NGD: The Paul Content

JerkMoans

After a bear market realignment of my collection led to me shifting a swathe of my higher end bits, and after one sherbet too many at my brother-in-law's birthday bash at the weekend, old, bad habits took over in the form of a late evening eBay raid.

Guitar Safari yesterday afternoon to snare this wild, bad boy: ladies and djentlemen, I give you the 1979 Gibson 'The Paul'.

This one's obviously lived a rock n roll life but looks all the better for it, I think (albeit that I will be stripping it down and doing my best to remove some of the ingrained DNA by application of Cillit Bang, Vim, and bleach).  

Walnut body and neck, lovely LP Custom style oversized headstock, ebony fretboard, Grover tuners and the original T-Top pickups that I understand the cognoscenti are diggin'.

Best bit about it is the neck: worn satin smooth from decades of having the shit played out of it.  Only thing that ever came close was the similarly worn feel on a Novo Serus J I was briefly the custodian of.  Oh yeah: while the purists may howl and gnash their teeth, I also think the arm chamfer on the front and the gut cut on the back are serious improvements to some of the more uncomfortable aspects of 'true' LPs.

What say you, people?

Nunogilberto

Lovely looking thing and no doubt will be nice and smooth to play as well. I had an SG Firebrand a few years back which was quite similar.

That switch placement would do my head in though...

ICBM

JerkMoans said:

What say you, people?

Ugly as sin, but I bet it sounds like an absolute sledgehammer .

That one really looks like it's had a hard life... repaired body seam separation on the treble side, or just an unusually bad example of Gibson's sloppy approach to wood matching?

Nunogilberto said:

That switch placement would do my head in though...

Given the size of the cavity, it's odd that they didn't fit it further away from the knobs, with the toggle moving front to back instead of up and down - ie the Hamer/PRS position, which I've always found the best.

JerkMoans

Nunogilberto said:

Lovely looking thing and no doubt will be nice and smooth to play as well. I had an SG Firebrand a few years back which was quite similar.

That switch placement would do my head in though...

I kinda find it more logical than 'proper' LPs: nicely out of the way.  It'll take a while to get used to for sure, and looks weird, but who looks at the mantlepiece while they're stoking the fire?  

JerkMoans

ICBM said:

Ugly as sin, but I bet it sounds like an absolute sledgehammer .

Horses for courses: it'll fit right in around here  

ICBM said:

That one really looks like it's had a hard life... repaired body seam separation on the treble side, or just an unusually bad example of Gibson's sloppy approach to wood matching?

Good spot: there is a definite ridge between the two short planks.  Adds to the 'agricultural worker' vibe of the instrument

DrCornelius

Rather like an ex girlfriend of mine the body looks fantastic whereas the head (stock) isn’t as attractive.  I’m hoping it’s as fun to play with as t she was though - I bet the pickups sound great.

impmann

I had a joint ownership of one in the early 90s. Sadly it was stolen but it was an incredible guitar - that one had DiMarzio pickups (non original) and I often wonder what happened to it.

I love them!

LastMantra

I really don't mind the switch position. Works fine for me. 

Welcome to the club m8 

JerkMoans

DrCornelius said:

Rather like an ex girlfriend of mine the body looks fantastic whereas the head (stock) isn’t as attractive.  I’m hoping it’s as fun to play with as t she was though - I bet the pickups sound great.

Yeah: sounds pretty cool.  Lucky they survived the 80's craze for ripping them out and replacing with DiMarzio Super Distortion, or what have you.

Mandy says 'hi, and 'please stop texting me', btw.

JerkMoans

impmann said:

I had a joint ownership of one in the early 90s. Sadly it was stolen but it was an incredible guitar - that one had DiMarzio pickups (non original) and I often wonder what happened to it.

I love them!

Ha!  Just mentioned DMs above.  Sad to hear of the theft  

JerkMoans

LastMantra said:

I really don't mind the switch position. Works fine for me. 

Welcome to the club m8 

Another member of the congregation?  Hallelujah! Praise Be! 

BeardyAndy

That's a great looking axe, lots of character. Quite fancy a "The Paul" myself as a birth year guitar, see quite a few sensibly priced 78s for sale. Enjoy.

JerkMoans

BeardyAndy said:

That's a great looking axe, lots of character. Quite fancy a "The Paul" myself as a birth year guitar, see quite a few sensibly priced 78s for sale. Enjoy.

Early days, but bangs for buck I couldn't be happier.  Do it!  

Jalapeno

Not too enamoured of the wood colour, but excellent late night drunken sniping !!!!!!!!

Maybe it has had a finish removed ?

LastMantra

Jalapeno said:

Not too enamoured of the wood colour, but excellent late night drunken sniping !!!!!!!!

Maybe it has had a finish removed ?

That's just how they were. Supposed to be an affordable yet gigable guitar. Quality tuners, electronics/pickups, ebony board etc.

Mine is a later deluxe which is painted and is all mahogany. 

Strangefan

My first proper gibson was a 79 the Paul, back in 1998, it cost me £220, they feel so great to play especially the necks, would I have another? Hell yes 

Kittyfrisk

What can I say? Splendid choice, HNGD! 
I bought one about 20 years ago as the only proper Gibson I could afford at the time.
I liked it so much I bought another as soon as I could afford one & still have both   
I still find it hard to believe that Gibson made any money on them, given the quality hardware & ebony boards.
Walnut too, lovely wood, I prefer it over mahogany.
Hope that you continue to enjoy the rough charm, great sounds & sheer playability of it. Rumour has it, that's what guitars are for 

JerkMoans

Jalapeno said:

Not too enamoured of the wood colour, but excellent late night drunken sniping !!!!!!!!

Maybe it has had a finish removed ?

It looks like it's been through the Battle of Helm's Deep, frankly  

JerkMoans

LastMantra said:

That's just how they were. Supposed to be an affordable yet gigable guitar. Quality tuners, electronics/pickups, ebony board etc.

Mine is a later deluxe which is painted and is all mahogany. 

Is that the 'Firebrand' model?

JerkMoans

Strangefan said:

My first proper gibson was a 79 the Paul, back in 1998, it cost me £220, they feel so great to play especially the necks, would I have another? Hell yes 

Gracias for the vote of support!

JerkMoans

Kittyfrisk said:

What can I say? Splendid choice, HNGD! 
I bought one about 20 years ago as the only proper Gibson I could afford at the time.
I liked it so much I bought another as soon as I could afford one & still have both   
I still find it hard to believe that Gibson made any money on them, given the quality hardware & ebony boards.
Walnut too, lovely wood, I prefer it over mahogany.

It's an oddity: I'd imagine walnut to be something one would reserve for higher end, more Lux Interior models.  Add in all the other touches - esp. ebony fretboard, and they're a strange subspecies of 'budget' guitars.

Kittyfrisk said:

Hope that you continue to enjoy the rough charm, great sounds & sheer playability of it. Rumour has it, that's what guitars are for 

What fresh madness is this?  Everyone knows they're for hanging on the wall, and having esoteric arguments about on here.