"1970 Pontiac Firebird. The Car I've Always Wanted and Now I Have it. I Rule!"

August 10, 2009 11:15 PM

k, no, I didn't buy a 1970 Pontiac Firebird. In fact, I didn't buy any kind of car. But I did get something I've always wanted: a Gibson Les Paul Standard. This one, to be specific:

I've written about being fourteen and having my mom offer me an electric guitar if I cut my hair. Well, at some point, I started taking guitar somewhat seriously. I've never sat in my room and practiced scale runs over and over for hours on end, but I've spent a lot of time learning solos and songs, and I've also tried to learn a little bit about music theory. So the guitar, as an abstract thing, has been a huge part of my life for a long time.

But, on more concrete terms, I've wanted this kind of guitar for as long as I can remember. The Gibson Les Paul is one of the most iconic guitars of all time. The only other one that really comes close is the Fender Stratocaster. In fact, I'd bet that if you said "electric guitar" to someone who doesn't play, their mental image would be of either one or the other of those instruments.

My first guitar was a Strat clone. In other words, it was a guitar that emulated the Stratocaster in every way except quality: it had the three pickups, the five-way selector switch, and the body was shaped exactly like a Strat. As a first guitar, it was great. Then one day I was in a music store with Santi and saw a cheap Epiphone Les Paul Special. It was a piece of shit, but at the time I was blown away by it. Eventually, I bought it, and so my love affair with Gibson-related guitars was born (Epiphone is the cheap cousin of Gibson, sort of like how Honda is the cheap cousin of Acura).

As I do with most things that I like, I started to geek out about guitars. Not just technique and theory, but the actual guitars themselves. I knew what my favorite guitarists played: Billy Corgan preferred Strats with Lace Sensor pickups, while James Iha played a black Les Paul that he kept fairly stock. Kurt Cobain famously played Strats and cheap Mustangs or Jaguars which he would smash. The guys from Pearl Jam used all different sorts of guitars. But I always thought the Les Paul was the most beautiful. Unfortunately, they were completely out of my price range.

Until recently. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I can pay my bills and then some. I should be saving, I know. But given that it wasn't very long ago that I was completely unemployed and that I'm constantly blown away by how well our little business is doing, I figured that I could splurge. And, as it turns out, I found an excellent deal on this guitar, so I didn't even have to spend that much for it. I mean, comparatively speaking.

What sucked was that I bought it just before my vacation. I dropped it off at the guitar shop to get some adjustments (new, thicker strings and corresponding truss-rod adjustment; slightly higher action) the day before I left, and I was finally able to pick it up and really play it tonight. It is an amazing guitar. It's so smooth and fast, the frets are perfect, and it sounds fucking great.

My main guitar before this was a '97 Gibson SG Special. I picked it up again tonight just to compare it to the Les Paul. The SG is a good guitar, but the Les Paul is clearly superior in both playability and sound. Oh, and sustain: notes on the Les Paul go on forever. It's beautiful.

The bottom line is that I'm fucking ecstatic to finally own this guitar. It's a great guitar in and of itself, and the fact that it represents some modest level of financial success makes it even better. I can't imagine what would ever make me give this guitar up, other than passing it on to my son or daughter some day.

Until then, I shall rock on.

2 Comments

tRJ said:

Hey, congratulations. Those are sweet-sounding guitars, and I know how long you've wanted one. It was a happy day when I was able to find my dream guitar (and it completely changed my sound, too). Enjoy!

August 11, 2009 7:48 AM

Dee said:

mazel tov!

August 14, 2009 12:34 AM

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