major
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So, in around 1975, after a couple of years without a guitar, I was looking for a cheap Gibson. And I found one in a little music store in Huddersfield (UK) - a very cute cherry SG Junior - a '61 from the transitional period when they still had the "Les Paul Model" script on the headstock. I just loved the simplicity of the thing, and it had a wonderful neck, and it was just £180 ($230).
As I noodled with the thing in the shop, the shopkeeper related the history of the thing......"wanna know who used to own this?" he ventured. "Go on, then. Surprise me!" I replied. "Bob Dylan" he came back with. "Yeah, right. Pull the other one!", I said with just a measured amount of sarcasm. "No, it's right" he replied "Lol Creme (10cc) bought it off Dylan's roadie - and he traded it in for an LP Junior".
So I pretty much took his speil as so much bullshit - but I bought the guitar! And I pretty much forgot about the "story".
Now one thing I always do with stuff I own is take it to bits - and when I took the (obviously non original) scratchplate, I discovered that a channel - perhaps 3"x1") had been routed beneath it. But to be honest, I didn't give it much thought - "maybe a way to smuggle dope?" I mused......
So wind forward to the internet age, by which time the SG had long been sold on, and I spot a pic of Mr Zimmerman playing an SG/Les Paul Junior - with the two pots mounted on the scratchplate - in just the position of the routed channel on my old guitar. WTF! So could the man in Dandelion Music in Huddersfield have actually been telling the truth rather than spinning a sales pitch? You know, I think he just might have been...
By the time I got it, the pots had been put back into their original mountings, and the non original replacement scratchplate had been fitted to cover the big hole - but I do now think I let a genuine ex-Dylan guitar slip through my fingers. Aaaaargh,
As a footnote, perhaps this thing is still around - probably in the UK - so if you own a cherry SG/Les Paul Junior, have a look under the scratchplate!
As I noodled with the thing in the shop, the shopkeeper related the history of the thing......"wanna know who used to own this?" he ventured. "Go on, then. Surprise me!" I replied. "Bob Dylan" he came back with. "Yeah, right. Pull the other one!", I said with just a measured amount of sarcasm. "No, it's right" he replied "Lol Creme (10cc) bought it off Dylan's roadie - and he traded it in for an LP Junior".
So I pretty much took his speil as so much bullshit - but I bought the guitar! And I pretty much forgot about the "story".
Now one thing I always do with stuff I own is take it to bits - and when I took the (obviously non original) scratchplate, I discovered that a channel - perhaps 3"x1") had been routed beneath it. But to be honest, I didn't give it much thought - "maybe a way to smuggle dope?" I mused......
So wind forward to the internet age, by which time the SG had long been sold on, and I spot a pic of Mr Zimmerman playing an SG/Les Paul Junior - with the two pots mounted on the scratchplate - in just the position of the routed channel on my old guitar. WTF! So could the man in Dandelion Music in Huddersfield have actually been telling the truth rather than spinning a sales pitch? You know, I think he just might have been...
By the time I got it, the pots had been put back into their original mountings, and the non original replacement scratchplate had been fitted to cover the big hole - but I do now think I let a genuine ex-Dylan guitar slip through my fingers. Aaaaargh,
As a footnote, perhaps this thing is still around - probably in the UK - so if you own a cherry SG/Les Paul Junior, have a look under the scratchplate!
