Gibson Les Pauls
I've owned a few Les Pauls, many of which were completely unsuitable or just plain bad buys.
The first one was great, a most likely early '70s Tobacco Sunburst one bought second hand for $630 from Derringers in Adelaide Australia 1977-78. Unfortunately the only photo I have is this one on the right. It had a DiMarzio bridge pickup. I sold it in about 1981 and made some money on it. I really should have kept it because by the end of 1982 I was back playing in a band again and it would've been perfect.
The second was a terrible decision and I can't believe I was ever dumb enough to buy it, although it did play OK and I used it for about a year. It was a highly modified (brutalised might be a better word) Les Paul Deluxe with mini humbuckers. It was my first pawnbroker's auction (November 1982) so I was a bit green. The body had been thinned out to about SG thickness, the neck had been narrowed, binding was gone and the board was changed to have dots, serial number was missing, etc. Anyway I got it for $300 and sold it in 1983 for much the same as I paid. I used both this guitar and my Ibanez jazz guitar at gigs for a while.
November 1982 in Stranded nightclub dressing room, Sydney Australia
In about 1984-85 at another pawnbroker's auction I got a Black Beauty "fretless wonder" Gibson Les Paul Custom s/no 750006 for $625. It was probably made in 1970-72, but I hated it because the frets were too small so I sold it again straight away and got my money back. Of course these are the ones with gold hardware, ebony board and more mother of pearl.
Typical 1971 Les Paul Custom
Les Paul Raw Power
I bought this one in May 2009 from an asshole or an idiot (I can't decide which) near Melbourne Australia, and it's one of my few ebay failures. It had some neck damage at the peg head join, as well as some more minor issues, and the seller didn't mention it in the ad. I sold it to a guy in Brisbane in the first days of 2010. Needless to say I didn't get my money back on this one because unlike the original seller I wouldn't lie about its condition.
From a distance it looks like a Goldtop but it's actually all natural wood in a satin finish. I had no idea whether the paint was stripped at some point but I liked it because it was so different. It had an EMG pickup on it when I got it, and the original pickup was included in the sale too.
In May 2014 I was contacted by a guy from Italy who said he had one of these, that it's called a Les Paul Raw Power and was apparently discontinued after just a couple years. He indicated that Gibson USA reused the name later on but it was a different model. The original Raw Power model features the two standard 490/498T humbuckers, binding on neck and body, trapezoid inlays, and no paint (just a satin finish on raw wood). That pretty much ties in with mine.
Despite the neck damage it played really well and stayed in tune very well too. I had forgotten how great a Les Paul feels. But I needed to cut down on the collection a bit and the dodgy ones were the first to go.
