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Tone2TheBone
September 20th, 2005, 10:25 AM
I was talking with Robert Renman about the days when I used to be able to buy Gibson Les Pauls for cheap from my friend who worked at this pawn shop near our local Air Force base. Back in the 80's I could easily get a Les Paul Standard...or Gold Top...or Deluxe for around $400.00 US dollars! My friend would call me the moment a guitar was available for purchase after someone's pawn ticket expired. It was sort of a precursor to Ebay with my very own inside information agent! He'd call me about such and such guitar almost ready to be lost to the shop and tell me what condition they were in blah blah blah. I'd always spend my lunch hours there in the pawn shop gawking over these guitars. If HE didn't snag them...I would. I'd FIND ways to pay for them too because at the time I was a student and was always dirt poor. Anyway I ended up selling a lot of guitars that I had gotten from him over the years. (stupid yes I know). My friend?...he now owns his own music store in town.

He KEPT ALL of his Les Pauls...and Steve Steven Hamers...and Flying Vs and SGs and ES 335s and Stratocasters. And amps??? HAH! I was always over at his house playing his Blues Breaker Marshall combo amps and Plexi Marshall heads through vintage Marshall cabinets! Vintage Fender amps too! No wonder he opened his own music store he WAS A MUSIC STORE! I am lucky I still have my favorite LP...

Yes the good ole days are over. You can't touch a new Gibson unless you've got nothing else to spend your money on.

I miss the good old days. -RobJ

Myles
September 20th, 2005, 02:31 PM
Well they certainly don't sell them for 400 US anymore, that is for certain. Interestingly enough there is an auction on ebay for an original Gibson Les Paul Standard 1952 with P90s. I don't know what the heck that means :confused: , but I do know that its going for more than 5000 US which is pretty amazing. (The reserve still isn't even met :eek: )

Check it out >> Original Gibson Les Paul Standard 1952 (http://tinyurl.com/dkgy4)

Tone2TheBone
September 20th, 2005, 03:44 PM
Well of course those were pawn shop prices. Even back then I would never pay full retail for a Gibson.

Robert
September 20th, 2005, 04:30 PM
I know what you're talking about. The good ol' days are gone. The invention of the WWW certainly doesn't improve our chances of making good deals anymore, anywhere.

I used to own a Steve Stevens Hamer - a white one. I didn't like, so I traded it for some crap I don't even remember. Shoulda kept it anyway. Damn, this thread is making me feel old now!

Tone2TheBone
September 22nd, 2005, 09:07 AM
Rob,

You're younger than me you're NOT OLD!

Robert
September 22nd, 2005, 01:08 PM
Well your thread topics make me feel old!

Nelskie
November 7th, 2005, 09:43 PM
Tone - Happy days are here again - - thanks to Epiphone!!! And good deals -they're still out there. I comb the classifieds in my local paper every day, and watch the bulletin boards at my local guitar shop. Someone always knows someone who knows somebody who used to play in a band who has one for sale . . . you know the story. As for the Epi Les Pauls, hey - - they're great deals right now, and they're plentiful, too. All they really need are a couple of key mods. Change out the pots and capacitors, dump in some hot rod pickups, and voia' - you're livin' the Les Paul dream!! Food for thought. :rolleyes: