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Searcy

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In 1978 Gibson decided to bring back the Flying V in a new re-designed version, dubbed the V2. it was actually intended to be the companion model to the E2, the then latest incarnation of the Explorer, and was designed by Tim Shaw. The sculptured body contours were originally intended to show off the maple and walnut layers making up the body, but obviously this only had visual impact on natural-finished examples. Additionally it has a Strat-style "tummy tuck" contour on the rear. The boomerang-shaped pickups were designed to sound like single coils but without the associated noise issues; visually along with the boomerang tailpiece they echo the V-shape of the body. In 1982 the pickups on the V2 model were swapped for more conventional looking "Dirty Finger" humbuckers.

 

Initially the V2 was available in Walnut top and Maple top finises, but the Maple top sold poorly and so, circa 1980-81, Gibson refinished their Maple top inventory in a variety of colours (some seen above), including: Pearl white, Blue sparkle, Blue sparkle metallic, Candy apple Red, Sunburst, Goldburst, Silverburst, Black, and Black Sparkle.

 

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GibsonV2White_zps96322676.jpg

 

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Do you mind if I add one ....

 

I had one of these...

 

The Gibson BFG (barely finished guitar)... Very stripped down monster of a guitar. Burstbucker and P90 combo and this one is a Gary Moore BFG thus the odd control knobs (cos he had two different styles for the Bridge and Neck controls on some of his guitars)....

 

Whats really odd about this guitar is the carving on top... Im still not sure how they did that... Very cool guitar though.

 

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They also did some non Gary Moore Versions

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I've wanted that green BFG since they came out. Maybe one day I'll get one. The strange car up on the top is the result of the first stage CNC carving that Gibson does on Les Paul tops. This is the rough in phase. Once this process is finished the ridges are usually sanded down for a nice smooth Les Paul carve top. They skip that step in the BFG's .

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I've wanted that green BFG since they came out. Maybe one day I'll get one. The strange car up on the top is the result of the first stage CNC carving that Gibson does on Les Paul tops. This is the rough in phase. Once this process is finished the ridges are usually sanded down for a nice smooth Les Paul carve top. They skip that step in the BFG's .

Huh.. that does make sense [thumbup] ... Too uniform to be hand done (and too time consuming).. I love it...

 

Its such a shame I never bonded with that guitar which was because it had a really fat neck... But the sounds it made... Man I never had such a beastly sounding guitar before or since.... The middle position with both pups on, it sounded like they were fighting each other, what a noise it made :)

 

If they ever make them again and happen to put slimmer necks on them, I will do whatever it takes to get one...

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Do you mind if I add one ....

 

I had one of these...

 

The Gibson BFG (barely finished guitar)... Very stripped down monster of a guitar. Burstbucker and P90 combo and this one is a Gary Moore BFG thus the odd control knobs (cos he had two different styles for the Bridge and Neck controls on some of his guitars)....

 

 

DV016_Jpg_Large_H71149_001_gator_green_zpse3z3ppws.jpg

 

I very much like the absence of any fret inlays. [thumbup]

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gibson-custom-shop-john-lennon-les-paul-junior-limited-254468.jpg

 

 

 

Only 300 made! - instant kharma collector's item.

 

John Lennon was always a fan of Charlie Christian, and he also enjoyed tinkering with his guitars. So when he met New York luthier and guitar repairman Ron DeMarino in the early '70s, he asked him to take his 1950s Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Junior and add the pickup made famous by the jazz legend.

 

Later, at Lennon's request, DeMarino sanded off the 'burst finish and added the Tuno-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece. On August 30, 1972, Lennon used his customized Les Paul in its new, raw wood state during his famous benefit concert at New York's Madison Square Garden.

 

Today, the guitar is on permanent display at the John Lennon Museum in Japan.

 

Histroy of The John Lennon Les Paul Junior

 

 

By Andy Babiuk, author of the book

 

 

John Lennon”a name known worldwide as an icon, musician, and poet, the voice of a generation, and without a doubt, one of the most important and influential figures in rock 'n' roll history. It was John Lennon and the Beatles that forever changed the world of music and pop culture.

 

 

As with all great musicians, the tools of the Beatles' trade at times became as important as their music. The instruments they chose helped to reflect their thoughts, ideas, and even lifestyles. The everlasting images of Lennon”with his Gibson J”160E guitar during the height of Beatlemania, or his Epiphone Casino on the rooftop of the Beatles' Apple headquarters, or his modified Gibson Les Paul Jr. at his famous 1972 Madison Square Garden concert”have all left a lasting impression on our minds. John Lennon is so closely associated with these instruments that the instruments themselves have become extensions of Lennon's personality.

 

 

Lennon solo

After the break”up of the Beatles, the prolific John Lennon immediately embarked on his successful solo career, recording and collaborating with wife Yoko Ono. It was during this time, in the early '70s, that John Lennon expressed his passion for New York City. "It's the greatest place on earth," he said. "I love the place 'cause this is where the music came from; this is what influenced my whole life."

 

 

Soon after, on September 3, 1971, the Lennons left the U. K. for New York, never to return. Lennon enjoyed New York's artistic environment. "There are these fantastic 20 or 30 artists who all understand what I'm doing and have the same kind of mind as me," he said. "It's like heaven."

 

 

Enter Ron DeMarino

Ron DeMarino, a New York luthier known for his guitar repair and restoration work, met the Lennons in late 1971. "I was at one of the guitar shops on 48th Street and overheard a guy who was looking for an old vintage amp for a friend," DeMarino recalls. "The store didn't have that style of amp, but I did, so when the guy left the shop I told him that I had one to sell. He told me that it was for John Lennon, and I of course didn't believe him. The guy introduced himself as Claude and said he worked for Lennon. He gave me his phone number and asked me if I was really interested in selling the amp to call him. So I got back to my shop and gave Claude a call. Sure enough, after making some arrangements, I found out that the amp was indeed for John Lennon.

 

 

"That's when I got to know John, when he was still on Bank Street. It was around the time he was working with Elephant's Memory, and he was hanging around with their guitarist Wayne Gabriel, who they use to call Tex. They found out that my business was restoration work on guitars, so they had me start going through the many guitars that had to be worked on. I had worked my way into being sort of a confidant, in a good position with them. I was very straightforward; I was not ga”ga being around John or Yoko, so I guess they kind of liked that. I stayed doing work for them for a while. It was kind of a relaxed environment. There was never any stress or forced attitudes so anything that John told me was candid and truthful."

 

 

DeMarino's relationship with John Lennon continued to grow. "I started advising John on certain sales of guitars, just sort of advising him before any purchases were made as to whether it was a good purchase or not, that type of thing," he says. "This was on vintage guitars, because a lot of times guys were trying to hock stuff to them. There were a number of very questionable pieces that I negated the sale on. I remember one time I helped John find a Cherry Les Paul Junior for his son Julian. There was a lot of stuff like that."

 

 

Working Classics Hero

DeMarino worked on many of Lennon's guitars and made modifications to them, too. "I would meet John at the record plant, or John used to go down to Butterfly Studios”that's where he used to rehearse," DeMarino says. "It was a building off of 10th Street, by the West Side Highway, four blocks from their apartment. It was a plain building in an industrial area, but inside there was a loading dock, and they had a big rehearsal studio in there. They were building a recording studio and a mobile recording studio in the back of a bread truck. So I used to get a call, and they would say, 'John wants you to meet him at Butterfly at 10 p.m.' I would meet him and he would give me his guitars to work on. We worked on so many of his guitars."

 

 

Les Paul plus Charlie Christian

One of the guitars Ron DeMarino was given to work on was a 1950s Gibson single”cutaway Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Junior. "I found out by sheer exposure, and by working on his instruments, that John messed around with his guitars a lot," says DeMarino. "When I got the Les Paul Junior from John, it was in its original factory condition”Tobacco Sunburst finish, single P”90 pickup, wraparound tail piece, and Kluson tuners, but he wanted it modified. He didn't know much about guitars. For instance, he wanted a guitar with "humberdincker" pickups in it. Obviously he was referring to humbucker pickups, but he didn't know. He would say, 'I'm a rhythmer, you know? I don't know anything about these things.' I would try to talk him into getting a better sound out of this or that”like, 'Why don't you put these pickups in? You'll get a better sound.' That's when we did his Les Paul Junior, and I put a Charlie Christian pickup in

.

 

"We put it in the neck position," says DeMarino. "Installing the Charlie Christian pickup involved extensive routing and major modification to the back of the guitar. We left the Gibson P”90 pickup in the guitar and added a toggle switch wired for pickup selection. When I got the guitar back to John he liked the way it sounded."

 

 

Co-hosting with Mike Douglas

John and Yoko co”hosted The Mike Douglas Show on American television, February 14 ” 18, 1972. One of Lennon's guests was his hero Chuck Berry. John used his newly modified Tobacco Sunburst Gibson Les Paul Junior with the Charlie Christian pickup when he jammed with the great Chuck Berry as the two performed "Johnny B. Goode" and "Memphis."

 

 

More LP mods

Soon after, DeMarino again received the Les Paul Junior back from Lennon for more modifications. "John liked the way the Junior played and sounded but he thought it didn't stay in tune," DeMarino says. "We talked about it, and I decided to remove the wraparound tailpiece, plug the holes, and install a Gibson Tune”O”Matic bridge with a stop tailpiece. I also took off the old Kluson tuning pegs and put on a new set of tuners. Nobody thought twice about modifying an old guitar in those days. It wasn't like today, where guys are worried about wrecking the value of a vintage guitar. We would just do whatever had to be done to make a guitar function better. And that's what I did with his Les Paul Junior. John also asked me to sand off the Sunburst Finish and put the guitar to bare wood, the mahogany. That's the last I worked on it. I think he liked the guitar because he ended up using it at the big show they did in New York at the Garden."

 

 

JL at MSG

On August 30, 1972 John Lennon used his customized Gibson Les Paul Junior in its new raw wood”modified state during his famous live performance at New York's Madison Square Garden to benefit the One to One Organization, a group that helped mentally retarded children.

 

 

This is how John Lennon's modified Gibson Les Paul Junior exists to this day. It is part of the Lennon estate and is currently on display at the John Lennon Museum in Japan.

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gibsonlespaul4.jpg

 

2008 Les Paul Goddess

The Goddess packs all the punch of a traditional Les Paul in a light, streamlined body. Comfortable enough to play all night, tough enough to rock the house. The 490R neck and 498T bridge pickups have clear bobbins revealing the copper windings. Available in stunning burst finishes. Includes Gibson hardshell black reptile pattern case.

 

Features

Maple top

Lightweight mahogany body with reduced size

Single-ply top binding

Mahogany neck with 1960 slim-tapered profile

Ebony fingerboard

Trapezoid fingerboard inlays

White fingerboard binding

Chrome hardware

Wraparound bridge

Chrome top hat kinobs

Auto trim tuners

490R neck pickup with clear bobbin

498T bridge pickup with clear bobbin

One volume, one tone, 3-way switch

 

DV016_Jpg_Large_517375.061_violet_burst_R.jpg

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Do you mind if I add one ....

 

I had one of these...

 

The Gibson BFG (barely finished guitar)... Very stripped down monster of a guitar. Burstbucker and P90 combo and this one is a Gary Moore BFG thus the odd control knobs (cos he had two different styles for the Bridge and Neck controls on some of his guitars)....

 

Whats really odd about this guitar is the carving on top... Im still not sure how they did that... Very cool guitar though.

 

DSC01173_zpsohjxhaav.jpg

 

 

I have a question: how does the top feel? When I see photos of these beauties, I imagine the top feeling like the scales on a snake, but it could be an optical illusion.

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...The Goddess

 

Three. 3 of them in one Sam Ash back then. Three. A purple and two sunburst. Loved Loved LOVED them. Shoulda bought that purple one and kick myself to this day for not.

 

rct

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I have a question: how does the top feel? When I see photos of these beauties, I imagine the top feeling like the scales on a snake, but it could be an optical illusion.

Nope that is not an effect... That's exactly how it feels, its actually carved into the wood like that.. I loved it... As I say, just a shame the necks were so thick or it would probably be my favourite Gibson ever...

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I heard they did the carving and just didn't sand it smooth.

Yeah that's what Searcy said too.... Makes total sense to me... I doubt a person could do that so uniformly.. Well not an average type non specialised worker anyway... And they were a pretty good price too.. The Gary Moore one was £850 (I think) but the normal ones were even cheaper.. cos of the lack of finish :)

 

If they ever make these again and put a slimmer neck on them, I will do what ever it takes to get one.

 

Actually with my knowledge on building now I think if I had the money id buy one and shave the neck down myself.. Would be worth it I reckon.

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2006 Gibson Vegas High Roller

 

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OVERVIEW

Top-shelf looks and tones hotter than a showgirl.

 

The Vegas High Roller from Gibson takes the Vegas Standard and spares no expense to give it a flashier style. It has a mahogany back, AAA curly maple top with traditional f-holes, triple-ply binding, and Gibson BurstBucker Pro humbuckers at the neck and bridge. The mahogany neck has a classic '60s Gibson profile with an ebony fingerboard, gold frets, block mother-of-pearl inlays, 24-3/4" scale, and 1.695" nut width. It comes with a stopbar tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge, gold top-hat knobs, pearloid-button tuners, and gold hardware. The hardshell case has a black reptile-pattern cover, dark grey plush interior, and a silver Gibson USA logo.

FEATURES

Semi-hollow flat-top body

AAA curly maple top

Mahogany back

Triple-ply top binding

Traditional f-holes

Mahogany neck

'60s slim-taper profile

Ebony fingerboard

Gold fret wire

24.75" scale length

22" neck length

1.695" nut width

Block mother-of-pearl fingerboard inlays

Tune-o-matic bridge

Stopbar tailpiece

Gold top-hat knobs with silver inserts

Pearloid tuner buttons

Gold hardware

BurstBucker Pro humbuckers

Volume and tone knobs

Manufactured in Nashville, TN

 

test_vegas_1.jpg

 

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1967 Gibson Melody Maker

 

 

In 1966, Gibson switched the Les Paul shaped Melody Maker design for a completely new guitar. Still called the Melody Maker, the new design was essentially an SG with single coil pickup(s) and a solid colour finish for the body. In fact, the colour was what initially attracted me to my ’67 example. It’s pelham blue metallic, which looks to be the most commonly available colour.

 

 

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Those melody makers are the coolest. I like the SGs from that period anyways because of the narrower nut width and round neck. The melody makers with the pelham blue and single coils are sexy. They also had a natural colored mahogany neck which looks really cool with the Pelham blue

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1969 Les Paul Recording Professional.

 

 

feature-1969-les-paul-personal.jpg

 

 

Isn't that a Les Paul Personal? No such model as a Recording Professional to my understanding. There was a Recording and there was a Professional, but they were 2 different models and the Personal was yet another different model. There was also another low impedance called the LP Signature, but it was shaped a bit like a 335.

 

Here's a video. Very cool guitars, though the gooseneck mic was a bad idea IMO :blink:

 

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