OK, so here is the story of my Les Paul with added Floyd (LPF):
Neal Schon had just come out with his Gibson LP signature guitar. I have always thought that Neal's old Floyded LP was as cool as shit, and the new ones were even better, save for the recessed Floyd. However, I did not like the $8K price tag, and I also did not like how the back of his guitars are cut up like swiss cheese, for the sustainer, battery etc. So I set out to build my own!
1st order of business is to find a guitar, of course! I searched for almost a year, mostly eBay. I found a couple of the super lights with Floyds, and a few Epiphones that were available, but nothing really did it for me. So I resigned myself, that I was just going to have to build it, rather than buy it, that is a good thing! Builders know what I am talking about, here. One night, around 2:00am, I am surfing eBay, and I find a 'well-used' 1970 Les Paul Custom. This thing was beat to hell, major belt buckle rash, paint worn off of the neck, the entire guitar had been cleared over at some point, horrid Grover Imperial tuners, you get the picture. I email my good buddy, Mike Hickey, and ask him to check it out. He looks it over, and agrees with me, that at that price (I think it was around $1600) it was a good deal. So I hit the 'buy it now'.
The seller is very cool, and emails me a couple of times, and actually wants to speak on the phone, so I send him my number. When we talk, I get the feeling that I am being 'interviewed' as to whether or not I am suitable to take custody of 'his' guitar. I do NOT let on to my plans for the guitar, to spare the owners feelings. He gave me some backstory on the guitar. He lives in Ohio, and he bought the guitar used, in 1971. The story is that a local player, and heroin junkie bought the guitar new, then pawned it. The owner checked it out at the pawn shop, and wanted it but did not have the cash on him. The pawnshop owner said he had somebody coming in to buy the guitar. Further that the buyer was a well known player and collector, so my guy had better act fast. He gets the cash together, and buys the guitar right out from under the collector, who turns out to be Gary Ricrath of REO Speedwagon fame. According to the guy I bought it from, Ricrath was always scouring the guitar stores and pawnshops, and buying up all of the Les Pauls he could get his hands on, and we all know what kind of collection he has, even to this day!
Anyway, my guy gets the guitar, and keeps it for over 30 years, before selling it to me. He played in a band called 'Arndt' I think that they may have been a Christian type band, maybe? This guitar definitely saw the inside of smoky bars, more than the inside of its case, judging by the yellowing of the binding -- awesome!! He said that he just didn't play it anymore, and he could use the money. I must have passed his interview, because he felt that the guitar was going to a good home! (which it did, I love this guitar and will never sell her!)
When I receive the package, it is the best packed guitar I have ever seen or received. The seller literally carved out a LP case shaped cavity, from a huge block of styrofoam!! Needless to say, the guitar arrived in as good a condition as it shipped out in. The previous owner had been going for a Jeff Beck 'Blow by Blow' look, so he had swapped out the pickup rings for creme ones, and there were later Dirty Fingers pickups in her, the whole deal. Mike Hickey helps me sell off all of the lightweight Gibson tunamatic parts, and the Dirty Fingers etc. and I end up making a few hundred back, which is cool.
Next step is; I gotta get this thing routed for a Floyd! So I ship the guitar off to a local luthier, Tucker Barrett. He is the man. This guy build violins and acoustic guitars and his luthier skills I would put up against anyone in the country. He honed his skills in NYC in the 70's and 80's I think. So he routes the guitar out for the Floyd Rose and re-frets it. The guitar was on at least its second set of frets, when I got her, and they were almost non-existent! Tucker put on some huge Dunlop 6100 frets, which were the biggest I could get, lol!! The routing job is superb, and he actually uses a unique rout on the face of the guitar, which is only big enough for the spring block, and then a small 'hole' for the backside of the trems bar assembly, it is a separate route. Sorry, no pic of this. I don't remember what Tucker charged me, but Mike and I agree, I got about $800 worth of luthier work for less than a third of that!! As I said before, Tucker is the man!
Last step is the final assembly, which was done by me. I had previously picked up the Sustainiac Stealth system for a LP. I had a hard time with the guy at Sustainiac, because he kept pushing the system that uses the sustainer as a passive pickup, and I wanted the single coil sized system, that allows for my choice of a single coil sized neck pickup. The system he was pushing used a lame dummy pickup for humbucking applications. Luckily, I get the system I want, that the builder/owner of Sustainiac says they are phasing out. I took a tip from Stew Mac, and make a LP control cavity template, so that I can wire up this spaghetti mess, outside of the guitar. I nearly go blind, soldering up all of the tiny little intricate joints, but I get the job done. The beauty of the Sustainiac system is that it all fits in the LP control cavity. No separate battery compartment, no separate compartment for sustainer guts etc. All switching is handled through push-pull pots, so no minis added etc. I highly recommend the Sustainiac product! I went with a DiMarzio single coil sized humbucker rail type pickup, whatever Neal was using, honestly I can't remember. I went with a DiMarzio super distortion in the bridge. Normally I am a total Duncan man, but I took a chance, and I'm glad I did for this particular guitar. I went with gold hardware, because I feel that it looks classic on a LP custom. Top mounted the Floyd locking clamp, so that I never have to worry about the neck joint. I also replaced the tuners with proper Grover rotomatics, which I rebuilt. Finding the right tuners took months of scouring eBay, btw, total pain in the ass! I also used some aged speed knobs, to go with the totally beat up relic look of the guitar. She plays like a dream, and it is on the lighter side, for a Les Paul. The Floyd is blocked, like on all of my guitars, as well. Sorry for the long rambling story, on to the pics:
Peter Frampton finding his original 54 Les Paul, inspired me to modify mine, once again. I have always liked the versatility, and honestly, the look of a 3 pickup Les Paul. I figured what better guitar, than this one, as it is already a Frankenstein, of sorts! Here is an updated pic:
The addition of the 3rd pickup, does effect my playing, a bit. The center pickup gets in the way, when you are really 'digging in' with your pick. When I'm strumming or speed picking, there virtually is no difference. Time will tell if I can live with this, or not. There is more to this story, that I will reveal, after I first get some feedback about this.
I am looking into building a LP in the future and your guitar is exactly what I'm going for. 3 pick ups, Floyd, and a Sustaniac
ReplyDelete