When did you know it HAD to be Gibson?

[ShredAstaire]

I thought I really wanted a Gibson, but I recently got a Tele instead....it doesn't mean I won't get an Explorer or an LP one of these days but Thunder gave me Tele GAS and it wouldnt go away til I bought one...

[Andre S]

When I know I'd regret not buying a Gibson.

 

Gibson Rules.

 

Period.

[Witmer]

In college, been a bass player since I started playing, fooled around with a cheap acoustic at home. Band mates had all played strats. Visiting my old HS music teacher, and out of curiosity, because I'd heard that Les Pauls were as heavy as a bass, I asked if I could plug in his Standard. I played an open A2 chord.

 

My jaw hit the floor, and he laughed at me. And that was it.

[MojoRedFoot]

To be honest, it had to be an Explorer. Either LTD/ESP or Gibson. The Hammer shape is slightly different and not mean enough. The points on the Epi's are not pointy enough. LTDs were getting too expensive due to the lawsuit and hard to come by. I'm not a fan of buying guitars via ebay or any other means they need to be shipped. I was really looking into the GC exclusive faded finish explorers but the black one is the one I have wanted since I was 13. So it had to be ebony. Now I am thinking a white one is next.

[fast fret]

when i was after my first guitar i played about on a load of shitty strat and les paul copies (ended up buying the strat copy because i had NO money and it came with a practice amp) but the fat badass sound the les pauls made were for me. I then got really into zep and free (LPs...) and by the time i got good enough and made enough money for a guitar, i was set on one. I went to the store and tried out pretty much EVERY guitar they had that cost similar to the LP standard, a load of fenders, PRS and all the other gibsons. I must have played every les paul they had and they just sounded and felt so much better than everything else. Just so much balls.

[milod]

heymisterk

 

My mid 1970s Guild S100c - the hand-carved top - is my #2 guitar after the 175. Tell me that's not a wide variation of instrument styles. Basically I play the same stuff regardless of that difference in shape.

 

Where I've lived and with the odd twists and turns of life, the real thing "Gibson" never was where I could get one when I had the cash to do so.

 

OTOH, I'll sing till something feezes over that the Gibson neck in general is "it." Ditto in general the sound.

 

The Gibson designs, however, are "it" from what I can tell.

 

Still, I might be a bit too zenlike on this, but I think the instrument design, especially the neck but also how it feels on the player's bod as well as hands, is not everything. Some instruments individually will just grab you. Dunno why. They do.

 

m

[charlie brown]

Seeing both Eric Clapton and Michael Bloomfield using Les Pauls....I had the curiosity, of what that was all about.

So, the first chance I got, I played a Les Paul (Custom), and KNEW then, what the "big deal," was. Bought one,

and an SG Standard, too. Never looked back! There are other's now...but I've always had at least 1 Les Paul

(and a Strat, of course).

 

CB

[LPguitarman]

When I was a lot younger, I played my friend's older brother's Gold Top Les Paul. I was hooked. Couldn't afford one until 3-years ago. About 27 years later.

[65 Casino]

My family and I went into a music store for my first guitar and to sign up for lessons. The budget was $25 dollars or so. I was 10 and naive to prices. I was walking around when I saw several guitars that caught my eye. I remember seeing the name Gibson on the guitar. It was so heavy I could barely hold it. The sales man was plugging one guitar after another into this big amp for my parents. Another sales man was talking to me when I said I wanted to try this one, that one (it must have been an SG as it had devil horns....) and that Gibson. He laughed and picked the LP up and brought it over to the other guy laughing. The man plugged it in and turned up the volume. There was no comparison. I was blown away - and so were my parents but not in a good way LOL. The noise and price made dad grab my brother and I, walked us over to a wall and said pick one. That is how I got the Japanese Fender wannabe Strat, by Barth. I can not find anything on that guitar on the internet. It was pretty and lasted all the way through my college years until it was put up and forgotten. My brother got a crap brown Teisco. Mine looked better and his played better. Remembering back and knowing what I know now, I think it was about a 1960 LP for about $650 or $850 dollars if I remember correctly. The look on Dad's face was priceless when the guy said he would throw in the case. Dad saw the tag and crapped his pants thinking I was going to drop it. It was heavy! It was a beautiful sunburst color. I always wondered if it was a 59...either way... Dad made a big mistake LOL....*cries. I was that close. None of us new a Gibson from a Fender from a Kay. It was the sound of that guitar, the body style and I have never seen one to match it's looks since. Mom also talked Dad out of a 1963 Corvette fast back, Gold in color and one of 4 made. Dad was with GM back then and had access to a few "select" cars. It was a fuel injected 427 with AC. We have a picture somewhere in the family with my brother and I laying down in the fast back part in our jammies. The other pictures are of the engine, interior, and exterior. Price for Dad? $2500. Price today? No telling. Mom said no, it had to have 4 doors.

 

I am still waiting on the LP and the Vette. It would be great if it was a package deal.