Traded My 1967 LG0 for a 1979 Gibson "The Paul" Good trade in my eyes... Your opinion???

[Taylor Player]

I am just copy and pasting this from the Les Paul forum..... I am a happy camper after a day of owning this and I can already tell it is going in the "Keeper" pile!!!! [biggrin]

 

As a regular on the Acoustic side of the Gibson Forum, I pretty much stayed over there, but I added my 3rd Gibson to the stable yesterday and wanted to share.

 

I traded a fine 1967 Gibson LG0 solid Mahogany Acoustic guitar that I got recently in another trade. I already have a 1964 Gibson LG1 with a spruce top/mahogany back and sides and thought that the solid mahogany would be significantly different. Well, I didn't like the skinnier neck that the LGO had and the tone just didn't grab me like my LG1 did so off to Craigslist it went looking for a trade.

 

To me, half the fun of trading on craigslist is seeing what you get offered. After a few interested parties had offered up the typical Ibanez shred guitars and what not, I got an email saying "I have a 1979 Gibson "The Paul"... Interested?"

 

I was hooked at those words. I graduated High School in 1979 and remember well drooling over any Gibson Les Paul I saw. Never could afford one back then and years later I was deep into the acoustic stuff. I have ended up with a few great acoustics over the years, my 1993 Taylor, my 1964 Gibson LG1 and my 2005 Gibson Advanced Jumbo. I started dabbleing in electrics over the last couple years and after several Craigslist trades have gathered what I think now might be an excellent mix. "The Paul" was the final piece of the puzzle and now probably my favorite electric. It has a 9.5 lb solid Walnut body and neck and Ebony Fretboard, the orignal Grover tuners and 1979 Gibson T Tops. The guy I got it from thought they were "Dirty Fingers" but they don't look like the photos of those I see. These look like the original T Tops that came with "The Paul" as standard back in 1979. Of course it doesn't hurt that my name is also "Paul" which makes me love my headstock and truss cover even more. I also LOVE that the pickup selector switch is by the volume and tone knobs.... The only thing that ever bugged me about Les Pauls was the location of the selector switch, I always hit it when playing a Les Paul.

 

Lastly.... the tone.... OH MY GOD!!! WHAT A Frigging GREAT sounding guitar!!!!! The neck pup is smooth and glassy the bridge pup screams but not shrill at all! No scratchy electronics at all and the neck is as true as my 2005 Gibson AJ... not bad for a 31 year old Nashville built beauty. Can you tell that I think I am in LOVE!

 

Of course my digitlal camera went on the fritz as soon as I decided to clean it up and get photos, so here are the best I could do between my Iphone and my work Blackberry......

 

Anyone else a Fan of "The Paul"??????

 

Without further comment..... HNGD to me with my 1979 Gibson "The Paul"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dem00n]

I really dont know man...ive seen The Paul go for $500 dollars on cragilist about three times.

But if you like it, who cares!

I always like the look of natural guitars, sweet les paul.

[ksdaddy]

I think you made a fine deal. A couple reasons why:

 

I like LG0s. I really do. I don't own one because they seem to be overpiced. They're a cool guitar, they're Gibsons, all that, but c'mon..... I've seen them bring $600-$700 on ebay. If they said Yamaha on the headstock they would go for a sorry fraction of that amount. 3/4 of their market value is because of a logo on the headstock and not their merit as a guitar.

 

Dem00n says he's seen The Pauls go for $500. I don't doubt that. The Pauls are a market sleeper because of the Norlin Stigma, the wide headstock, volute, God knows what else. Fact is, they're a stripped down machine, all function and no bling, and they did it well. On a personal note, in spite of all the 70s pariah factor I have yet to play a late 70s Gibson electric that I didn't LOVE the feel of the neck. My two cents.

 

And based on your enthusiasm alone, you did good.

[jefleppard]

i love it. how many steps/trades till you bag the '59 LP?

[Rambler]

Deal's done and you are pleased, so case closed.

[Taylor Player]

I think you made a fine deal. A couple reasons why:

 

I like LG0s. I really do. I don't own one because they seem to be overpiced. They're a cool guitar' date=' they're Gibsons, all that, but c'mon..... I've seen them bring $600-$700 on ebay. If they said Yamaha on the headstock they would go for a sorry fraction of that amount. 3/4 of their market value is because of a logo on the headstock and not their merit as a guitar.

 

Dem00n says he's seen The Pauls go for $500. I don't doubt that. The Pauls are a market sleeper because of the Norlin Stigma, the wide headstock, volute, God knows what else. Fact is, they're a stripped down machine, all function and no bling, and they did it well. On a personal note, in spite of all the 70s pariah factor I have yet to play a late 70s Gibson electric that I didn't LOVE the feel of the neck. My two cents.

 

And based on your enthusiasm alone, you did good.

 

[/quote']

 

Thanks ksdaddy....

 

I also felt the values were similar based on my internet searches. This may not have been a big "up-trade" like I have been doing previously, but the "Cool" factor of this guitar really grabbed me. There are certainly more LG0's floating around than these "The Paul" guitars. Plus, the LGO just didn't grab me like my LG1 did from day one. It's tone was just a bit too boxy if you know what I mean plus that super skinny neck on the LG0 was a pain to me but the guy that got it was complaining about the wide width on "The Paul" and immediatly commented on how "Sweet" the neck on the LG0 was so all is good there.

 

Also just like you said, the neck on it feels very sweet. It has the same width as my AJ (just shy of 1.75") which for me makes a huge difference in that it makes it easy to play fingerstyle on it for me. Some don't seem to like that they have a 3 piece body, but it sure looks to be holding up well for a 31 year old.

 

All I know is I can usually tell which guitars I have are "keepers" fairly quick after making trades. My 93 Taylor 612C, the Gibson Advanced Jumbo, my Gibson LG1 and my Casino to date are all keepers and I am of the opinion that my "Graduation year" Paul is also in that same camp.