I BOUGHT A GIBSON LES PAUL
Just look at that sexy maple top!!
Yes, that’s right, after wanting one since first getting into writing and playing music in the late 1970s, I’ve finally acquired that Holy Grail of electric guitars, the Gibson Les Paul.
I was planning to get one about twenty years ago, but I got sidetracked by Gibson’s other iconic axe, the cheaper (and lighter) SG - you know, the one favoured by Tony Iommi and Angus Young out of Black Sabbath and AC/DC respectively. I saw a special cream-coloured edition in a shop in Fukuoka and just had to get it. And while it’s a superb guitar, well-made and sounding fantastic, there was still this feeling that Gibson was under-represented in my six-string arsenal and that I needed a Les Paul for completeness’ sake. Also, I needed another guitar with humbucker double-coil pickups to counterbalance all those twangy Fenders I own.
Well, in April I had a Certain Birthday, and on Certain Birthdays there is an unwritten rule that you should get yourself a gift that meets the following criteria:
It should be ridiculously expensive.
It should be more than you can afford.
It should make your partner angry.
It should be completely unnecessary.
SG Standard and Les Paul Studio Session
A Gibson Les Paul seemed to be a perfect fit for such a present! Keeping these criteria in mind, I started to do some research.
Oh wow, apart from differences in colours and finishes, I quickly discovered that there actually isn’t one Les Paul, there are many of them - quite a bewildering range, in fact.
There’s the Studio, the Studio Session, the Standard, the Modern, the Custom, the Deluxe, the Supreme….argh! Too many options, too overwhelming!
All of these are eye-wateringly expensive, especially here in Japan. At first I was after the Standard - the typical familiar Les Paul, but I soon discovered the new Studio Session - cheaper, but paradoxically with way more features. It seems that Gibson has been doing some blurring of the lines and hoping that the ‘more expensive = better’ psychology will keep people buying the top end models, while they have been quietly adding luxury to the cheaper versions.
The Les Paul Studio Session has complex tonal options via the sophisticated pickup wiring, a luxuriously smooth ebony fingerboard, weight relief for helping old geezers with their spinal issues (lol), and a contoured back to allow access to the higher frets - all features the more expensive Standard model doesn’t have! The only difference is the fact that the Session doesn’t have white binding around the body - that’s it!
In the end the choice was easy - the Honey Burst version of the Studio Session - a rarity compared to the other colours / finishes available, but I found one on Amazon and bit the bullet.
Butterscotch vibes, deffo!
I was a bit nervous - I’d never bought a guitar online before, because I have been told that you must “try before you buy”, since guitars vary enormously, even within the same model. In addition, I wasn’t sure if the photos featured on Amazon were the actual one I was going to get or just generic pics from the maker.
I needn’t have worried - when the thing arrived and I opened the case it was a genuine moment of slack-jawed speechless bedazzlement - the guitar wasn’t the one in the photos - it was way nicer, with gorgeous natural wood markings and a glossy sparkle that stunned me. It plays and sounds wonderful, too. It really is a work of art - not only the most expensive guitar I’ve ever bought, but the most beautiful, too.
So, I think I’ve done pretty well in my choice of self-gift for my Certain Birthday, although I must admit that I have failed in one of the unwritten rules mentioned above - my wife, upon see the glorious Gibson did not get angry at all - she just rolled her eyes and said ‘old man!!’