Pete McCluskey.
Lifetime Supporter
Thread drift.... Are the chord shapes for left handed playing, the same as right handed or a mirror image?
Good Moaning. Les Paul Guitar Anyone?
- Thread starter Keith1
- Start date
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
Yes they are Pete.
I remember very clearly Elliot Easton of the Cars had a beautiful red LP lefty.
The Cars: Elliot Easton's 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Guitar usedon | Lot #16175 | Heritage Auctions
The Cars: Elliot Easton's 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Guitar usedon | Lot #16175 | Heritage Auctions
JimmyMac
Lifetime Supporter
Very nice one Bob,
There are a few other notable lefty Les Pauls out there.
Paul McCartney and John McEnroe play them and the 1959-60 years were the good vintages. Hendrix also used a Les Paul occasionally.
Rare Left-Handed 1959 Gibson Les Paul Brings in $194,000 at Heritage Auction | Guitar World
There are a few other notable lefty Les Pauls out there.
Paul McCartney and John McEnroe play them and the 1959-60 years were the good vintages. Hendrix also used a Les Paul occasionally.
Rare Left-Handed 1959 Gibson Les Paul Brings in $194,000 at Heritage Auction | Guitar World
Hey Jimmy, Jim here. I've fired it up and well, I'm not an expert by any means, but it sounds amazing!
The action is low and tune seems to be maintained except for 4th which I suspect is a loose machine head more than anything.
Full crackle on all the pots throughout their range but they all work on 11.
As I play the strings, a light rust comes off them so it was never "laid up" just left I guess - looking carefully under a magnifier, I would guess it hasn't seen daylight for perhaps 20 years (light corrosion on commonly used parts?)
It's a cracking guitar and I would have paid 3 times what I actually did and would have still been happy with this "blind" purchase.
Now Jimmy. Pots and strings? What, where, who?
Everything else can wait until I get to play it a bit.
Cheers,
Keith
The action is low and tune seems to be maintained except for 4th which I suspect is a loose machine head more than anything.
Full crackle on all the pots throughout their range but they all work on 11.
As I play the strings, a light rust comes off them so it was never "laid up" just left I guess - looking carefully under a magnifier, I would guess it hasn't seen daylight for perhaps 20 years (light corrosion on commonly used parts?)
It's a cracking guitar and I would have paid 3 times what I actually did and would have still been happy with this "blind" purchase.
Now Jimmy. Pots and strings? What, where, who?
Everything else can wait until I get to play it a bit.
Cheers,
Keith
JimmyMac
Lifetime Supporter
"Jim"
Flat wound 9s or 10s for strings.
Pots come cheap on eBay. There are a few brands out there. CTS and Alpha are the most common. I use vintage Centralab and military spec PECs which get costly.
You will need 4 off 500K audio log tapers and check on your body/hole thickness at the switch cavity as the pots come in long and short thread lengths.
The pot shafts on a LP are usually the split serrated type for push on knobs.
You have a chance to read up on capacitors now as these will make a world of difference to your tone and sustain. The "paper-in-oil" or PIOs are the type preferred by the fingerboard sniffers. Original "Bumblebees" are my favourite and Sprague "Vitamin Qs" if I can get them but there are a lot to choose from.(this is where it can get a bit anal on guitar forums)
You can get a fully pre-wired switch kit c/w capactors which is usually better as the pots are matched. The kit just drops in and you solder up the pickups.
Remember to solder in the ground wire to the bridge :wings:
When you get to thinking about the pickups drop me a line.
Good luck and play the arse off it !:guitarist::rockstar:
Flat wound 9s or 10s for strings.
Pots come cheap on eBay. There are a few brands out there. CTS and Alpha are the most common. I use vintage Centralab and military spec PECs which get costly.
You will need 4 off 500K audio log tapers and check on your body/hole thickness at the switch cavity as the pots come in long and short thread lengths.
The pot shafts on a LP are usually the split serrated type for push on knobs.
You have a chance to read up on capacitors now as these will make a world of difference to your tone and sustain. The "paper-in-oil" or PIOs are the type preferred by the fingerboard sniffers. Original "Bumblebees" are my favourite and Sprague "Vitamin Qs" if I can get them but there are a lot to choose from.(this is where it can get a bit anal on guitar forums)
You can get a fully pre-wired switch kit c/w capactors which is usually better as the pots are matched. The kit just drops in and you solder up the pickups.
Remember to solder in the ground wire to the bridge :wings:
When you get to thinking about the pickups drop me a line.
Good luck and play the arse off it !:guitarist::rockstar:
Last edited:
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
Glad for you, Keith. A good guitar is a delight; a good guitar at a bargain price is a pearl indeed.
Nice to hear Chandler's are still in business. Doug and Tina have their own outfit, now; GuitarXS I think it's called. Reminds me to contact them, I haven't been in touch since last year.
My go-to guitar is a LP- an old black beauty model, pre-humbucking pickups. I play it out every chance I get.
Nice to hear Chandler's are still in business. Doug and Tina have their own outfit, now; GuitarXS I think it's called. Reminds me to contact them, I haven't been in touch since last year.
My go-to guitar is a LP- an old black beauty model, pre-humbucking pickups. I play it out every chance I get.
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
Let's see, now: they would be a mirror image, wouldn't they? But the fret positions are the same, that is, a chord which requires that you fret, for example, the B string at the 7th fret would require exactly that regardless of whether the guitar and player were lefty or righty.
So, when Hendrix played a chord, righty guitar strung righty, flipped over and played left handed, certainly was its own style.
It's - got - an - arse?
It just keeps getting better and better.... :laugh:
BTW, I am being slightly disingenuous as I was heavily involved in the Live Performance Rock business for a few years (as a band agent) and my office was at the rear of a major guitar store - so the 'background music' of every day would have been all these marvellous guitars and some equally exotic visitors. This was in the days before "copies" became freely available, and the price of the real thing was, to many, very very prohibitive, but I knew a good sounding guitar when I heard one.
It's some kind of benchmark I guess, that nowadays, nippers can pick up the real thing very much easier than back in the day. I wonder if that is why all the "older" guys revere them so much?
Because they were "unobtanium" back in the day?
There is also no doubt that Fender Strat and Precision Bass ruled the shop but Gibson ran them ragged in the form of the SG and the EBO. Never saw (or heard) many Les Pauls really until Page popularised it amongst the masses, but my very very favourite Gibson sound had to be Leslie West and his rare (even then) Melody Maker.
Never been a fan of the Strat sound. Always seemed a bit thin to me... and anyway, Clapton plays one... :veryangry:
JimmyMac
Lifetime Supporter
Keith,
My first shop guitar in the late 60's was an Epiphone Olympic and very similar to the old single cut Melody Maker.
Good little guitar and it took many a beating as it went everywhere with me.
My travel guitars are much more refined now - Steinbergers which look much more like a tactical weapon rather than a musical instrument.
Fenders and short scale Rick Capris are great fun and I prefer building Partscasters to get the heavier vibes.
My first shop guitar in the late 60's was an Epiphone Olympic and very similar to the old single cut Melody Maker.
Good little guitar and it took many a beating as it went everywhere with me.
My travel guitars are much more refined now - Steinbergers which look much more like a tactical weapon rather than a musical instrument.
Fenders and short scale Rick Capris are great fun and I prefer building Partscasters to get the heavier vibes.
JimmyMac
Lifetime Supporter
Jeff Young
GT40s Supporter
Les Paul Jr. for Leslie West I believe. Who, by the way, is much thinner, in great shape, and still is a great show. As is Robin Trower, saw him a few years ago and he played hard for a club for about 2 hours.
I have two Strats and will have a Tele one day but I just like the Gibsons. Seem way more solid. Looking at picking up a 1979 RD Artist with active Moog stuff on it this weekend, $1500, a pretty good price.
Jimmy, leave the Paul wine red! I love that color and yes, the Norlins are heavy as bricks...ugh...
I have two Strats and will have a Tele one day but I just like the Gibsons. Seem way more solid. Looking at picking up a 1979 RD Artist with active Moog stuff on it this weekend, $1500, a pretty good price.
Jimmy, leave the Paul wine red! I love that color and yes, the Norlins are heavy as bricks...ugh...
Well, I knew he was right up there, but he was such a chaotic worker I had no idea he would go forward like that. RIP. I used to drink tea with him and always thought his guitars looked kind of weird.
Remember Tony McPhee coming in one day when we had a store in West Croydon and LJB with a strange character that went under the name of Python Lee Jackson, at least in Australia...
So that would have made him around 30 years old when I knew him. Pretty young for a guitar God!
Of course, when I moved on into different parts of the industry and away from Live - I never saw the likes again and lost complete touch.
I was never destined to be an actual performer, unlike my Father & Grandfather - and although, like many youngsters, I could see myself wielding an axe, I always preferred the Back Room and spent my life in
Facilitator and Management mode - a role I always relished and preferred.
LPJ possibly but I'll lay a pound to a penny that Nantucket Sleigh Ride was done on a Melody Maker....(The reason I know that is that his replacement in Mountain, Miller Anderson, is a very good friend and lives just up the road in Shoreham) I always wondered how on God's earth he got his fat fingers on those tiny frets. Strange lad.
Just saw your clip. Wow! Skinny or what? That Steinberg... waaayhaaay what a glorious noise..
Leslie - the boots man - what are you thinking?
