May
28
Written by:
GP Blogger
5/28/2010 11:02 AM
Sometime in the early '70s I bought a sunburst Les Paul standard. I remember going to the one and only Guitar Center in Hollywood with my parents and buying it on time. They had to co-sign for me because the payments were a whopping $28 a month and my folks wanted to instill in me a sense of financial responsibility. I think the payments went on for two years, which was pretty much forever for a kid . . .
I used that guitar with various bands for many years, but somewhere down the line traded it for a Strat. Eventually I woke up to find myself a professional guitarist and the importance of having a good example of all the major guitar types became crucial to my career. I found myself a 1954 Gold Top with P-90s that sounded great, but I was still missing that classic Les Paul tone with the humbuckers. Sometime around 1980 I found a 1972 sunburst that had been routed out for standard-size humbuckers hanging in a shop in Hollywood. I paid just $1,200 for it and eventually found some real Gibson 1958 PAFs for it. I have to admit, that guitar sounded great and I used it on countless recordings and tours through the years. About a year ago I decided that it was just too damn heavy and I should look for a better example. After removing the super valuable PAFs and replacing them with some other pickups I had laying around, I foolishly put the guitar for sale on Craigslist.
One hour later it sold for top dollar, and I began the search for a replacement Les Paul. This search went on for about 12 months, but it took only one week before I began to regret selling that old ’72. Nothing sounded as good to me, nothing played as well. What an idiot I had been to sell a great old workhorse and particularly one with sentimental value. Then the impossible happened! The guy I sold it to came to a concert I was giving in LA and introduced himself as “the guy that bought your ‘Paul.” I immediately conveyed my regret in selling it, and he kindly offered it back to me at the same price. I bought it back the next day, replaced the PAFs, and haven’t put it down since. Lesson learned: If it sounds good don’t sell it! —Carl Verheyen
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6 comment(s) so far...
Carl Verheyen: The One that Got Away, and Back Again
Carl, I have had the privilege of meeting you several times and that piece of advice, "If it sounds good, don't sell it." STILL rings in my ears. I now work in a music store to supplement my income as a working musician and I give that piece of advice out as often as I can and remember it when I am looking to buy a new piece of gear. I will not sell anything ever again that sounds good just to buy something new!
By Allan Kaufman on
5/29/2010 5:53 AM
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Carl Verheyen: The One that Got Away, and Back Again
I've been lucky through the years that I have always been able to pay for new gear and not have had to sell (or trade) another guitar or amp away. My students marvel at my collection of vintage gear. Sad part of that is that it was not vintage, but (mostly) new, when I bought them. There have been a few guitars that I wished I'd bought. My old local music store had a black late 70's Strat and 78 Flying V that thirty years later I still wish I'd bought. A couple others that got away, one of the first Japanese made 50's Strat reissues. I was playing it and thinking about, a guy was listening to me play it and bought it as soon as I left the store. He showed up at one of our gigs to tell me the story. I also let an ESP Thunderbird, that was amazing sounding get away. Oh, and a 50 watt Marshall combo that sounded so good it would have made any of the worlds top players giddy. Oh well. Someone in the Madison WI area has one of the best sounding Marshall's ever made. And it's probably sitting in a basement closet and not being used.
If you find a good guitar, amp, pedal. Hang on to it no matter what. A great guitar is a rare find, and so very few are great. Some are okay and most are crap.
By Jeff on
6/2/2010 4:50 AM
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Carl Verheyen: The One that Got Away, and Back Again
yeah i agree witu you Carl. if it sounds good don't sell it!!!
By glenn plumlee on
5/29/2010 3:36 AM
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Carl Verheyen: The One that Got Away, and Back Again
I agree 100% with Carl on this. I have gone through this myself with a 70's Les Paul Custom. To this day I still haven't found a Les Paul that had the tone nor do I own one still.
Right on Carl and thanks for sharing,
Chris Nashvillerocker DiMella
By Chris Nashvillerocker DiMella on
5/29/2010 3:59 AM
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Carl Verheyen: The One that Got Away, and Back Again
When I was very young and ready for a really good guitar my dad sent me to see a friend of a friend who owned a recording studio. They had an arrangement with a local music store and could get instruments at cost. I went to the studio one day and into this fellow's office. He had two guitars, a brand new 1971 SG Deluxe and a used tobacco sunburst 335 Dot Neck that was maybe a couple of years old. Well, the SG looked so cool and the big 335 looked like an old man's guitar to me. So I said, I want that one, pointing to the SG. Now there was another fellow sitting in the room. Long hair and a beard dressed in blue jeans, boots and a long collared silk shirt, typical 70's. He piped up;
"The other one is the better guitar kid."
"I don't care", says I. "I want that one."
Well, Jerry, the owner says take them both home, play them and come back in a week.
So I leave with both guitars. I burned that SG up for the next week and didn't even crack the case of the 335.
Took them both back to Jerry and said I want the SG. Now the same long haired freaky fellow is sitting there and he tells me again;
"You're wrong kid. The other guitar is the one you should get."
Indignantly, I ignored him and took the SG home with Jerry's instructions that he'd work out a price with my old man.
A couple of days later my dad comes in from work late, wakes me up and says;
"Jerry says you can have the guitar for free."
I'm thrilled to say the least. But as my dad is walking out I ask him who's that "hippy" looking guy that sits in Jerry's office.
"Oh, that's his partner Steve Cropper."
So, not only did I diss one of the giants of Memphis Soul and R&B, I let what was probably a 1969 or 70 classic 335 slip through my fingers. And to top it all off I traded the SG five years later for a Martin D-35.
So, if you are out there and reading this;
Sorry Steve. You were so right and thanks for the advice even if I was too young and stupid to take it.
By Mick Jones on
6/3/2010 3:05 AM
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Carl Verheyen: The One that Got Away, and Back Again
The reason I sold it was because I was influenced by something I read which stated that Gibson's lowest period of guitar construction was during the 70s. They were owned by Norlin at the time, a big company that owned cement factories and other "bottom line" industrial concerns. But now I realize: That doesn't mean all the guitars from that period are lame! A lot of us have very good ones that have stood the test of time and tone!
By Carl Verheyen on
5/29/2010 4:48 AM
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