Guitars That Changed Your Life:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
Fallen Star
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I was thinking back to my youth early this morning while making another Warmoth order. I began to look at all my drawings and it became apparent I really like black and gold. As I thought back, I can recall and early experience with a Gibson Les Paul Custom at Buck Owen's Chester Avenue Studio in the 1970's. That guitar really impressed me with it's elegant looks and I think that impression still lingers.

I remember seeing Jimmy Page with a black custom on TV once in the 1970's, followed by Rick Derringer, and then Phil Collen with his Ibanez DT555 in the 1980's...and the truth is, that black and gold theme still grabs me.

Putting together the LPC Replica, that we gave to Mom for Mother's Day 2017, reminded me of just how much I really dig that color scheme, probably more than any other color.

When I recently designed my custom 24.7" Strat-esque build, it too was black and gold....

What guitar and color scheme impacted you???
 
THIS!
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To a Pre-teen this was a GOD --- and that guitar was all I wanted for many years.

The Les Paul---- that ones the one that lead me down the road to drunken debauchery and pawn shop lurking -------
 
Saying that a guitar "changed my life" is pretty extreme. I can't say any guitar has had quite that much impact on me.

But, if the question is more about the guitar that had the most impact on my guitar playing, this would be it:

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Prior to getting a Stratocaster, I had played only humbucker-equipped guitars...first it was my 1974 Gibson SG with mini-humbuckers. Then, many, many years later, I got my Washburn HB-30 with full-size humbuckers. It was about a year after getting the Washburn that I got the Strat.

As you may imagine, going from humbuckers to Strat-type single coils was a huge step! Honestly, at first I didn't much like it. But, I reasoned that these guitars had to be so popular for a reason, and I kept playing it until I started to "get it." It opened up a whole new sonic palette. Once I figured out how to play the thing and get an appreciation for it's sounds, and once I stopped trying to squeeze it into a humbucker mold, I really started to enjoy it.

Don't get me wrong...I really like all my guitars, but the Strat is the one that stretched me the most. It's right near the top of the list of my guitars I'd run back into a burning house to rescue.
 
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Copied from an old thread:

In 1967 I went to the Shrine Exhibition Hall in Los Angeles to see Steppenwolf. They were the first band. The second band was some guys named the Quicksilver Messenger Service. One of the guitarists had an SG and I had never heard anything like what came out of his amplifier before. His style of playing was unique and totally "rang my chimes". After the show, they actually came down to mingle with the audience (things were different back then) and I met John Cippolina. When I told him the effect his playing had on me, he said "It's the guitar". I looked at him like he had 3 heads. He saw the look on my face and elaborated "It's the guitar. It does everything I ask it to do"
Early 1969 I am back in NYC and what he told me is still in my head. I am SG shopping. I find this guitar in a store in Manhattan. As soon as I touch it I feel a connection. I plunk down my money and take it home. For over 48 years now this guitar has always, ALWAYS, done everything I have asked it to do.
Thank you John.

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I can't find the damn picture.
You know, the one with my 3 SG's on stands.
Someone find it and post it please.
The guitar in the middle, the naked mahogany custom.

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LOL!
I found the picture over on ETSG
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I've had a long and checkered life and career. Guitars have changed my life
numerous times, in different ways... teaching me to be open to this phenomenon at all times.
When the Muse or the Inspiration shows up in your life, it can be like the whisper of a lover
or about as subtle as a bulldozer. But we must always pay attention. A closed mind is
a terrible handicap.

If I had to pick just one, it would be my 2007 Gibson SG faded special. The life changing moment
for me was at the moment of contact. Standing in a guitar store, completely blind-sided by an
experience I wasn't expecting and didn't actually understand. I know now that this experience is
called 'bonding with your instrument." At the time, I was unprepared for it and tried to pretend
it wasn't happening. I put the SG back on the rack. I tried to be cool. *hah... I tried to pretend I was interested in some other instruments. I wasn't. What finally convinced me that my life was
changing was when I realized that I was actually anxious lest some other gorilla get his hairy paws
on that individual instrument. I was sort of amused by my own emotions, as if I were looking down
upon some other poor schmoe who was falling in love with a bar room floozy.

The Gibson SG can play that role perfectly. Not as elegant as the vaunted Les Paul or ES-335,
she goes fearlessly where these more expensive hookers might seem out of place, or attract
unwanted attention from goons. She can also play anything that her more expensive sisters can, and with equal grace. Les Paul guys will deny this, but they're just blowing smoke. It goes with
the profile. When I bonded with my Gibson, it didn't matter what color she was. She could have been a red one or a black one, it had nothing to do with looks. I was attracted to the faded brown, but I tried several SGs of various colors and price points. I picked the one that came
alive in my hands. "come on big boy," she said. "pull out your master card and get me out of here. I'm yours, whether you know it or not. And you are definitely mine."

And in spite of my SG special's working class, no-nonsense finish and lack of decoration, she's got
the Gibson elegance in her structure. I describe her to the unwashed as "the best guitar of any kind that I have ever played." Coming from me, that says a lot. I'm blessed with fine instruments and have associates who are even more blessed than I am. We often allow each other to try out each other's instruments. So I've played some decent guitars.

The life change was in what happened with me later. Maybe one of the reasons I was open to
the influence of this Gibson was that I'd been playing acoustic and bass for a long time, and felt
like maybe I was in a rut. So I was ready for something radical, and the SG was just the guitar to supply it. I came aboard the SG site, and guys there told me that my playing would likely make a quantum jump. I was like, "yeah... right..." But it turned out to be true. The Gibson changed practice into a joy instead of a chore, and I began playing styles and techniques I never thought I'd be capable of. And that my friends, is priceless.
 
Okay, so I already posted about my Stratocaster as being the guitar that most impacted my playing. All that is true. But, I've been mulling over the title of this thread, trying to decide which of my guitars actually was part of impacting my life...not just my playing.

It may seem trite and predictable, but that would have to be my 1974 Gibson SG, shown here in it's most recent incarnation:

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The story behind it kind of tells the tale.

The first sight I ever had of an SG was a picture in the local newspaper of a band that had played at the local arena a day or two earlier. I was young and wasn't into music or guitars, but I was drawn to the picture of the guitar. It just looked really cool. As it turns out, the picture was a picture of Tony Iommi on stage with his SG. At the time, I didn't know who it was or what kind of guitar it was. I just knew the caption of the picture identified the group as Black Sabbath - whoever they were!

Fast forward several years later, I was just starting to play guitar - mostly just goofing around. But the only real electric guitars I really had any knowledge of were semi-hollows, Les Pauls, Strats, and Strat copies. I was also aware of others, like Flying V's, but didn't know anything about them. I was playing on a cheap Univox ES-335 clone. Anyway, there was a 3x5 card on the church bulletin board that read, "Guitar for Sale. 1975 Gibson SG - $350.00." Well, I didn't know what an SG was but everyone told me to get a Gibson. (At the time, it was the middle of the CBS era and CBS Strats had no respect and I certainly could not afford a pre-CBS Fender.) Well, I asked the seller if I could buy the guitar, but if he could wait so I could save up the money. Well, he ended up telling me he'd just give it to me! He said he hadn't played it in years and it just sat unused in the case. He just wanted someone to have it who would play it.

Anyway, when I went to meet him to pick up the guitar, he opened the case and my mouth dropped. This was the same guitar I had seen in that picture several years earlier and thought was so cool! I was never a Sabbath fan. But, the sight of that guitar in the paper had just grabbed me. And, now I had one of my own!

So, that split-second in time cemented guitar playing in my mind as something more than just goofing around. Now, I REALLY wanted to play guitar!

As it turns out, I've learned that SG is most likely actually a '74, not a '75. Like I'm complaining!

So, there you have it.
 
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Robert, I would have to say though that what got me hooked on Rock n Roll was the day my friend Vic Hamilton turned me on to the Bombast known as Nugent. To me Rock n Roll got born thru his Byrdland.


My very first guitar and thus 2nd love guitar wise was my All Black, Norlin Era Les Paul Std
As for Les Paul sound I still like just check out Steve Clark's sound here.


After the LP I would have to say ALL guitars changed my life.


Alex Lifeson's ES 335-355's
Ted Nugent's Byrdland
Steve Howe's ES 175
Pete T, Santana, Krieger, Iommi's SG's
EVH Kramer's
Jimi's, David Gilmour's, SRV Strats.
Joe Perry, Jimmy Page Lesters
Michael Schenker Flying V
The list goes on.
 
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My 1984 Ibanez Destroyer II had the most profound effect on me. From the minute I saw it on MTV, to the moment I opened the case, it marked a period in my life where I graduated from a 18 fret, 1959 Sears Silvertone to a serious guitar.

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I didn't realize back then that two key elements of this guitar - the 24.7" scale length and 16k V2 pickups, were key elements of this guitar's feel and tone.

33 years later, I find myself going back to the 24.7" scale and sub-20k humbuckers.

Having said that, I also have to pay homage to my 1987 Squire Stratocaster, bought new for me in 1988 by bandmates, after I auditioned for them with a borrowed guitar, following the theft of my Ibanez Destroyer II.

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Its the guitar that I've owned longer than any other....and i still have it...
 
Robert, I also guess I was also influenced alot by Explorer/Destroyer type guitars more than I realized too.

Rick Nielsen, Pete Willis, Phil Collen all had awesome sounds I liked too.

Listen to Willis' solo on this one. MMM

 
Robert, I am pretty sure Uncle Ted's Black Byrdland has p'ups that are far below 16k but I can personally attest from hearing it in person that is is a beast. I saw him a few months back and when he switched from a PRS or his Blonde or Burst Byrd to the Black one, OMG did it sound full and ready to roar. I think it is my favorite of his. From Deeeeep throaty growl to soaring highs, it defines that Humbucker tone I fed on in my formative years.

 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Robert, I am pretty sure Uncle Ted's Black Byrdland has p'ups that are far below 16k but I can personally attest from hearing it in person that is is a beast. I saw him a few months back and when he switched from a PRS or his Blonde or Burst Byrd to the Black one, OMG did it sound full and ready to roar. I think it is my favorite of his.

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Good Point, Chili...you are a sharp fellow.

The 16k and up pickups have more influence on the individual notes, especially on the G/B/e strings, than how chords sound.... :-)

Listen to Lynch's lead tone here - A Duncan SH-6 at 16.6k - this is the individual string tone I go after....

 
chilipeppermaniac said:
Now you are teasin me. George is sick ain't he? Definitely the metal tone. Look at his light and deft touch n sweet Soldanos
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George was one of my favorites...not just for technical proficiency, but tone...

Pay attention to the genius at the console - that's Max Norman. Here is a discography of the albums he has produced:

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B
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F
L
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R
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Y
 
The guitar that changed my life is without a shadow of doubt the one held by the gentleman below. Eddie is the reason I play the guitar, the reason I love hard rock and the blues. When I was a little kid, I listened to Pink Floyd (I still do), but when I was 12 I discovered Van Halen, and my life was never the same again. Eddie Van Halen turned me on to Eric Clapton, Clapton again turned me on the blues and players like B. B. King, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, and the two players to whom I probably owe more style wise than any others; J. Geils and Peter Green. Thanks Frankenstrat, thanks Edward!
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Holy fookin shite who else but Uncle Ted rides a fookin Buffalo out on the stage ???? Badass right there.And Chilli ,i saw Ted as a Lad when he was touring on the new Cat Scratch Fever album release.Portland Oregon at Memorial Coliseum.Loudest concert ive ever been to ever.Its called piles of modded Fender Twin Reverbs and Byrdland Gibsons cranked = All hell breaking loose.And he played that song Chilli,One of my all time favorite Ted songs.That and Snake Skin Cowboy
 
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