I got mine in the mid 1980s when Les Pauls were not fashionable. Everybody played either Strats or pointy headstock super strats. I’d just played my mate’s tele and figured that what I really needed to get that Keith Richard sound from Sticky Fingers was a guitar with a humbucker at the neck. Bought a Les Paul copy. Horrid thing, but it worked by damn! I was hooked.

Then I saw a Les Paul Standard in a shop for $750. I negotiated with the guy about accepting lay by, but in the end he did. May dad paid the last payment for me on my birthday. What a present to come home to after work: a Les Paul!

It has been my main player ever since. I basically learned to play on it. Having played some new ones and bought a new Les Paul recently, I am constantly amazed at how good this 1978 Standard is. Superb guitar, and I have no idea why anybody would have sold it. Their loss, my gain.

Hey guys. I'll introduce myself here since I never did initially. I know, what a D*#k.
What's up!! Man, I'm lovin the idea of gettin a Norlin. New production ain't gettin it for me these days. I want to get a Deluxe, Standard and Custom....eventually. I just recently started educating myself on this Era. Need to learn the variables. I don't love the three piece tops in translucent colors unless they are like Boleskine's Wine red or Diceman's. Sweet colors and blending seams. I've got Norwood( Have I coined that?) for Goldtops, Wine red and possibly Natural or some sort of Darkburst. I've got a sweet Studio Gem, so P-90's are covered. I'd love to round out my Paulfest with Humbuckers and Mini's. Sorry for the rant. Good to be here.

Oh man, Do I need to own one to be here??? I'm all goofy from pain meds due to a sore tooth. Was up last night with it, It did'nt even dawn on me until after I joined. Is a wannabe good enough?

Everyone is welcome. All you need is the passion for really shitty guitars!

Right on. Did you ever find out about the inlays on your Deluxe and my Gem? I think they are Acrylic over Pearl pieces. WAY nicer looking IMO than recent swirl.

They do look like pieces of pearl. I still don't know for sure though. They look better than what they use now.

What do you guys think?

I studied the Blue book of Electrics last night (Very descriptive and intensive) and Pearloid was'nt even in the language until the late 90's. Always PEARL- Trapezoid, Block, Dot etc. It never even mentions cellulose. I think that they are pearl pieces glued and/or put into a mold with acrylic over top. The nicest ,most striking Gibson inlays imo. Customs are Pearl slabs, obviously. What they use now, even on the Historics turns me off. All that dough for swirly plastic? Good thing we have choices!

They do look good, don't they?

Wow. Boleskine, that Deluxe is awesome! Mine was the same color before the finish turned to goo on me!

OK, here's my Norlin stories. 1st is the Deluxe. Back in '88, I had a guy who kept a beat to hell 1955 Les Paul Junior in his locker next to mine. Begged him forever to sell it to me, he just kept turning me down. I'm glad he did, I was a moron then, I'd have chiseled a JB and a Kahler in it back then. Idiot.

Anyways, after about a year and a half of listening to me trying to talk him into selling it to me, he says, " I've got a Les Paul Deluxe I don't play anymore, come by and take a look at it." OK, I say. Never heard of a "Deluxe" before, but what the hell. Well, despite my initial disappointment over the "weird looking" pickups, it has a Kahler already on it, so I buy it from him for $350. Fought with the crappy sound of the Duncan SM-3 minihumbucker for years, and when the finish turned to goo on me, I strip it, route the bridge for a Duncan '59, and refinish it in what was supposed to be a Gretsch orange, but thankfully turned out different, and better to me. Been my number one ever since.

About a year or so after buying the Deluxe, I walk into a now defunct shop in Chico and find a 1977 Les Paul Special doublecut hanging in the used rack for $325. Totally stock, unchanged, in great shape. I had just learned about them from A.R. Duchossoir's Gibson Electrics, and I had MAJOR GAS for one. Pulled it off the wall, looked it over for about 30 seconds, and said "I'll take it!" Sales snob says, "Don't you want to play it?" I go "NO, well, yeah, but I'll take it!" Total impulse buy, could have been the biggest waste of $325 in the history of ever, but it wasn't. She's the only guitar I have that is completely unspoiled. God, I miss the 80's sometimes!OK, pics


Oh, and he eventually did sell me the Junior