Introducing… my 1978 Gibson “The Paul”. Bought new for Christmas that year, and still going strong – probably better than ever now that it’s worn in and we’ve grown used to each other.
I think it’s fair to say I’ve had a mixed relationship with this axe. It was my first “serious” electric – that classic “I’ve got a Gibson!” moment, and it was the perfect gigging instrument – far lighter than Les Pauls of that era, but with a build quality and hardware that belied its price. Basically, Gibson concentrated on getting the important things right and nailed it!
So, all was fine until a disastrous recording experience in the mid ’80s where the engineer declared it “impossible to record!”. For some crazy reason, I listened to him (despite the fact that I’d had no problems at all recording home demos) and it tainted my opinion for years; it was official – I had a “problem” guitar!…
Thank goodness something told me not to part with it – if for no reason that it just played so bloody well! Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t consider changing the pickups (I just didn’t think that way), but experience since has shown that what the engineer said was all total bollocks! The Paul’s pickups are great and offer a huge range of tone! It’s actually one of my go-to guitars for recording, despite having tried a lot of more expensive axes over the years.
40+ years on, my The Paul’s aged really nicely – the original satin varnish has polished to gloss in places, and it’s worn down to bare walnut on the back the neck. Add a few genuine dings and who says poly finishes don’t relic?!
The only thing I never liked about it… its name! Saying a guitar is “a The Paul” just sounds clumsy. But the tongue-twister has been a small price to pay for a great guitar that I’ll never want to part with while I can still twang a tune.