1973 Les Paul Deluxe Advice

[TomAlford]

Hi everyone, I'm kind of new to this sort of thing, so bare with me.

I'm 15, and in a blues band that's just starting to get a fair bit of work, and when I started meeting some fairly influential people (The Rolling Stones' piano player no less), my dad decided it might be time to bite the bullet and buy a really decent guitar. I already play an Epiphone Casino John Lennon through a Marshall Bluesbreaker, but since my main influences are Peter Green and Eric Clapton, I thought it best to look for a nice Les Paul.

Whilst in Vintage and Rare in Bath a few days ago, I played a rather nice 1973 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, and I was wondering, does anyone have any advice or warnings on this sort of guitar? Normally I wouldn't have too much thought on it, but it had original 50s P90s fitted, but the only thing I wasn't keen on was the thin washed out cherry sunburst refinish, but I suppose it wouldn't be a crime to refinish again in gold or something. I don't know an awful lot about Gibson past the late 60s, I just know that there are good Les Pauls from then and there are bad ones. So, which is this 1973 Deluxe? Thanks.

 

[Liam]

This one by any chance?

Our Catalogue - Vintage and Rare Guitars

Looks OK, although that's all the money for what it is. Are you sure it's got 50's P90s in it? They look later, but hard to tell from the pictures on the website. If you want a really nice gold refinish it won't be cheap.

Early - mid 70s Les Pauls are OK, but not often considered amongst the best Les Pauls. Tend to be quite heavy, with slightly variable build quality and playability.

In your position, if I wanted to spend in the region of £2K on a nice Les Paul that I was going to cherish and earn money with, I'd be looking at "issues" 50s Les Paul Juniors, or used Historic Collection reissues. For a load less cash, an early 90s Les Paul Standard can also be a very nice thing. I notice V&R have got a nice looking black one, but you could probably find one without a headstock repair for the same money.

Hope that helps. Someone will be along soon to tell you that 1973 Les Pauls don't belong in the "Vintage" sub-forum. Which is true, but probably not that helpful.

Liam

 

[Oranjeaap]

Im with Liam, i like the guitar, it has a vintage vibe to it. But for that kinda money you can get more.

 

[TomAlford]

Ok, thanks everyone.

That's the one. The assistant fleetingly said they were original 50s pickups, but I did doubt it a bit because they looked in very good condition, and the website didn't mention it. I do like the idea of getting a standard Les Paul with a nice burst on it, but I'm so used to P90s, and I think they do actually really work on a Les Paul.

And I'll bare that in mind in the future!

 

[Oranjeaap]

I think the best thing for you to do is to try out a whole bunch of les pauls and see what you like best. P-90s are pretty cool for blues

 

[retrobob]

I would rather have a Les Paul Custom from the same period rather than a Deluxe.
As mentioned, Historics are very good also.

 

[g60_dave]

That's a lot of money.last year I got a 100% original 72 gold top deluxe for £1500. £2200 for a refin is laughable.
My deluxe went and I eventually get an R7 and never looked back. Get a historic

 

[Skipped]

During the first few of years of the Les Paul Deluxe there was a point at which Orange Music in London suddenly started heavily discounting them - this was the first time that discounted Gibson guitars had been seen in the uk. They were £218 - no case - and the stock was nearly all cherry sunburst. This discounting (I discovered later ) coincided with a big jump in production numbers - coincidence or not?
Anyway, all the other London dealers had to follow this lead on prices and I made a trip to try one/buy one with the money from my 6 paper rounds.
I went in every shop on Shaftsbury Avenue and played maybe 4 or 5. Each guitar brought on increasing disbelief. Every one was, heavy, dull sounding, high action, signs of no set-up whatsoever. Even playing the best of the bunch felt like making love to a dead Hollywood actress.
I had seen examples in local shops of the early Norlin attempts to kill off the brand (sg pro) but nothing had prepared me for this. Got the train home still clutching my '69 sg......
40 years later I sometimes see examples that have had 10 refrets and have (somehow) slowly turned into reasonable guitars but I can't imagine buying one unless some sort of warped nostalga kicks in. I read somewhere that Scott Gorman hated his and could not wait to get shut of it.
For the OP a second-hand R7 or R8 would be a better choice. Historics are just OK guitars but they are in a different league to a deluxe..

 

[thefishingline]

I had a burst 73' which realy turned olut to be a late 73/early 74 since Gibson told me the burst didn't start in tre deluxe till really 74' It played great and sounded fantastic...almost as good as my PAF's...it was a special guitar and you can find the good ones if you look around. I liked the mini's

 

[marantz1300]

I have a Historic(great guitar) and a 71 Deluxe. I LOVE the Deluxe(its routed with T-Tops),it feels better then the Historic.

 

[HOT-BRIT]

Don't refinish it, look for a nice goldtop if that is what you like

 

[HOT-BRIT]

This thread should be in the norlin era section

 

[Liam]

If you like P90s in Les Pauls, how about one of these:

Gibson Custom 1956 Les Paul Gold Top VOS | Dawsons Music

They do turn up used, but not that often. In general I think they are nicer than the Norlin era guitars, although they still need a bit of setup work to get them really good. Used ones tend to be in the £2K price range.

Liam

[

This thread should be in the norlin era section

Told you so!]

 

[SkyDogJr]

That's high for a refinished, pickups changed out guitar. An old guitar like that shouldn't really be priced that high considering it was refinished and the pickups are not the original pickups. Even if the pickups can be confirmed as real 50's P-90's, you can bet the shop probably didn't pay that much for the guitar because of all the changes.

 

[TomAlford]

Alright, thanks again. As I said, it's my first time in this forum so sorry for posting in the wrong section! I had no idea you could get an R8 for that sort of money, I'll look for one, they're truly beautiful guitars!

Cheers,

Tom