showed me a 'Teisco' (I think
	it was) LP copy. This was a fantastic copy with flamed maple on
	the top. If there was written 'Gibson' on it, I think noone
	would ever guess it was a copy - the only weak point was the
	pickups, he told - but if they were replaced with a couple of
	Seimour Duncan humbukers, the guitar would be perfect.

	Now, this LP copy was built 'the right way', he said. And by
	that he meant the body being two pieces of mahogany, so one
	could see the two parts on the back of the guitar. On the top,
	a layer of maple and this so curved so you could see a part of
	it in the cutaway - and that part being thinner towards the
	edge of the guitar (away from the toggle switch). Then the neck
	in one piece mahogany.

	I've never being interested in the actual wood sorts, which my
	own Goldtop has been made of - I bought it new in '69 and I have
	always thought about it as a perfect Gibson LP Deluxe (BTW, the
	serial no. is 963422). Originally, it was equipped with mini
	humbuckers, but years ago I got my hands on some original PAFs,
	and had them built into the guitar - and it sounds perfect with
	these. The mini humbuckers were actually very good sounding,
	but I guess the PAF sound is more my taste. Also, the small tu-
	ners on the bridge are made of nylon.

	So, last night my friend came to my house and had a look at it.
	And it seems that my Goldtop is made of two pieces of ash, on
	top of each other - no split on the back of the guitar, but on
	the side. The neck is one piece ash. But sure it's a heavy beast
	anyway.

	Question: is this a 'poor mans' Goldtop? How much value has it
	got? Is it 'rare' by any means? Danny, are you there? ;-)

	Poul

    The "right way" to build an LP body is of a single piece of mahogany
    with a maple cap. Gibson started using "cross-banded" body sandwiches,
    which is what you have, around '69. They did do some two-piece bodies
    in the '70's, but your friend's Teisco is no more accurate than
    yours--original flame tops and current models have one-piece bodies.
    
    I've never seen an LP with ash body and neck. You might call one of the
    vintage dealers and ask if it's valuable.
    
    Danny W.

    At the recent Boston Guitar Show, I saw some interesting "Orville"
    Gibson copies; these are built in Japan for the Japanese market and
    (I thought) not imported to the U.S.  They had several, an LP Custom,
    a Firebird, a Goldtop, etc.  The one I looked at closely was the
    Custom; it was nicely done.  As is typical of Japanese copies, they
    seem to get little details right that American re-issues miss.
    
    Anyone know more about these?  Are they officially sanctioned by Gibson
    in any way?
    
    /wilbur
    

    re: -.1
    
    From unreliable sources, Orville is a Gibson tradename for guitars they
    have built in Japan for sale there.
    
    I've never seen one in the flesh. Which details do they get right that
    the US reissues don't?
    
    re: several back: Was that really a "Teisco" LP or was it "Tokai"?
    
    Danny W.

    On this particular guitar, the dish of the top and the size/shape of
    the neck were right on; I've yet to see an American made Gibson that
    got these as close to original Customs I've seen.
    
    My general comment re Japanese copies is actually based more on
    experience with their Strats.  Early Tokai and Fernandes Strats were
    way ahead of the U.S. re-issues with regards to detail.  Even today,
    I find the Japanese made Fender re-issues closer.  My personal opinion
    is that the Japanese market is more discerning with regards to this
    stuff.
    
    /rick
    

    
    re: .33 (Danny)
    
    It was indeed a Tokai, I just confused it with Teisco. And on the head-
    stock, instead of 'Les Paul' written with 'gold' letters, it was 'Love
    Rock' - somehow disturbed the image of this beautiful looking axe..
    
    Poul
    

     I saw the Orville's at the show and at first I didn't notice that
     they weren't Gibson guitars. I was admiring the model with the
     book-matched figured top. The wood was very nice, but it was finished
     with what I can only describe as a very thinned out yellowish-TV
     color stain that allowed the grain to come through. Looked very well
     made and was only $995. I couldn't get by that finish though. The same
     guys had '50's series Japanese Strats advertized as '57 Reissues.

     Neal
     

    
    BTW, the Tokai listed about $1000.
    

    Does anyone remember the Gibson 'bass' guitar, about 20" long, with
    four silicone strings?  It was supposed to be an electrified version of
    a stand-up, but more portable.  Any idea on the model #?  The 'bass'
    came out ~1986/87....
    
    Thanks
    chUck

    re .-1
    
    I think it was Guild that made that thing; it was called the
    Asbory or Asbury or something like that. 

    I believe the instrument you're referring to was actually made by
    Guild. It was very short and used Silicone strings. These have
    disappeared into obscurity. It was an interesting concept but
    very short lived. 
    
    Has anyone seen the new instruments from Fernandez that have a
    built-in speaker and headphone amp. These are shaped pretty weird.
    I have a cheap (read: toy) guitar at home from Synsonics that has
    the same basic features. I wouldn't mind trying the Fenandez version.
    It would probably play a whole lot better.
    
    Mark

    oops, Dave beat be to it.
    
    Mark

    re: -1 
    
    thanks Dave!  You are correct, it was Guild..  Thanks!
    
    off to dir/title=Guild
    chUck

For those of you out there who have been aspiring to 
purchase anew Gibson 'Paul, Archtop, or otherwise, you
may want to start paying attention to what's goin on 
these days in retail.

Just took a little field trip to a few of the major chains
and some of the are stores.  Seems Gisbson is defying
logic once again.

Gibson has already issued their first 1997 price hike,
(they had two or three last year) and they're also pressuring
stores to purchase what seems to be a huge amount of 
pieces, and purchase them like, yesterday, or they're
simply not gonna deal with these chains anymore, and
they also have to purchase a set amount stuidos standards, 
premiums, classics, and historics. 

So it looks like stores like E.U.s and possibly Daddy's,
and safe to assume the smaller places as well, will probably
not be getting too many new guitar orders in to GMI.  What's
in the store will pretty much be it,, once they're gone
(at least E.U. in Worcestor says) that's it, no more.  

Wether that will really happen I don't know.

Not to create a buying frenzy, but if you're in the market,
now may be the time, the stores are evidently pissed, and want 
the gibsons moved out to make way for Fenders, PRS, etc..
(Maybe able to get some good prices) and as far as used goes, 
that's anyones guess but from what Tony at E.U. and Jim at Mr.
C's say, they will hold their value, and you shouldn't
loose dime on them.. 

....  go figure...

/pelkster

    re .-1
    
    I saw a new 335 at Daddy's in Shrewsbury saturday. Price?
    $2000! The sales guy gave me the standard line .. "only a Gibson
    plays like a Gibson, etc ". I played an excellent Washburn 335 
    knock-off in Leominster a few weeks ago; asking price was $495. 
    
    Maybe all the Alpha marketing people are leaving and going to
    work for Gibson :-)

re .-2
    
I believe this is the same story I heard a couple of years ago with Gibson. As
it was Gibson was talking about only supplying dealerships that bought the
whole line. Meaning you had to buy at least one piece of each,whereas dealers
were mostly buying Les Pauls. It's even more amazing how much there archtops
go for these days. I'd be hard pressed to spend $2.3k on an ES175 when you
can pickup a Heritage for 1.3k. Es335's for $2k? wow..... for that money you
can probably find a nice vintage semi.

It really makes you wonder how "full time working musicians" can afford such 
prices?  Funny I remember seeing Larry Coryell endorsing some sort of off shore 
guitar make or manufacturer and it reminded me of Joe Pass endorsing either
Ibanez or Epiphone. I guess Joe called up Jimmy D'Aquisto at the time because
he was having problems with the instrument and Jimmy essentially told him
that there was nothing he could do for him.

Rick

    
    
    I was really surprised to see Gibson's "American" value line last
    summer.  Basically cheap versions of the Les Paul, SG, etc. with the
    Gibson name on them.  But, the quality was lousy, and certainly not
    up to the Epiphone versions.  Why bother to call them Gibsons and 
    dilute the brand value?  And then pressure the dealers to sell the 
    high-end line?  
    
    I don't get it.
    
    Kevin
    

well the standard lines can work if you got 2k to invest in 
a guitar and a MINT Cherry red ES335 has been something
you've been wanting for a few years.  You're gonna cough
up the dough most likely, and you -are- gonna luv it.  

Personally I can't do that but only like once every 15 years.  
in between, I keep myself happy with the better imports.  

So, is my Epi Sheraton made as good as the 335, no way..
sure the 335 is a better guitar, hell, if friggin better be 
for 2k right ?

But does the Epi play great, sound nice, yep!  Is it 
like 5 times less money,, yep!  Will I get the resale ?  
Nope !  will I sell it, Nope !  do I really care ???  Nope ! 

Washburn also is puttin out a bigger jazz Box, (Archtop, single
cut-a-way, ES165 knock off) looks pretty interesting, not
a lot of dough either.  Played one a few weeks ago, and it
was pretty much a player..  Sounded nice...  A true, died
in the wool ES165 lover would hate it, probably because
he paid way lots more just to have the Gibson headstock
I guess....  (Hey, that's what I did when I was Paul
Shopping.. I played a lot of nice knock offs, once of
which being the Heritage Paul-a-like..  Nice piece, with
a $900 price tag though, I opted the extra $300 and went
for the Paul..)

re: the "All American Gibson"

think of them as Gibsons you'd buy for your 14 year old
kid. They're really not targeted for the older crowd.

They want us to buy the real thing, and the fact that
their making it hard to get em is proof,, you know
how deprived musicans are, always wanting what's
hardest to get!  :^)

yea, but honey, it's a historic Gibson, 4500 bucks
is a steal!  I can sell it in two yeras for what I paid
for it, orrr, maybe more,, yea that's it..  gimme a break.

hey it's like Tony at E.U.s said.. "They (Gibson)
just opened the door, once again, for Fender to take
over" We laughed, but he may be right on the money with 
that statement.

    
    	But it's so hard to justify taking one of these out on a gig.
    	I played a pool party last summer and a guy brought one of those
    	top of the line Strats.  Yeah, I know it's not a 2k 335 but it
    	was a mint guitar.  Friggin' thing went face down to the cement!
    	If my Yamaha Pacifica went down, I'd be disappointed for sure
    	but nothing like he was.
    	
    	And it's also tough to justify that kind of dough on a guitar that
    	you only play at home.  Especially the ones that are works of art
    	in addition to great instruments.
    
    	Tom
    
    
    	

Well, here's two off shoot topics..  First of which is insurance.
Metpay has a pretty decent rider you can insure all of your
stuff for basically about 1 buck per thousand, if the peices
are less than $2,500 per piece..  I've got jst about everything
I bought in the last 2 years fully insured.  So if my Paul
takes a dive, and the neck snaps off, I just go get another one.
So that friend of yours who had his ultra bounce of the cement,
could have just had it replaced.

Secondly is this stuff with buying 3 and 4 thousand dollar
guitars...  That I just *don't* get,  and you're right Tom,
you won't take it out of the house.  Got a good buddy of mine
with a georgous Jimmy Page les paul.  It's been out of his
house once, last summer, when he brought it over to my place
to try out my marshall with it.  It's mint, not a mark on it,
but he'll never take it anywhere, though he plays it at home,
it's never gonna see a club.  Can't say that I blame him either.
These babys list for $4,895, ($2,800 is the average going price.)

but yea, why have it, if you wont use it ? and another thing Tony
at E.U.s said, "I'd be crazy to put a historic 335 in here to
sell, no one could afford it, but everyone would want 
to play it, and by the time someone serious did come in to look 
at it, he'd put it back on the shelf because it's all scratched up!"

I don't think I'd ever go much more than $1,500 for a guitar,
and even now, at this point, it'd have to be a wicked buy,
or maybe if I hit the lotery, a Historic paul maybe a nice
toy to drop 5k on..  but when you consider it's just a Paul
with a nice top, then what ?!


So,, I still understand the trend Gibson usa is pushing... 
maybe we just don't come from the right gene pool!

/pelkster

    MetPay is the company I have as well.  They did right by me once I
    rattled a few cages.

    I inquired about getting a rider for all of my equipment from Metpay. 
    They insisted that everything has to be appraised. This would be a 
    major headache for me. I spoke to a few dealers and they were charging 
    $10/instrument to provide a written appraisal. Multiply that times 30 
    and it would be quite expensive. I would need to appraise all of my
    (30 odd) guitars plus my amps, all my PA and recording equipment,
    etc. Perhaps someday I will do it, but it would definately be easier
    to have someone come to my house and do the appraisal than for me to
    haul it all into a music store.
    
    Mark

Hi Mark,

Indeed this was partly an issue when I did my stuff.

But in my situation it wasn't an issuie for everything,
beacuse I went through a big upgrade last year, so I had
all my sales slips. 

I've still got three pieces I haven't got insured, my
Crate VC30, an Ibanez musician, and my Yari acoustic.

If you have sales slips, you should be all set. but
obviously, you don't on some,,

and.. 30 guitars Mark,,, ???  What's goin on ??  :^)

You could set up your own museum, schedule tours,, 10 bucks
a head...

    
    Thinking about it, I'd be the last person to spend $2000 for a guitar.
    Now, I love the lovely wood on a sunburst 'Paul more than most, and
    I've even got old Carvin catalogs in my office just because I like to 
    look at the pictures. But, I also believe in playing what I own, and
    I'd be scared to death to play a guitar worth that kind of $$.
    
    Really, I've been known to hoist the 'Paul up and play behind my neck
    just for the sheer entertainment value, and I would be scared to do
    that with $2000-4000 worth of wood!  Not to mention letting my kids hold 
    my guitar and play with Dad!  
    
    So, I'll stick to the <$1000 "work" guitars, thanks.  My current '74
    Les Paul Custom isn't a beater by any means, but it's not afraid of 
    club work.  And one more ding won't make any difference. 8-)
    
    Kevin
     
                                       

yea, I'm with you Kev...  I think most guys are.

    
    I certainly am....I know there's no way in hell I'd pay some of the
    prices that Gibson want....they're bloody outrageous!
    
    
    
    I'll just cruise the wants ads and try and pick one up second hand
    before their prices get inflated too.
    
                					ian
    						

    
    
    Gibson *has* to know that it's not the pro musician who will be buying
    guitars at this price, because there just aren't that many pros around
    who can afford that kind of price tag.  The local "gig 6 nights a week"
    folks won't be buying them. 
    
    So, who can afford them?  The "day job yuppies", who else.  The ones
    who make good  $$ at the day gig and spend it on that guitar they have
    always wanted. 
    
    In general, that's us.  But we're po'd at the prices, too.  That leaves
    the truly rich and the collectors, and are there really enough of them
    to keep the dealers afloat?  How many "rich and famous" walk into
    Daddys?  
    
    Kevin
     

Well, I think even the used market is gonna see a change,
and the better the condition, the better they'll hold
their price.


by the way, speakin of used Gibson, if anyone is interested..

I know where you can pick up a beautiful Jimmy Page
Les Paul, that's in absolute "DEAD" mint condition, still
has an unfilled out registration card, it's got a gorgeous
flamed top, compound radious neck, just a honey, and
a real player..

Asking price is $2,250, I can put you in touch..

Page's are going for about $2,800 currently..

Just thought I'd mention it.

    I just had a shop in San Diego offer to sell me a new Jimmy Page Les
    Paul for $2300. He had two in stock. Both were nice.

great price!

The ones I've seen are priced at $2,800 here in Marlboro.

    
    what are the current new prices on Les Paul Customs?
    
    
                                                ian
    
    						

Without the book infront of me, I think the Custom
List Price was around $3,200, $3,400..  I'll check I
could be off...


/r

    
    
    I was more interested on like a regular store price....like Wurlies or
    Mr C's!
    
    
    any information would be good!
    
    
    					ian

I'd have to guess somewhere in the $1,800 to $2k range... 
depending on color/top, and how much figuring/flaming is on the
top if it's a color that shows the grain.  White/Black
a few hundred bucks cheaper no doubt.


a good rule of thumb is to take list, minus 40%, that's
a good starting point.

/r

    Current Gibson prices make me very happy that I'm not in the market
    for a new guitar.  I bought a new 30th anniv. gold top back in the
    80s for around $800.   Gibson began their price increase strategy
    within a year after that...  I was in the same shop several months
    after I bought the paul, and the owner told me that Gibson had raised
    the list price to over 2K, and that if he'd known that was going to
    happen, he never would have let my guitar go for the price he sold
    it to me for...  I considered myself lucky, and still do now.  I
    couldn't conceive of spending thousands on a paul (or any other
    guitar for that matter).
    
    I can only think that people must be buying them at current price
    levels -- I wouldn't think that Gibson would continue to raise
    prices if they were noticing a sharp drop off in sales volume.
    
    /Steve

Just talked to Jim at Mr. C's

Here's the latest pricing..

Customs Lp $3,499 list price.

He's selling it for 2,499 but said he'd probably be able
to let it go for $2,200 w/case

Also told me that the customs are become a limited run,
special order..

He's got one instock black w/gold hardware....


Jim a cool guy, you may wanna stop in and check it out
if you're really in the market..  He claims now's a
good time as any to buy, prices are due to go up
again in April, and that probably will be repeated in
August.,,.  (just like last year.)

    
    my wife and I have a couple of guests staying with us right now!Its an
    old friend of my wife's and her husband.
    
    
    
    my wife's friend is the Director of Human Resources for Gibson USA!
    
    
    I got a cool denim shirt with the old Gibson logo(dotted i) on the
    back!
    
    
    
    
    ..and before you ask...yes I did ask for a free sample already!8)
    
    
    she said the company gives it's employees a deal where they can buy one
    electric and one acoustic a year.The acoustic is 50%off list price and
    the electric is 40%!No great savings but nice all the same! 8)
    
    
    						ian

    tell 'em to dump whatever idiot MBA's are currently running the
    show there and start selling guitars at reasonable prices again!

    
    actually I did say the prices were high and she agreed!She doesn't have
    any control over that.
    
    she also told me she bought a J6 for her daughter and it never gets
    played!
    
    
    yoiks!
    
    ian

    
    
    I just sent some feedback mail via Gibson's web site that should 
    shake a few pricing cages! 
    
    Kevin