How long have you owned your oldest Gibson and what is it?

[pillbug]

Not counting my first Epi (LP Std bought new in '92 and handed down to my son), my oldest Gibson is a '50s Tribute LP Goldtop darkback which I bought a few years ago for $685 cash.

I've thought about selling it once or twice but each time ended up playing it for an hour and putting it back in the case with a smile. It's just an awesome sounding guitar in a cheap no frills way.

 

[David Garner]

Mine is also my only Gibson - a 1993 Les Paul Standard. I've had her for 7 months.

 

[slither]

My oldest Gibson is this 1974 SG Special, which I've had for 32 years now. The time does fly by.



Pictured here with my previous oldest, a 1970-72 (not sure exactly which year) Les Paul, which I bought in 1993 but sold a few years back (only pic I have which shows the whole SG).

 

[rockstar232007]

2001 Les Paul Classic. Bought it almost 6 years ago.

Before (right after I got it):

And, now:

 

[pnuggett]

1958 ES 125 3/4. Bought it used in 1971.

 

[LP_C_D]

My CLASSIC'98.

 

[Ides of March]

Mine is a 98 LP Studio. I still have it. Good guitar sounds amazing clean.

 

[Epi 57 classic]

My 1980 Custom. Own it for 3 years now

 

[cmerch]

1980 Standard, bought by me in '83 when I was 14. Bagged a lot of groceries to pay for that baby, and I'll never let her go. This is a recent pic w/ my tele.

 

[callmeblondie]

Post pics/share story in here. I'm looking forward to seeing some great before and after photos of heavily used guitars!

Great idea for a thread man, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about everyone's stories, especially the sentimental ones.

The oldest Gibson I have is a 1968 J-45. I got so lucky with that guitar. I was a sophomore in college when I got it, that would have been 2006. I remember seeing it in the front window of Guitar's Friend, the local music shop in Moscow, Idaho and I knew right away I had to have it. That beautiful sunburst with all of the finish checking was just gorgeous. When I played it we were a match without a doubt. I ended up trading my 1995 Gibson SG Standard straight across for it! What a deal! It helped that I played in a band with the owner's son, and that in a college town he knew he would be able to move the SG faster. I think I paid $850 for that SG, so that's essentially what I got the J-45 for. I can't remember what he was asking for it, must have been $1400, which was still a good deal. I wish I had better pictures of it. I've only got the one at the time being:

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(I don't have that Tele anymore).

But since this site is dedicated to the Les Paul I will share more on my story of my Number 1. She's the Gibson I've owned the longest since I got her two years before the J-45. We go way back. I joke with my wife that I've been with that guitar longer than I've been with her, by about two years.

I bought this instrument when I was a Freshmen in college in the Fall of 2004. My first Les Paul. I still lived at home, and I knew my dad would have sternly disapproved if he knew I spent $1200 on a guitar, so I kind of white lied about how much it cost me. Bought it online from a guitar store in Richmond, VA. I've now had it for 10 years going steady! Since I was 18, and I'm now 28. She even survived a major car accident on the way home from a gig where the truck hit black ice on a highway going 60 mph. The case was destroyed but the guitar was untouched! We lost the drumset and my Marshall cabinet, but everyone was okay except for a few stitches.

This guitar has been everywhere with me. Featured on two EP's and three out of the four full length albums I've had the pleasure of recording with rock bands I've played in. Performed with it for countless gigs. Hundreds and hundreds. We've been through so much together. She has so much sentimental value I will take her to my grave and then insist she stays in the family. I replaced the stock pickups with a 57 Classic in the neck and 57 Classic Plus in the bridge. That would have been in 2009, so five years into owning her. Don't know why it took me that long to wise up to how terrible the stock pups were. This summer I replaced the Klusons with Grovers and had a bone nut installed.

Her name is Adelay and she's a year 2000 Honeyburst Plain Top. These are photos I took this morning:

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(The above photo shows picking wear on the pick up ring from the years of playing it.)

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(This photo shows how gorgeous a plain top can be in my opinion. It's all about subtlety. You can also see how the lettering on the pickup selector switch ring has begun to wear off)

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I never did like the embossed 1960 pick guard but I never got around to changing it. With all of the wear from playing its begun to fade and at this point I doubt I ever will change it, because it just adds more sentimental value for me.

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I never liked the "Classic" badge on the truss rod cover either, but again never got around to changing it. At this point with all of the natural wear it too has begun to fade, and now I don't mind it one bit.

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Here is a shot from a year or two ago with the original Klusons on it.

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This is another bit of interesting wear on this guitar. The below photo shows the wear on the strap lock button, which has been on the guitar for the ten years I've had it. You can see all of the friction from metal on metal contact from all the years of buckling and unbuckling and playing has significantly worn the strap lock button. What's interesting is that it's only on the upper strap lock button, so it must have something to do with the angle that the lock sits at when it's strapped on.

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^There's another angle^

By comparison here is a shot of the bottom strap lock button. Notice how much more symmetrical the lock portion is. Anyone else ever experienced this?

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Here is a photo from a couple years ago shortly after those new pickups were installed, they don't look so shiny now a days. That nickel fades fast with use.

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[Left Paw]

Mine isn't a Les Paul, but rather a 1938 Gibson EH-150 lap steel that I have had for almost 25 years. Thread title says 'oldest Gibson' and this one does have a flame top that is worthy, wouldn't you say ?

 

[jimmyp1]

95 les Paul standard. Bought it new..

 

[Mantis]

my first was a 93 firebird.
but i own a sg that is a late 70' or early 80

 

[pillbug]

Mine isn't a Les Paul, but rather a 1938 Gibson EH-150 lap steel that I have had for almost 25 years. Thread title says 'oldest Gibson' and this one does have a flame top that is worthy, wouldn't you say ?

Yes - that is nice!

 

[BEACHBUM]

Not that old really. Mine is an 06 ES137 Custom. Got it new at GC for an incredibly low price because it had been returned by a previous buyer and had been on the wall for a very long time.

 

[Pwrmac7600]

Beautiful classic!!! Did you ream the headstock for the grovers yourself? I am itchin to do this one a few of my Les Paul's.

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[JZ06]

It is my best one yet. it is a 1992, black, studio model with an ebony fingerboard(I've always loved LP's with ebony boards). I polished it up a bit and switched the hardware from chrome to gold, removed the DiMarzio/Duncan pups and put in gold covered 490R/498T's. It really is an awesome guitar. Sounds incredible, stays in tune and plays like a dream. She has some wear/scars...it's character. True Love!!

How it was when I bought it:



Now:

 

[JZ06]

Think the gold knobs are too much? ? ?

 

[BEACHBUM]

^^ Not at all.

 

[Liquid State]

my first Gibson is a '83 Flying V I bought back in 1985. All black and I still have it.

Gosh was I a metal head back then, and a huge Michael Schenker fan.