New (old) Gibson day

[AlexR]

Received my latest guitar today.....a nice Les Paul Custom from the supposed 'dark days' of Gibson production.

Let me tell you...this thing blows away everything I've had so far from the big G. Really solid tones, and great sustain.
Best part - a set of Tom Holmes PAF replica pickups fitted already....coil taps too which sound better than I expected.

From the various signs, its either a '74 or an early '75

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Reminds me of my friend's sunburst '76. Five piece maple neck, the "pinstripe" around the edge of the body and the machineheads that lose tune if you so much as look at them. Enjoy.

 

[darnright]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Sweet looking too!! Love the color and I personally think those guitars are under-rated! Good score, hope you enjoy it for a long time!

-dave

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

niiice

 

[JeffB]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Pancakes for breakfast! Congrats! :bigthumb:

Norlin has a well deserved notorious reputation. Handle a bunch before giving them the presidential pardon.

That of course does not mean they did not luck/put together some good instruments. I can think of several famous Norlins that produced some classic tunes and tones still revered today. I had a couple of killer ones myself, along with experiencing a far greater percentage of sub-par at best instruments.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Congrats!!!
I lerv my '74.
Screw teh naysayers.

.02

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Pancakes for breakfast! Congrats! :bigthumb:

Norlin has a well deserved notorious reputation. Handle a bunch before giving them the presidential pardon.

That of course does not mean they did not luck/put together some good instruments. I can think of several famous Norlins that produced some classic tunes and tones still revered today. I had a couple of killer ones myself, along with experiencing a far greater percentage of sub-par at best instruments.

Yup. No guitar sounds bad when it's in good hands, and every now and then there was an example that stood above the rest...but the reputation of Norlin-era Gibsons is still well deserved IMO. It was the period of non-involved corporate control. "Cut costs; increase production" was their only game from day one. I say this as someone who has owned A '78 Custom in the past, and who has owned an '83 Custom for 10 years now. Both were/are dog **** in comparison to the earlier and the later ones...but I love the '83 nonetheless. It sucks, but: 1) I could afford it, 2) it's a looker, 3) it plays real nice, 4) it still makes good music...on those rare occasions in which I actually play good music on it!

 

[AlexR]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Thanks for the kind comments all

Its funny actually....I must have the 'opposite to normal' experience with Norlins, as I've got an 80 Deluxe, an 85 SG, and now this 74 Custom - all of which have been great and the only Norlins I've ever had a chance to play.
On the flip side, the 99 SG I never bonded with (and almost put me off SG's for good), my '12 Trad + I've spent a LOT of time trying to find the right pickups for, and the 93 Standard I had back in the day had almost no sustain (unless my 10 year layoff from playing suddenly gave me better playing fingers).

Maybe Norlin is the best for me??

 

[BloodRose]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

First, Congrats on finding an axe you love! That in and of itself is ALL that matters!!! Second, Yes, maybe you have either had great luck with the Norlin era ones, or your ear prefers the tone that maybe others dont.
Third, to reiterate how bad the Norlin era ones are, your was made backwards..... jeez haha

 

[AlexR]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Yep, someone had to say it LOL

 

[d1dsj]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

First, Congrats on finding an axe you love! That in and of itself is ALL that matters!!! Second, Yes, maybe you have either had great luck with the Norlin era ones, or your ear prefers the tone that maybe others dont.
Third, to reiterate how bad the Norlin era ones are, your was made backwards..... jeez haha

+1.

Looks cool and as long as it ticks your boxes what the hell! Congrats.

 

[fingerace]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

I have a '78 Greco of similar construction. Chambered, pancake body. At first sight I was disappointed with what I got, but the guitar seems to work. It's not a "Les Paul" though. It's more of a small maple hollowbody. Kind of resembles a 335 in sound, but not quite there. Huge bottom end, and ringing highs - basically scooped mids in comparison. I can compensate with the amp settings just fine. It ends up sounding thicker than any les paul, but it's easy to muddy up if I'm not careful.

If yours works for you, then there's nothing else to desire. Enjoy your new guitar!

 

[sixstringsamurai333]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Niiiiice. I love LPCs.

No reason to discount Norlin-era instruments - you just have to be able to play them in person first, preferably!

I've owned two Norlin era LP Customs. One was heavy as a bag of bricks, had a maple neck and volute... and sounded great. The other was more traditional, mahogany all through... but I felt that it was an average sounding LP at best, and never bonded with it.

 

[Edlennon]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

The maple necks are no bad thing at all, the all-mahoganies are too heavy and muddy sounding, sometimes. James Hetfield's Iron Cross LPC is from 73 AFAIK, and has a maple neck, too. Not all are bad, I guess there are some bad 59s out there, too, but nobody talks about them.

 

[sixstringsamurai333]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Yup... what people forget is that many of our LP-wielding heroes from the 80s would have been using Norlin-era gear to create classic tones - guys like Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde etc.

 

[Kramer Guy]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Sweet ! Seeing that it's a lefty makes it extra rare as well. I bet that sounds really great . One of my friends whom I've known since 1976, has a Gold Top Standard which his wife bought him back in 1972. He has said that he'll never get rid of it , and I can see why .

 

[alteredbeast]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

tons of mojocity, HNGD!

 

[AlexR]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

Yep, its probably the most worn guitar I've bought. But the way its worn is certainly different to the way people try to age lacquer. There's a certain deep lustre to the clear that you don't get unless the guitar is legitimately old.

 

[Bludave]

New (old) Gibson day

It's backwards

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: New (old) Gibson day

I used to have one of those Norlin lefties myself, I got it dirt cheap, looked like someone ran it over with a school bus a few times....out of the ones not with me anymore it's the one I miss the most...