Cream & Black Les Pauls

[dooley]

Back around 1984 I picked up a bunch of questionable amps, speakers and a beaten-up black bolt-on neck El Degas Les Paul at a yard sale. I fixed up the guitar and played it for a couple of years before trading it in for an acoustic. I always regretted selling it, as it played nicely although it was back-breakingly HEAVY!

Fast forward about 13 years and I was in a used music-equipment shop and found the identical guitar, only cream-coloured, missing the pickguard, for CDN$200. I snapped it up immediately. The guitar tech at my local music shop (who is a fan of through-the-body Les Pauls, not the bolt-ons) said it was a beautifully-made Japanese guitar, but they compromised on the electronics at the time these were made. I replaced the volume and tone knobs (just the knobs, not the pots), and upgraded the pickups to some Seymour-Duncans. This probably ruined any possible vintage value to the guitar, but I wanted it for its playability and sound, and at some point someone had done a sloppy job re-gluing one of the inlays anyway. I got a proper setup done and this guitar has since played like an absolute dream. I once considered getting a Bigsby bridge put on, but you can practically buy a new guitar nowadays with a Bigsby bridge for the same as retrofitting an existing guitar.

I'm pretty sure both guitars are/were 1970's vintage, players were really into sustain then, and they figured that the heavier the body, the longer the note would ring. Hard on my middle-aged back, though!

I'll post a picture once I have some time to set up a daylight shot. There are no distinguishing marks or a model or serial number at all on this guitar, which seems to be the norm for these.

[charles]

I never really worry all that much about preserving any sort of "vintage value" on these old El Degas, especially the bolt-ons ! Plus, some of my favorite Les Pauls of all time are absolutely "butchered" by most people's standards (Neil Young's Blackie & Mick Ronson's Black Beauty). So, I don't worry too much about mods to a guitar, if need warrants it.

You are definitely right on the cost of a Bigsby though, they are extremely expensive for mods/retrofits.

Looking forward to the photos of your guitar.