Les Pauls you’ve SOLD? And why?

[redcoats1976]

had a 2005 standard faded.it was nice but weighed 13 pounds.had it for a year .

 

[masher_uk]

This one!

2013 Standard, Birdseye Maple, Iced Tea Burst. An absolute beauty as you can see but simply too lovely to gig. Spent 5 years in its case on top of the wardrobe. I decided it was probably best if it went to a new appreciative owner so that's what happened...

 

[jaycoyoyo]

I traded away a 2015 Junior that I never really bonded with. Someday I want to get a DC Junior or SG Junior to scratch that itch.

I nearly traded away a 1997 LP Special recently but am glad I turned down the deal. It has a lot of sentimental value.

-Jay

 

[Dude2Dude]

In 1991, I sold a wine red 1978 Les Paul Custom that I'd had since it was new. Had to sell gear to finance a move from Edmonton to Vancouver. Best thing I ever did, but I always wanted to get that LP back. My wife ended up tryingt to track it down — I'd sold it to another guitar teacher I workled with — but she, and then I, couldn't find him. I ended up relacing it with a 2008 R0 a few years back, since the neck seemed very similar to my old guitar. Still, there was a heft to the tone of my old axe that I miss...

 

[Kossfinger]

I’ve owned a lot of guitars, had my share of Les Pauls. I sold a 99-59 40th anniversary r9 that I bought new from Ronn David’s Vintage World. I had it for quite awhile. Then my then shit job forced me to sell it to pay taxes on the house. It was a cool guitar that had a lot going for it. It wasn’t “the one”. My thoughts always are “they’ll make more”, because they always do. Since then, I’ve had about 7 custom shop r8-9 and a triple pickup r7 custom.
I seem to have bonded well to my 2014-15 r9’s.
The hide glue thing seems to have merit? If I had to sell the ones I currently have, I don’t think it would be hard to replace them? Vintage guitars are a different animal. But I can appreciate what currently comes out of the custom shop. The prices absolutely suck.

 

[Roger66]

I sold only 1 Les Paul. My first one, a 97 custom.

my chance I came across the new owner years later and arranged a trade to get it back. I won’t ever sell it, or any LP again.

I was always a fender guy, but I bought a Les Paul Studio new in the mid 2000's. It was stained

I sold only 1 Les Paul. My first one, a 97 custom.

my chance I came across the new owner years later and arranged a trade to get it back. I won’t ever sell it, or any LP again.

purple. There were 3 to choose from. One had some magic. They even had pull pots.
After a while, I just hated it. I never played it very much and was completely uninspiring.
I thought it was crap so I sold it back at a great loss. Oh well. Then I got a LPS and never looked back. Once I put an out of phase pull pot on it, I was in heaven. Not selling THAT one.

 

[77 Les Paul]

This thread is gving me PTSD as none of my memories of having to sell any of my LP's are good. I sold an absolutely gorgeous (Black with gold hardware) Les Paul Florentine (circa 1998) after I stupidly managed to knock over the stand it was on at a gig which resulted in the infamous headstock snap. I got it fixed (it was a great job too) but every time I looked at it I was reminded of my carelessness....so I sold it to a very appreciative kid. I sold a Les Paul Deluxe (20th Anniversary) becasue I had to choose one guitar to raise some cash after our first child was born (I've since got another one that was in NOS shape just last year). The last LP was a Gold Top Standard. That was part of a "thin the heard" sale. I eventually replaced it with a 2012 GT Standard.

 

[Roger66]

I was always a fender guy, but I bought a Les Paul Studio new in the mid 2000's. It was stained
purple. There were 3 to choose from. One had some magic. They even had pull pots.
After a while, I just hated it. I never played it very much and was completely uninspiring.
I thought it was crap so I sold it back at a great loss. Oh well. Then I got a LPS and never looked back. Once I put an out of phase pull pot on it, I was in heaven. Not selling THAT one.

Oh yeah. I sold a new gold top 12 string. I got $500 more than I paid new for it. I was not in my right mind having been just widowed. I thought I needed the money to move out of town (memories). But I didn't. Also, I liked my Fender XXI better anyway, but I REALLY REALLY should have kept it. I miss that one.

 

[zdoggie]

yeah I can see what remorseful feelings you guy are having ,me too I sold an 83 heritage cherry sunburst that I still regrett but beside all of what we experiencd through guitars that didn't ''fit'' It shows how gibsons guitars are hit and miss
from what I hear from you guys it sounds more to the negative side than the positive I own a felder unsigned sn# 000001 a bourbon burst 59 ri the neck is a slim version and a goldtop standard slimneck I tell ya i'm ready to start to change my way of living a nice greco ,or one of the other quality lp knock off's BUT NOT CHINA,a good set up some pickups that sound proper and instead of 6000.00 im thinking more like 2000.00 range gibson to re think their instruments such as a longer tenon than what is current and if not can the whole pickup shop come up with a humbucker that is exactly like the original 59 ,I think gibson tends to favor the current trends , they had a winner and over the years have cheapened it to the point of unreconizeable ,tone wise all three of my pauls lack in the tone department their current pickups are the same as putting lipstick on a pig it still a pig however there are people who make replacement pup's at a price
zdog

 

[E.T.]

I have a list, like Henry VIII's wives:

Traded, traded, own, traded, sold, own.

Excluding a couple of Epiphones. First two that went were due ultimately to muddy neck pickups, second two had nice ceramics but in both cases "First Paulers" ended up with them, which I was happy to facilitate. I might at some point acquire a wine red classic with ceramics.

 

[Gas4LPs]

1978 Gibson The Paul. Worked the summer in 1978 to buy this for around $300. Sold it to buy a Japanese Strat.

1979 Les Paul Custom. Sold this because the tech working on it fucked it up. Used the money to buy a Custom Shop 1960 LP.

2009 Gibson LP Standard Faded - fantastic guitar. The tech working on it fucked it up. Used the money to buy a Custom shop 1960 LP.

2013 Gibson LP '60s Tribute. Bought from Sam Ash for $800 on sale. Sold it to buy a 2016 Gibson LP Standard Faded.

 

[dasherf17]

I sold this 50's Tribute. It was a great, great guitar. But I needed to eat. If it had been a Goldtop, I might have gone hungry.

I am still looking to replace it. Right guitar at the right price. It will happen. Eventually.

Too bad, man, she's a beaut...

 

[pblanton]

I sold only 1 Les Paul. My first one, a 97 custom.
my chance I came across the new owner years later and arranged a trade to get it back. I won’t ever sell it, or any LP again.

At my house there's two things we never sell, only buy. They are...

1. Guitars
2. Motorcycles

 

[cowboy bebop]

I bought my first Gibson Les Paul in 1992.
It was a 1986 black Standard.
Had “SECOND” stamped below the serial number on the headstock.

I’ve heard many stories and theories about why Gibson was doing this for a few years.
Including even marketing strategy.
I never found anything wrong with the guitar to warrant this less than ideal ranking.

Anyway, I bought it from a coworker who got it new. He wanted to be a rock ‘n’ roll star, and quickly became frustrated. It wound up in a closet.

I was just getting serious about playing.
I was more of a Strat guy.
Always liked the sounds out of a Les Paul, and I decided I wanted to do it myself.

I stripped the parts off the guitar, gave it a thorough cleaning, restrung it, and got it set up with the help of a couple of knowledgeable friends.

Once it was as good as it was going to get, I started exploring what sounds I can get out of it. That’s where the disappointment began.
The guitar was very different from everything else I had owned or played and I was having trouble getting used to the differences.
The volume and tone control layout is stupid.
(I maintain that to this day.)

Everyone kept telling me I needed to get a tube amp. I was never going to be happy trying to get Les Paul tones out of a little solid-state amp.
So I started looking at amplifiers.
I got sticker shock.
I remember at the time thinking that $600 was a stupid amount of money to pay for a good tube amp. That’s more than I paid for the guitar!

I found an eager buyer for the guitar, and let it go. I think I made a few bucks on it in the process, so I was happy to see it leave.

Fast forward a year or two, I found another black Les Paul.
Almost identical to the first.
A 93 standard.
Beautiful condition.
The price was right so I grabbed it.
I wasn’t going to give up on finding the “right” Les Paul.
I had enough people telling me that it was very possible that I needed to find the “right” Les Paul. The one that I connected with.
Once that happened, I would be a believer.

It turns out, that guitar had bad pots in it. The bridge volume would never shut all the way off. Both tone pots were almost useless.
It had never been touched.
They were all original parts.
Disappointment again.
I kept it for a few years, rarely played it, and then a big blowout divorce at the end of the 90s had me selling off all kinds of stuff.
Including that Les Paul.

So every time I was at a gig, or met anyone who played Les Pauls, I always got the same testimonials. They loved their Les Pauls. They would never part with them. I was having trouble seeing the vision.

After the divorce, I got serious about guitars and amplifiers. Being a single man, I could spend my money wherever the hell I wanted!
I bought my first tube amp.
I rolled the dice on a Fender Hot Rod Deville.
DAMN!!!

That was it.
I bought a 2000 Les Paul Classic Sunburst with a killer top. I put a set of Burstbucker Pros in it.
Never looked back.

Those first guitars needed some work, but there was really nothing serious wrong with them.
It was true. A single-coil guitar is one thing, but a humbucker has to have tubes.

Since then, I have bought countless amplifiers and Les Pauls.
That second Les Paul, the 93 Standard, I bought back from a friend of mine after it suffered some abuse. It received some paint and graphics work, a control kit from RS, locking Grovers, and is now my avatar guitar.

Got rid of a collector's choice #43 because I found an 8.5 pound 2007 R9 that absolutely smoked it. The body wood to me makes the guitar and nothing has the vocal midrange of real Honduran.

 

[Michael M.]

I have had a 1996 Les Paul Special that I loved. Took out the P-100 and put in Sanford Magnetics P-90s and now love it even more. Way more. Anyway, that is staying put.

This last fall I finally got a burst curve top that I have always wanted. A beautiful 2017/2018 Traditional. I got a great deal because it had bad buckle gouges on back edges.

When I got it I marveled at how great it sounded and played but began to wonder . . . do I really NEED such a nice guitar. I already have the Special . . . maybe I should sell it for something cheaper.

When I put it for sale . . . some MLP forum members told me the guitar was only worth $1200 or $1300 because of the gouges which was shocking as I have seen broken headstock LPs go for that much.

But sure enough, I had a really hard time selling it for what I paid for it. Not a single response from this forum to my posting. Finally sold it local to a guy who could actually play it and hear it.

Anyway, now it is gone and I got serious remorse. I have been looking for a replacement with buckle gouges for $1,200 or $1,300 but have found none. Now continue to look for a cheaper beat up Standard/Traditional/Classic/Custom or a precision kit, or a MIJ (Burny/Greco). I kinda doubt I will find one this beautiful. And kinda silly that I am going through all this to save $250. Stupid.

 

[dasherf17]

Had a '69 LP Deluxe in '71...I wanted a 'Paul with big humbuckers, but the Deluxe came along and being a gold top it was a no brainer. Loved it for a year or two ( I was longing for a Firebird) and the next one was a '59 Les Paul Special...still no 'bucks, but it spoke to me...just something that said "yes, buy me, buy me!" Sold THAT one and got the 'bird.
I've since gotten an LP kit.

 

[Diver]

I had two Les Paul's that I regret selling. "77 and '78 Customs. Both had three pickups and gold hardware. The former was black and the latter was wine red. I was nineteen in '78 and sold them to pay my auto insurance. Believe me, my list of regrets goes on. That's why I own seventeen Paul's now and will not sell... ever.

Actually eighteen if you count the Cherry Heritage Sunburst Ukulele. View attachment 529849 View attachment 529849

 

[Brazilnut]

I've owned and sold many LPs. Like this one:

 

[Brazilnut]

Or this one:

 

[Brazilnut]

By the way, I see a lot of players prefer the low-wind PAF sound, and say they like the '57s. For those players good with an iron, I highly recommend Geppetto, the low-wind set. Very smooth, creamy tones, not as brittle as a 57, and more detailed. Quite affordable, too!