Retro 54 LP Classic

Here's a closet classic sent in today by a personal friend asking about this guitar that his brother in-law's mom's boyfriend has owned for years. All indicators point to some variation of a 1954 gold top, & condition is remarkable. Still looking into actual production year, but it's so pretty I thought we should post it & gather some comments & see to find out what it's worth, etc. Thanks for reading.

Gary's Gibson Fire Chicken

     This week's post by local guitar veteran: Gary Vogel of Minneapolis. 

"I have always loved the look of the original "reverse" version Firebird.  Such a 
lovely shape!  An much more practical than the Explorer, because it does not 
have the big pointy tail that I always find myself bumping into things.

But every vintage one I have tried suffered from two problems:  The neck was 
uncomfortable, too fat like a baseball bat, and those damn banjo tuners were 
either worn out and broken, or damaged in some way.

Well the recently discontinued Gibson Firebird V 2010 model solved both those 
issues!"

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Firebird/Gibson-USA/Firebird-V-2010.aspx

"The neck is extremely smooth and fast..  The tuners have been replaced by modern 
Steinberger models, allowing the beautiful headstock to be unsullied, and 
eliminating those damn banjo tuners.

The new ceramic pickups are really sweet.  Not too hot, but a bit stouter than 
the original ones.   Less noise, too.  A bit brighter than a P90, but also a bit 
smoother in the mid-range, I guess they could be defined as a less "snotty" 
pickup somewhere between a P90 and a humbucker.  I find them to be incredible 
useful when playing complex chords, but I would bet that blues players would 
really dig them too (think Johnny Winter, of course!).

I don't know why Gibson decided to discontinue this particular reissue, poor 
sales probably.  But I am damn glad I was able to find one-- and it took me some 
serious searching before I found a white one-- the rarest of all, and most 
gorgeous IMO.  This baby had originally been shipped from the factory overseas 
to Germany, and ended up at a NY guitar trader who I purchased it from 

Another one checked off my bucket list!

You can see me play this baby at my next show with my band MFG (we are on 
Facebook) at Mayslacks Friday November 30.  We play after the Mighty Others and 
my friends, Capital Sons, who featured my lead guitar on their first CD.  We go 
on at 11pm."

Iguana Burst

I hijacked this photo from Cory Lake's American Guitar & Band FACEBOOK page. This new Gibson has been affectionately referred to as the Iguana-burst; Doves in Flight. Shipped out last week to a proud new owner of a one-of-a-kind.You gotta love the green Dove, It's 99.4% pure.

Bursted

Here's a closeup of Gary Vogel's Gibson Factoryburst-- a limited edition reissue of the 1959 LP standard sunburst (only 50 made of this finish).  These babies are entirely handmade to exact standards  of the 1959 models, down to the nth degree-- finish, pickups, woods, everything.  Gary recently got this from American Guitar Boutique. Those guys are great; fantastic service, friendly, expert knowledge, and good prices on the good stuff.

Gary always choose his guitars by playing them acoustically first-- you can easily tell the exceptional ones in how they feel & respond before you plug them in. All of his LP's are of the kind where everything comes together on a particular guitar, to create something magical that sets them apart from the others. He's also got a Silverburst that blew him away even though he doesn't particularly like that color, so he had to buy it. Same goes for his 2009 Tradition Standard. It out-shined nearly 50 other LP's that he tried over the course of a month.

When Gary picked this baby up, he KNEW where all the extra $$$ went-- This baby is awe-inspiring in how it just channels your energy, and sparks your muse.  He's usually into much thinner necks, but the feel of this thicker chunkier profile is not a hindrance for some reason.

Gary says: "I have not played any guitar that comes close to this baby.  Yes, I am in love!"

"Come out to see my band MFG (we are on Facebook, natch) and see and hear her in action.  We play Oct 20 9pm at Driftwood Char Bar in S. Mpls. and Mayslacks Nov 30 in NE Mpls." 

Want to learn more about Gary? Here's some links I found on the Web for additional cool stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9vcdBFTnU
http://www.effectsbay.com/tag/gary-vogel/
http://www.roundthedialmagazine.com/category/guitar-town-tech-talk/
http://www.reverbnation.com/redonred

Drea

Honduran mahogany body and neck with a flame maple body cap. The head cap is quilted Honduran Mahogany. The body, neck and headstock have abalone purfling and cream binding. This is a set neck construction. The scale length is 24.625". The fingerboard is Indian Rosewood with gold mother of pearl block inlays and gold Jumbo frets. The pickups are Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico 2 humbuckers. The electronics are wired so that you can coil cut and reverse the phase. The switching is controlled with push pull pots. Tuning machines are gold Kluson waffle back with vintage pearl buttons. A toner was added to the maple top to give it that amber color. Not only is this a custom made guitar, but custom parts were made for the pearl inlays and truss rod cover, the pickups have custom wiring. Case is custom made by Ameritage.
    Contact treede@earthlink.net for more information or contact via Facebook.

Crime Doesn't Pay

No it's not a mirror image, it's Dillon Jones, front man for the up and coming young twin Cities POP rock band LOVE OUT LOUD, showing off his uber-rare lefty 2005 copper Gibson Xplorer. These are truly sweet guitars as anyone who's ever owned one knows. Dillon was lucky enough to recover this sharp axe after a recent theft followed by a lengthy recovery process. Follow the LOVE OUT LOUD tour on FACEBOOK, or listen to their tunes on YOUTUBE. Best of luck on the summer tour gentlemen, the music can't lead you astray. See you Wednesday July 11th for your main stage performance at the Sonshine Fest in Wilmar, Minnesota.

1968 GIBSON Dove - Honorary Las Vegas Submission

  Bill Binnings pictured here with his sunburst Gibson Dove. He's owned it since new (1968) & sent in the pic after visiting this site from his home out in Vegas. He does a regular gig with this fine guitar at the Sambalatte Coffee Shop in Summerlin Nevada. The playability and sound is the big deal, on this vintage acoustic. Bill gets compliments all the time from other guitarists. The tone is so full, resonant and mellow....the wood is wide-open after all these years and it is all-original with a perfect setup. 10 gauge 80/20 bronze coated D'Addario strings sing like a bird, huge tone, quick break-in, triple the life of a non-coated string (for real). Bill can't say enough about his one owner guit-fiddle. "You have to play and hear it to understand. It is a life changer"!!

  Thanks for writing, Bill.
 Rock with me Saturday night at the Wild Rice Festival in Deer River.

1963 Melody Maker

Here's another vintage rock warrior from the collection of Kelly Peterson. This 63 melody maker is one of Kelly's oldest axes, & it's got the necessary mojo for ripping out old Thin Lizzy dueling melodies; thanks to the popular mods that now give it the updated sustain & intonation for rich lustrous soloing. It's truly a great guitar to fart around with, & the K-Man isn't looking to give it up soon. Why would he? You just don't see these for sale very often. Thanks for sharing Kelly! Here's some cool footage of K-Train jamming on some old Robin Trower that I found on YouTube.

Vee is for:

Freak of the Week
Gibson Reverse Flying Vee. For as cool as these are, you'd expect to frequently see a local player rocking one of these classic axes around town. But alas, they're priced out of the practical range by Gibson, making them somewhat of a spectacle for a sideshow attraction. Unfortunate, considering their beauty... These really should be shown off.

Wall of Gibson

When the Highlander heard there can only be one he knew they weren't talking about the Gibson selection at Maple Grove's premier guitar retailer American Guitar & Band. With selection this good, why limit yourself to picking just one? AGB owner Cory Lake has dedicated himself to ensuring his customers the most pleasurable guitar shopping experience around. Don't take my word for it. Stop in & get ready to be blown away by great gear & friendly helpful staff. Talk to John Lockner, the best guitar & accessory salesman in the twin cities. He'll greet you at the front counter, find out what your after, & amaze you with his knowledge of modern & vintage gear! Visit the store at 13777 Grove Drive North Maple Grove, Mn 55311, or call 763 424-4888 for info on how they can help you with your quest for Rock & Roll stardom.

Blaine Busch Whacker

Here's the latest addition to the Tom Busch collection. 2011 Gibson Les Paul. I bet you've never seen a Custom that looks like this before. Still waiting for more info on this new axe form Tom, but in the meantime we can all enjoy the pic that he's submitted. You can always click on the pictures in this website to enlarge them.

Where's Waldo

1982 Gibson "The Paul" with traditional natural finish on walnut body, camouflaged against same guitar wallpaper. I guess this should really be called Where's Pauldo unless it gets painted with red & white stripes.}:-D- This is a great playing ebony board, neck-thru beauty with jumbo frets & Grover tuners. There's no maple cap here from which to carve the arch top. Gibson also chose not to include a pick guard to keep the cost down. Owner Dave Sanborn used this guitar for years in the twin cities rock metal band Wyzdom. These days you'll find his banjo skills are equally as impressive as his Deep Purple solos were back in the 80's. I'll post an update to the next hoedown.

Rock with me tonight (Saturday Dec 3rd) at the Blue Fox in Arden Hills.

Goldilocks

Shiny, sparkling, & downright glitzy. Original finish 1999 Epiphone Sorrento, owned, operated, & maintained by George Paulos of Little Canada. As always, a few mods were necessary to get this up to pro standards; note the new Gibson Nashville tune-0-matic bridge. George has installed an upgrade of new cts pots, & of course he puts jumbo frets on everything he plays. George was the luthier at Torp's Music for ten years, so getting the mods right the first time was quick, easy & painless. George can currently be seen using this axe frequently around town with his steady gig Rythm Engine, a five piece rock, soul, & pop combo complete with keys & sax. Click HERE for a list of their current scheduled performance dates