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1970 Custom for 2008 Standard AND a Heritage


periklistsoukalas

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Personally, I wouldn't do the trade. If you care about the value of the guitar then fine, but trading two guitars for one is not my idea of a good deal. Especially when the two guitars are as nice as they are. I love the custom too, but if you're a gigging musician, you'll need a guitar that you're not scared to leave the house with.

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Well, the first LP I ever bought was a second-hand Custom from the seventies and it was a dog. I only kept it a week before I took it back to change it for something else.

 

There are a lot of good 'Norlin-era' Customs - and the earlier in the seventies the better, I've been told - but go in with your eyes (and especially your ears) wide open. Whatever you do, do not be blinded by the 'Vintage' myth. IMHO a '52-'60 Les Paul IS, truly, what we mean by 'vintage'; one from the '70s has a vintage. There's a big difference.

 

You would have to have a really good session with the prospective purchase to know if it's a good one or a bad one.

 

Personally, if your current LP is a good one I'd steer clear.

 

P.

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Well, the first LP I ever bought was a second-hand Custom from the seventies and it was a dog. I only kept it a week before I took it back to change it for something else.

 

There are a lot of good 'Norlin-era' Customs - and the earlier in the seventies the better, I've been told - but go in with your eyes (and especially your ears) wide open. Whatever you do, do not be blinded by the 'Vintage' myth. IMHO a '52-'60 Les Paul IS, truly, what we mean by 'vintage'; one from the '70s has a vintage. There's a big difference.

 

You would have to have a really good session with the prospective purchase to know if it's a good one or a bad one.

 

Personally, if your current LP is a good one I'd steer clear.

 

P.

 

 

yes you're right !

actually i am not interested for the vintage part of it at all. i just want a ready to go guitar, who stays in tune, have a fat unique les paul sound . i mean i want this guitar for playing not for future selling, so i don't care if the price will go to the sky some day as i will never sell it :)

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Well, the first LP I ever bought was a second-hand Custom from the seventies and it was a dog. I only kept it a week before I took it back to change it for something else.

 

There are a lot of good 'Norlin-era' Customs - and the earlier in the seventies the better, I've been told - but go in with your eyes (and especially your ears) wide open. Whatever you do, do not be blinded by the 'Vintage' myth. IMHO a '52-'60 Les Paul IS, truly, what we mean by 'vintage'; one from the '70s has a vintage. There's a big difference.

 

You would have to have a really good session with the prospective purchase to know if it's a good one or a bad one.

 

Personally, if your current LP is a good one I'd steer clear.

 

P.

 

 

can you describe 'the dog ' (like 'the log' !! :) ) ? why you gave it back so soon ?? what was that you didn't liked ?

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can you describe 'the dog ' (like 'the log' !! :) ) ? why you gave it back so soon ?? what was that you didn't liked ?

It was a long time ago (over 25 years) but, from memory;

 

I had the chance, on many occasions, to play a magnificent early '70s Custom which belonged to a friend over a period of several months and when I saw an 'identical' LP to his for sale I jumped at the chance to buy it.

 

When I got it home it sounded very thin and wooly compared with what I remembered the other Custom sounded like. It had just been re-strung by the shop but I changed the strings anyway. It made almost no difference. If anything it sounded even more 'tinny' but still just as wooly. In addition The fret-ends were poorly finished and I had scratched the edges of my thumb and index finger quite badly by the time I'd played it for half an hour.

 

I waited until I had the chance to play mine and the other one back-to-back to ensure it wasn't just my imagination (I'd usually played his through his Mesa Boogie but occasionally through my Music Man) and once I could compare the two together through the same amp it was obvious something was not right with my one.

 

I didn't have the knowledge then that I do now so I couldn't say whether it was a problem with the pots; the caps; the wiring; the p-ups; the nut or anything else. It just didn't sound good for some reason and it was obviously poorly finished to boot.

 

In addition to that it was one of the clumsy-looking 'Clown-burst' finished Customs so even visually it wasn't that good a specimen (IMHO, of course).

 

I took it back (the shop knew me very well) and was given a full refund which I used to buy what turned out to be an even worse guitar.

 

But that's another story.

 

P.

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It was a long time ago (over 25 years) but, from memory;

 

I had the chance, on many occasions, to play a magnificent early '70s Custom which belonged to a friend over a period of several months and when I saw an 'identical' LP to his for sale I jumped at the chance to buy it.

 

When I got it home it sounded very thin and wooly compared with what I remembered the other Custom sounded like. It had just been re-strung by the shop but I changed the strings anyway. It made almost no difference. If anything it sounded even more 'tinny' but still just as wooly. In addition The fret-ends were poorly finished and I had scratched the edges of my thumb and index finger quite badly by the time I'd played it for half an hour.

 

I waited until I had the chance to play mine and the other one back-to-back to ensure it wasn't just my imagination (I'd usually played his through his Mesa Boogie but occasionally through my Music Man) and once I could compare the two together through the same amp it was obvious something was not right with my one.

 

I didn't have the knowledge then that I do now so I couldn't say whether it was a problem with the pots; the caps; the wiring; the p-ups; the nut or anything else. It just didn't sound good for some reason and it was obviously poorly finished to boot.

 

In addition to that it was one of the clumsy-looking 'Clown-burst' finished Customs so even visually it wasn't that good a specimen (IMHO, of course).

 

I took it back (the shop knew me very well) and was given a full refund which I used to buy what turned out to be an even worse guitar.

 

But that's another story.

 

P.

 

 

 

it seems that this one might have some problem...i hope your next and worst wasn't a les paul custom..

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it seems that this one might have some problem...i hope your next and worst wasn't a les paul custom..

[lol]

 

No. It was a Music Man Sabre II as a matter of fact. The guitar was perfectly fine but it turned out to be just not the right guitar for me. Quite the opposite of what I liked. Ah well; live and learn.

 

And my favourite guitars of all-time are my LPs.

 

Oddly enough I think that experience might have, in my subconscious, put me off Customs, though...

 

I've never bought another.

 

P.

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[lol]

 

No. It was a Music Man Sabre II as a matter of fact. The guitar was perfectly fine but it turned out to be just not the right guitar for me. Quite the opposite of what I liked. Ah well; live and learn.

 

And my favourite guitars of all-time are my LPs.

 

Oddly enough I think that experience might have, in my subconscious, put me off Customs, though...

 

I've never bought another.

 

P.

 

 

oo ! yes, living and learning !

it is also our needs and tastes. they keep on changing ! so we're out for new research ! thanks we have these forums and gives us valuable infos and opinions ! :)

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