I’m a huge fan of those first-gen mid-50s Les Paul Customs, with a P90 in the bridge and the famous Alnico V staple pickup in the neck. Great sound; great look. Gibson used a super cool pic of Keith playing his in an ad campaign from what looks like the 1973 tour.

On what songs did he use his LPC on the 1973 tour? And more broadly, can anyone tell us which gtr he used on each song on that tour? Be fun to be able to compare tones knowing which axe appears on each song from what many consider a shining moment among Stones tours!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2025-04-03 18:45 by DelcoProud.

Quote
DelcoProud
I’m a huge fan of those first-gen mid-50s Les Paul Customs, with a P90 in the bridge and the famous Alnico V staple pickup in the neck. Great sound; great look. Gibson used a super cool pic of Keith playing his in an ad campaign from what looks like the 1973 tour.

On what songs did he use his LPC on the 1973 tour? And more broadly, can anyone tell us which gtr he used on each song on that tour? Be fun to be able to compare tones knowing which axe appears on each song from what many consider a shining moment among Stones tours!

Brussels:

Brown Sugar: Newman 1
Gimme Shelter: LP Junior
Happy/Tumbling Dice: Micawber Tele
Star Star/Dancing With Mr. D./Angie/Heartbreaker: Junior
You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Micawber
Midnight Rambler: Gibson LP Custom
Honky Tonk Women/All Down The Line: Newman 1
Rip This Joint/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Street Fighting Man: Micawber Telecaster

This is what he would prefer for most shows. Happy is sometimes played on the Newman, ADTL/Rip sometimes played on the Tele.

The LP Custom is only used for Midnight Rambler. He used it much more on the 1972 tour though. He used a 1959 LP Burst for the standard tuning tracks for the first half of the tour, and then switched to the LP Custom halfway. In Pittsburgh and New York he played the entire show on the Custom (for the standard tuned tracks).

Taylor played one and the same LP for the 1973 tour, so that makes 5 guitars for an entire tour.

Mathijs



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-04-04 11:34 by Mathijs.

Thank you!

I find it interesting Keith will chop and change guitars for songs throughout the tour...

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
DelcoProud
I’m a huge fan of those first-gen mid-50s Les Paul Customs, with a P90 in the bridge and the famous Alnico V staple pickup in the neck. Great sound; great look. Gibson used a super cool pic of Keith playing his in an ad campaign from what looks like the 1973 tour.

On what songs did he use his LPC on the 1973 tour? And more broadly, can anyone tell us which gtr he used on each song on that tour? Be fun to be able to compare tones knowing which axe appears on each song from what many consider a shining moment among Stones tours!

Brussels:

Brown Sugar: Newman 1
Gimme Shelter: LP Junior
Happy/Tumbling Dice: Micawber Tele
Star Star/Dancing With Mr. D./Angie/Heartbreaker: Junior
You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Micawber
Midnight Rambler: Gibson LP Custom
Honky Tonk Women/All Down The Line: Newman 1
Rip This Joint/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Street Fighting Man: Micawber Telecaster

This is what he would prefer for most shows. Happy is sometimes played on the Newman, ADTL/Rip sometimes played on the Tele.

The LP Custom is only used for Midnight Rambler. He used it much more on the 1972 tour though. He used a 1959 LP Burst for the standard tuning tracks for the first half of the tour, and then switched to the LP Custom halfway. In Pittsburgh and New York he played the entire show on the Custom (for the standard tuned tracks).

Taylor played one and the same LP for the 1973 tour, so that makes 5 guitars for an entire tour.

Mathijs

Keith Plays also a Gibson SG Custom during the Australian Tour , On Midnight Rambler, he Plays also this white SG custom during the Nicaraguan benefit concert 01/18/73 during the last song of this show, Midnight Rambler.

I really like the tone of his guitars on the 1975 tour

I remember that Gibson Advertisement, here it is...

[forgottenguitar.com]

Quote
Taylor1
I really like the tone of his guitars on the 1975 tour

Talking about 73

Do 5-tees LP's sound better than 6-tees, 7-tees, several 8-tees and later built LP's or is this just a nostalgia idefix?

Quote
TheflyingDutchman
Do 5-tees LP's sound better than 6-tees, 7-tees, several 8-tees and later built LP's or is this just a nostalgia idefix?

Generally speaking, Gibson guitars made in the 1950's up to about 1963 are better than what they made until the 2010's. But, even for the 1950's there are bad, decent, good and very good guitars. The craftmanship, wood and materials were mostly better in those days. The same applies, to a somewhat lesser extent, to Fender.

But the issue with the vintage market is that all the good instruments have been bought up by the rich and famous, and what remains in the market aren't the best instruments around. The 1950's Gibson's available in the market nowadays tend to have unplayable clubby necks, or extremely thin necks, or are over 12 pounds, or have unplayable skinny frets.

I personally think that we are in the golden era of electric guitars. You can buy a Chinese made Strat for $250 ($340 starting this Wednesday) and play Madison Square Garden, and you can buy a new 1959 Les Paul Murphy Heavy Aged for 9K US$ (12K EUR starting this Wednesday, which will put Gibon into bankruptcy) as off that is virtually indistinguishable from a real 1959 LP.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
TheflyingDutchman
Do 5-tees LP's sound better than 6-tees, 7-tees, several 8-tees and later built LP's or is this just a nostalgia idefix?

Generally speaking, Gibson guitars made in the 1950's up to about 1963 are better than what they made until the 2010's. But, even for the 1950's there are bad, decent, good and very good guitars. The craftmanship, wood and materials were mostly better in those days. The same applies, to a somewhat lesser extent, to Fender.

But the issue with the vintage market is that all the good instruments have been bought up by the rich and famous, and what remains in the market aren't the best instruments around. The 1950's Gibson's available in the market nowadays tend to have unplayable clubby necks, or extremely thin necks, or are over 12 pounds, or have unplayable skinny frets.

I personally think that we are in the golden era of electric guitars. You can buy a Chinese made Strat for $250 ($340 starting this Wednesday) and play Madison Square Garden, and you can buy a new 1959 Les Paul Murphy Heavy Aged for 9K US$ (12K EUR starting this Wednesday, which will put Gibon into bankruptcy) as off that is virtually indistinguishable from a real 1959 LP.

Mathijs

Much wisdom here from Mathijs. As a pickup developer who has spent a lot of time with vintage instruments, I'll just add two thoughts.

First, the passing of time and the environment in which an instrument lives its life exert profound influence upon a guitar's sonic personality. Plastic bobbins subtly change shape, affecting the coil's relationship with vibrating strings, which are in turn impacted by the aging of wood and parts such as bridges and nuts. This is separate from changes over the years in what all those parts are made of and how they're crafted.

The second key point IMHO is that those variations are additive such that half a century after being manufactured, a vintage instrument will almost certainly have a profoundly unique sonic profile. Yes, just because an instrument is old doesn't mean you're going to like how it sounds and plays. But it's almost certainly going to deliver an experience that's different from other instruments that rolled off the same assembly line the same day, to say nothing of guitars that were made last week.

Quote
DelcoProud

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
TheflyingDutchman
Do 5-tees LP's sound better than 6-tees, 7-tees, several 8-tees and later built LP's or is this just a nostalgia idefix?

Generally speaking, Gibson guitars made in the 1950's up to about 1963 are better than what they made until the 2010's. But, even for the 1950's there are bad, decent, good and very good guitars. The craftmanship, wood and materials were mostly better in those days. The same applies, to a somewhat lesser extent, to Fender.

But the issue with the vintage market is that all the good instruments have been bought up by the rich and famous, and what remains in the market aren't the best instruments around. The 1950's Gibson's available in the market nowadays tend to have unplayable clubby necks, or extremely thin necks, or are over 12 pounds, or have unplayable skinny frets.

I personally think that we are in the golden era of electric guitars. You can buy a Chinese made Strat for $250 ($340 starting this Wednesday) and play Madison Square Garden, and you can buy a new 1959 Les Paul Murphy Heavy Aged for 9K US$ (12K EUR starting this Wednesday, which will put Gibon into bankruptcy) as off that is virtually indistinguishable from a real 1959 LP.

Mathijs

Much wisdom here from Mathijs. As a pickup developer who has spent a lot of time with vintage instruments, I'll just add two thoughts.

First, the passing of time and the environment in which an instrument lives its life exert profound influence upon a guitar's sonic personality. Plastic bobbins subtly change shape, affecting the coil's relationship with vibrating strings, which are in turn impacted by the aging of wood and parts such as bridges and nuts. This is separate from changes over the years in what all those parts are made of and how they're crafted.

The second key point IMHO is that those variations are additive such that half a century after being manufactured, a vintage instrument will almost certainly have a profoundly unique sonic profile. Yes, just because an instrument is old doesn't mean you're going to like how it sounds and plays. But it's almost certainly going to deliver an experience that's different from other instruments that rolled off the same assembly line the same day, to say nothing of guitars that were made last week.

Thanks for your input!

I accept that my opinion is that of a minority, but for electric guitars I think the most important parts that add up to a sound are the player, the speaker(s), the amp, the pickups, and then the guitar itself.

The guitar you play might direct you to a certain playing style -on a Les Paul I tend to solo more, with a Tele a tend to play rhtyhm more. And an ebony board on a Les Paul is inviting to play country bends with pull offs, not so on a rosewood board. But in the end I can make all guitars I have sound quite the same on my main amp. And this amp (1977 Boogie MKI with Altec AlNiCo speaker) just has a unique sound of its own, no matter what guitar I play through it.

I think for acoustic guitars the story is entirely different -I have never played a modern acoustic guitar that had the same qualities as a (good) vintage one. The dryness, the depth and percussion a good old acoustic has simply cannot be replicated by a modern one.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
DelcoProud

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
TheflyingDutchman
Do 5-tees LP's sound better than 6-tees, 7-tees, several 8-tees and later built LP's or is this just a nostalgia idefix?

Generally speaking, Gibson guitars made in the 1950's up to about 1963 are better than what they made until the 2010's. But, even for the 1950's there are bad, decent, good and very good guitars. The craftmanship, wood and materials were mostly better in those days. The same applies, to a somewhat lesser extent, to Fender.

But the issue with the vintage market is that all the good instruments have been bought up by the rich and famous, and what remains in the market aren't the best instruments around. The 1950's Gibson's available in the market nowadays tend to have unplayable clubby necks, or extremely thin necks, or are over 12 pounds, or have unplayable skinny frets.

I personally think that we are in the golden era of electric guitars. You can buy a Chinese made Strat for $250 ($340 starting this Wednesday) and play Madison Square Garden, and you can buy a new 1959 Les Paul Murphy Heavy Aged for 9K US$ (12K EUR starting this Wednesday, which will put Gibon into bankruptcy) as off that is virtually indistinguishable from a real 1959 LP.

Mathijs

Much wisdom here from Mathijs. As a pickup developer who has spent a lot of time with vintage instruments, I'll just add two thoughts.

First, the passing of time and the environment in which an instrument lives its life exert profound influence upon a guitar's sonic personality. Plastic bobbins subtly change shape, affecting the coil's relationship with vibrating strings, which are in turn impacted by the aging of wood and parts such as bridges and nuts. This is separate from changes over the years in what all those parts are made of and how they're crafted.

The second key point IMHO is that those variations are additive such that half a century after being manufactured, a vintage instrument will almost certainly have a profoundly unique sonic profile. Yes, just because an instrument is old doesn't mean you're going to like how it sounds and plays. But it's almost certainly going to deliver an experience that's different from other instruments that rolled off the same assembly line the same day, to say nothing of guitars that were made last week.

Thanks for your input!

I accept that my opinion is that of a minority, but for electric guitars I think the most important parts that add up to a sound are the player, the speaker(s), the amp, the pickups, and then the guitar itself.

The guitar you play might direct you to a certain playing style -on a Les Paul I tend to solo more, with a Tele a tend to play rhtyhm more. And an ebony board on a Les Paul is inviting to play country bends with pull offs, not so on a rosewood board. But in the end I can make all guitars I have sound quite the same on my main amp. And this amp (1977 Boogie MKI with Altec AlNiCo speaker) just has a unique sound of its own, no matter what guitar I play through it.

I think for acoustic guitars the story is entirely different -I have never played a modern acoustic guitar that had the same qualities as a (good) vintage one. The dryness, the depth and percussion a good old acoustic has simply cannot be replicated by a modern one.

Mathijs

I agree, but I might add the "set-up" of the guitar to the list. I've made a well setup Squier Strat sound like just like a Fender.

Quote
TravelinMan

I agree, but I might add the "set-up" of the guitar to the list. I've made a well setup Squier Strat sound like just like a Fender.

Absolutely. Drop a set of good pickups into a Squier, set it up properly and you have a guitar that will sound as good as any Custom shop.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
TravelinMan

I agree, but I might add the "set-up" of the guitar to the list. I've made a well setup Squier Strat sound like just like a Fender.

Absolutely. Drop a set of good pickups into a Squier, set it up properly and you have a guitar that will sound as good as any Custom shop.

Mathijs

Not entirely true, but you could possibly get a very decent guitar for a lot less money.

[www.reverbnation.com]

Quote
audun-eg

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
TravelinMan

I agree, but I might add the "set-up" of the guitar to the list. I've made a well setup Squier Strat sound like just like a Fender.

Absolutely. Drop a set of good pickups into a Squier, set it up properly and you have a guitar that will sound as good as any Custom shop.

Mathijs

Not entirely true, but you could possibly get a very decent guitar for a lot less money.

Drop in a set of Antiquities and I dare you to tell the difference with a CS model with your eyes closed.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
audun-eg

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
TravelinMan

I agree, but I might add the "set-up" of the guitar to the list. I've made a well setup Squier Strat sound like just like a Fender.

Absolutely. Drop a set of good pickups into a Squier, set it up properly and you have a guitar that will sound as good as any Custom shop.

Mathijs

Not entirely true, but you could possibly get a very decent guitar for a lot less money.

Drop in a set of Antiquities and I dare you to tell the difference with a CS model with your eyes closed.

Mathijs

In my experience, once the electronics are evened-up as Mathijs points out, the biggest difference in player experience between a CS model and one from Fender's Mexico factory or from Squier affiliates in Asia involves the neck. You'll notice that it has a particular shape, by design, while the fretwork is also of a particular height and width. If you like it, great. That said, because there just isn't budget for CS-level fret dressing at lower price points, fret ends on cheaper guitars can draw blood. Ouch! Author George Orwell once wrote of restaurant meals that the more you pay for your entree, the more it has been poked, prodded, and pinched in order to ensure that it's done to a T. I have found the same to be true of guitars.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-04-08 22:13 by DelcoProud.

I know a guy who is building pickups. If you bring him your guitar and tell him how you want to sound the guitar with his new pickups, he will be spooling the pickups exactly in the way to create the sound you want. And it works.

More than words.
3 very different guitars concerning the price.
But they sound very similar to me.

[www.youtube.com]

When did Keith get a Les Paul Junior and when is the first time(s) he is playing it in studio or live?

Quote
mrpaulincanada
When did Keith get a Les Paul Junior and when is the first time(s) he is playing it in studio or live?

It would've been the 1972, or 1973 tour.

I don't think he recorded with one in the 1960's, so possibly Goat's Head Soup may have been the first?

Thanks!

Quote
mrpaulincanada
When did Keith get a Les Paul Junior and when is the first time(s) he is playing it in studio or live?

He first used his 1960 LP Junior on the Nicaragua Benefit show in LA, January 18, 1973, and used it as his main standard tuning guitar for the Australian Tour and European Tour of 1973. It was his main guitar for Goats Head and IORR albums. It was replaced with the Fender Telecaster Custom for the 1975 tour, with the Junior being sparsely used for Midnight Rambler. Jagger uses it on Crazy mama at the El Mocambo in March 1977, and it is used for backstage warming up on the 1978 tour. It then dissapears completely until it shows up at the Exhibtionism Museum tour.

Keith gets his second Junior, the TV Yellow 'Dice' in 1979 and uses it sparsely on the new Barbarians tour of 1979, and the Stones 1981 tour. It has become the Midnight Rambler guitar since 1989.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
mrpaulincanada
When did Keith get a Les Paul Junior and when is the first time(s) he is playing it in studio or live?

He first used his 1960 LP Junior on the Nicaragua Benefit show in LA, January 18, 1973, and used it as his main standard tuning guitar for the Australian Tour and European Tour of 1973. It was his main guitar for Goats Head and IORR albums. It was replaced with the Fender Telecaster Custom for the 1975 tour, with the Junior being sparsely used for Midnight Rambler. Jagger uses it on Crazy mama at the El Mocambo in March 1977, and it is used for backstage warming up on the 1978 tour. It then dissapears completely until it shows up at the Exhibtionism Museum tour.

Keith gets his second Junior, the TV Yellow 'Dice' in 1979 and uses it sparsely on the new Barbarians tour of 1979, and the Stones 1981 tour. It has become the Midnight Rambler guitar since 1989.

Mathijs

I was right! Educated guess, but I somehow jut knew he wasn't using a Junior before '73.

GREAT picture!