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