Tell Me :
Talk
sure sssoul can confirm, but the last time i saw him with a black les paul custom was in 1977, for promotional shots.
cheap but great!
Correct, and Wood had that guitars since at least '84. I don't know anything about its origins, but it was not a custom shop: that didn't exist yet.
Mathijs
I'm pretty sure they both have(had?) a black L5S. I know Paul Simon has a black one too. I've seen a few blondes and a brown, but never a black one for sale. I've been told they only made maybe 10 black ones, maybe less. Having played one, I can tell you they are as heavy as a pallet of bricks.
ahh now i see - i think! :E sorry for not reading/posting more carefully the first time, gwen.
it would be beyond weird to make a custom single-pickup L5S in 1984 and call it a Keith Model,
but in 2004 it would make some sense ... even though the original was Ronnie's :E
It's Zemaitis
I still have not been able to identify the model. According to Gruhn's Vintage Guide (note -when a guitar is not listed in that guide it doesn't exist...), it's not a Spirit I (only 1 pickup, nothing bound), not a Spirit II (bound top, no pickguard), and the colour Vintage Wineburst (Keith's guitar colour) was only available in...1983. All Spirits have 3 knobs, keith's has 4...
So, the best description still is 'Les Paul Special'. The unbound body / bound neck combination is standard on the LP Special, the knob arrangement is like a Special, they did make them with two humbuckers in the late '70's, and they made them with a single wrap around bridge (but not with a Bad Ass bridge though as far as I know). It is not a standard guitar though in any way, it must be a prototype of any kind.
There's two songs that he used it on confirmed: Beast of Burden and Let's Spend in Munich 82.
Mathijs
I would say "least expensive" of the Gibsons....Cheapest is not the word I'd use to describe the Melody Maker. Sweet playing guitars of the ones I have played and great access with the small body and double cutaway. I love my Melody Maker! Got any cheap ones laying around Mathijs? I'm your man to dish them to....lol peace.
forget the rest. I wanna know more about your 335 and the gold top. Some of those 335's are really the cats meow. I have a 71 Deluxe with the small humbucker pickups but am itching for a gold top with a bigsby trem setup. I know Neil Young has a 3 pickup Black Beauty Les Paul from the 50's. It is rarely played. They are worth a small fortune these days. peace.
chocolate covered raisins for me thank you...I think I remember reading that Keith rented guitars for several photo shoots in the 70's. The mention was in Keith's book Life as I recall. I love the scene where Keith is explaining his pexi-glass guitar knob arrangement to Jimi Hendrix during a backstage moment. Most of the audio for that video clip is left off the youtube video probably for copyright reasons but I would love to hear it someday. It's the day that Mick Taylor gets up and jams with Jimi.....someone probably has this audio track somewhere..peace.
Talk about your favorite band.
For information about how to use this forum please check out forum help and policies.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
farawayeyes2
()
Date: July 30, 2009 16:29
Quote
nankerphlege
Has keith ever mentioned in recent history a desire to play or miss his black beauty guitars?
sure sssoul can confirm, but the last time i saw him with a black les paul custom was in 1977, for promotional shots.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: July 30, 2009 17:03
smile: why me? but since you ask: i don't think Keith needs to miss playing black 3PU LP Customs -
i imagine that whenever he feels like playing one, he goes right ahead and plays one. i hope so, anyway! :E
but as for making it publicly known that he plays them: yeah i believe those 1977 Ken Reagan photos
are the most recent ones i've seen as well - now over to HM, Mathijs and open-g [passing popcorn]
i imagine that whenever he feels like playing one, he goes right ahead and plays one. i hope so, anyway! :E
but as for making it publicly known that he plays them: yeah i believe those 1977 Ken Reagan photos
are the most recent ones i've seen as well - now over to HM, Mathijs and open-g [passing popcorn]
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
nankerphlege
()
Date: July 30, 2009 20:23
With SSSOUL iam impressed. Do you own any guitars? Any chance you would write a book about the stones guitars?
Go Dawgs!
Go Dawgs!
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: July 30, 2009 20:36
:eek no not me! i think you mean open-g, HM, Mathijs, bruno, ChrisM
and the other kind patient goodlookin iorr guitar experts that teach us all this fascinating stuff
and the other kind patient goodlookin iorr guitar experts that teach us all this fascinating stuff
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
farawayeyes2
()
Date: July 30, 2009 23:11
Quote
with sssoul
smile: why me? quote]
cause lots of time ago it was you that posted those pics when i asked about the last time keith used a les paul custom ahah
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
RockinBud
()
Date: November 2, 2009 21:50
Hi, anyone know anything about the Flying V used at Hyde park and photo'd at Nellcote in Wymans book "Rollin with the Stones"???
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: November 2, 2009 22:06
there are a few shots of the Flying V in this thread: [www.iorr.org]
but you're right, we might as well have it here too. these are from the july 3rd 1969 Top of the Pops shoot,
and as i noted on that thread, it was quite a feat of professionalism for them to go ahead with that filming that day.
they did two takes of Honky Tonk Women, neither of which are extant.
- all july 3rd 1969, all by Chris Walter
i've been told (no doubt by Mathijs) that that's a 1958 Korina Flying V.
as you note, it's also in some shots from Nellcote, but it seems to have been among the guitars that got stolen.
but you're right, we might as well have it here too. these are from the july 3rd 1969 Top of the Pops shoot,
and as i noted on that thread, it was quite a feat of professionalism for them to go ahead with that filming that day.
they did two takes of Honky Tonk Women, neither of which are extant.
- all july 3rd 1969, all by Chris Walter
i've been told (no doubt by Mathijs) that that's a 1958 Korina Flying V.
as you note, it's also in some shots from Nellcote, but it seems to have been among the guitars that got stolen.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
71Tele
()
Date: November 2, 2009 22:55
<<The last picture is a early 60's Gibson Melody Maker with added humbucker. The cheapest of all Gibsons.>>
I have that exact model Melody Maker! It's a great guitar, especially when you replace those single-coils with special P90's that are made to go under the stock Gibson pick up covers. Now I feel even better about this guitar. A steal when I bought it several years ago.
I have that exact model Melody Maker! It's a great guitar, especially when you replace those single-coils with special P90's that are made to go under the stock Gibson pick up covers. Now I feel even better about this guitar. A steal when I bought it several years ago.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
RockinBud
()
Date: November 2, 2009 23:22
Thanks for the note on the V. I am thinking of acquiring a Heritage Korina reissue to round out my collection as follows:
Black Beauty LP
Goldtop
Burst 58 reissue
Zemaitis disc front
60 Cherry LPjr
67 Blonde Tele
52 CS blackguard tele
54 Strat 50th anniv
335
for reasons best known to all of you I feel the need to have as many of KR's guitars in my collection as I can
any thoughts on this matter would be welcomed
Black Beauty LP
Goldtop
Burst 58 reissue
Zemaitis disc front
60 Cherry LPjr
67 Blonde Tele
52 CS blackguard tele
54 Strat 50th anniv
335
for reasons best known to all of you I feel the need to have as many of KR's guitars in my collection as I can
any thoughts on this matter would be welcomed
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: November 2, 2009 23:50
cool - there's a thread for iorrians' own guitars, and maybe the details of your fine-sounding collection
and your request for comments would be happiest there: [www.iorr.org]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-02 23:50 by with sssoul.
and your request for comments would be happiest there: [www.iorr.org]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-11-02 23:50 by with sssoul.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
gwen
()
Date: June 15, 2011 23:54
Was there really a Gibson Custom Shop L5S? I was googling for the L5S while watching the Hollywood Palladium and came across this picture:
and the following text:
at this address: [indiana.inetgiant.com]
and the following text:
Quote
Gibson L5S Keith Richards NAMM Prototype Custom Shop
Location: Washington, Indiana, USA
Date Posted: January, 2010
Price: Free
This is the 2004 NAMM Show Prototype Keith Richards L5S which was never put into production. According to George Gruhn, Gibson made between 10 and 20 of these. The story when I bought this was Prototype #1 went to Keith and #2 went to Ron Wood and #3 went to Summer NAMM in Nashville 2004. The guitar was purchased by a MEGA Gibson dealer who qualified to buy it from Gibson after the show. I purchased it about 3 years ago and it rarely left my house.
at this address: [indiana.inetgiant.com]
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: June 16, 2011 10:36
that's odd (at least odd! ) - all the sources i've read say that L5S was Ronnie's
and that Keith borrowed it for the Winos tour
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-16 10:39 by with sssoul.
and that Keith borrowed it for the Winos tour
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-16 10:39 by with sssoul.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
gwen
()
Date: June 16, 2011 11:24
I've read the same as you, dear Sssoul. I've also read that originally a few (three) single pickup L5S were made, one for Keith, one for Ronnie, the other for a famous guitar player (Pete Townshend? Not sure). The encyclopedia bit below seems to say that Ronnie and Keith each own one.
Please note that my question was about a 2004 reissue, not about the original single pickup L5S. The post I read that only a few prototypes were made, with #1 and #2 sent to Keith and Ronnie. It could very well be that reissue that Ronnie was playing in 2006 in Nice.
There is another mention of a reissue here:
[www.nationmaster.com]
And probably the press announcement following 2004 NAMM:
[www.theguitarfiles.com]
A reissue prototype owner also posted this (probably the one in my first post):
Please note that my question was about a 2004 reissue, not about the original single pickup L5S. The post I read that only a few prototypes were made, with #1 and #2 sent to Keith and Ronnie. It could very well be that reissue that Ronnie was playing in 2006 in Nice.
There is another mention of a reissue here:
[www.nationmaster.com]
Quote
In 2004, the L5S was briefly reissued by the Gibson Custom Shop Division; this reissue was partly based on the black-finished single-pickup L5S that Ron Wood and Keith Richards played. However, the model was discontinued by Gibson in 2005.
And probably the press announcement following 2004 NAMM:
[www.theguitarfiles.com]
Quote
The L-5S, with S standing for Solidbody, brought that tradition to the solidbody line from 1972-85 in its original version. The new L-5S features a single humbucking and Ebony finish, like the custom model played by Keith Richards, along with coil-tap capability, three-piece maple neck, multi-ply body and neck binding, ebony fingerboard, pearl block inlay and gold-plated hardware. MSRP: $5,444.
A reissue prototype owner also posted this (probably the one in my first post):
Quote
My Keith Richards Black Gibson L5S is stamped "prototype" on the back in white ink under the CS serial #. I took it to Gruhn in Nashville 3 years ago where he authenticated it to be the NAMM Model. The story when I got it was that #1 and #2 Prototypes went to Keith and Ron Wood and # 3 ended up at Summer NAMM 2004. Mine was purchased from Gibson by a special status dealer who qualified for the option to buy the show model. My write up from George Gruhn stated that between 10 and 20 where known to be made. He said the value was hard to determine as there were no values to compare to and is more subjective to the individual interested. It is historic that Keith never endorsed the model during a time when Jimmy Page, Ace Freely, Angus Young, Zac Wilde, Rossington, etc. were signing on to their own signature models. There wasn't much info on the model back then and he said the MSRP was $2,499 and gave me an extra $1,000 for being a prototype and NAMM model. The appraisal was $3,500 and the MSPR turned out to be $5,444. George offered to buy it from me right after the $3,500 remark. Sadly, I am selling this guitar on ebay within the next few days. Look for it and say hello to one of the rarest Gibson guitars of the modern collectable era. It isn't too often that you get a chance to see one, let alone one on the open market.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
guitarbastard
()
Date: June 16, 2011 11:32
Quote
Mathijs
The last picture is a early 60's Gibson Melody Maker with added humbucker. The cheapest of all Gibsons.
Mathijs
cheap but great!
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
Mathijs
()
Date: June 16, 2011 13:29
Quote
with sssoul
that's odd (at least odd! ) - all the sources i've read say that L5S was Ronnie's
and that Keith borrowed it for the Winos tour
Correct, and Wood had that guitars since at least '84. I don't know anything about its origins, but it was not a custom shop: that didn't exist yet.
Mathijs
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
ChrisM
()
Date: June 16, 2011 21:53
The guitar in the second pic above is not a Gibson...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-16 23:33 by ChrisM.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-06-16 23:33 by ChrisM.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
fiftyamp
()
Date: June 16, 2011 22:04
Quote
MathijsQuote
with sssoul
that's odd (at least odd! ) - all the sources i've read say that L5S was Ronnie's
and that Keith borrowed it for the Winos tour
Correct, and Wood had that guitars since at least '84. I don't know anything about its origins, but it was not a custom shop: that didn't exist yet.
Mathijs
I'm pretty sure they both have(had?) a black L5S. I know Paul Simon has a black one too. I've seen a few blondes and a brown, but never a black one for sale. I've been told they only made maybe 10 black ones, maybe less. Having played one, I can tell you they are as heavy as a pallet of bricks.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: June 17, 2011 08:45
Quote
gwen
I've read the same as you, dear Sssoul. ... Please note that my question was about a 2004 reissue, not about the original single pickup L5S.
ahh now i see - i think! :E sorry for not reading/posting more carefully the first time, gwen.
it would be beyond weird to make a custom single-pickup L5S in 1984 and call it a Keith Model,
but in 2004 it would make some sense ... even though the original was Ronnie's :E
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
gwen
()
Date: June 17, 2011 11:21
No worry, sniffin' Sssoul. Maybe you were distracted by a lovely vinyl scent?
1982 Tour Les Paul Special double cut
Posted by:
MadMax
()
Date: October 23, 2011 03:43
On which numbers did Keith use the red Les Paul Special double cut guitar which was customized with the open (creme coloured) humbuckers on the 1982 tour? Anybody knows this? I can't tell from my recordings and I only got the Wembley gig on DVD. (Or did he only use it during sound checks?)
Golden rings on ya'll for yer inputs!!!
Golden rings on ya'll for yer inputs!!!
Re: 1982 Tour Les Paul Special double cut
Posted by:
with sssoul
()
Date: October 23, 2011 09:30
on pages 2-3 this thread here: [www.iorr.org] there are some shots of that guitar in action
and some speculation about whether it's a Spirit or a Special, but i haven't seen anything about what numbers Keith used it on
and some speculation about whether it's a Spirit or a Special, but i haven't seen anything about what numbers Keith used it on
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
KeithNacho
()
Date: October 23, 2011 11:04
Quote
ChrisM
The guitar in the second pic above is not a Gibson...
It's Zemaitis
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
MadMax
()
Date: October 23, 2011 15:01
Thanx Sssoul! Judging from looking on one photo it looks like he's in A territory, 5th fret which would make me think of JMI. Then again I'm pretty sure he played the Tele Custom on that number, which leads me to think that he maybe played the red special during Chantilly Lace??
Re: 1982 Tour Les Paul Special double cut
Posted by:
Mathijs
()
Date: October 24, 2011 12:57
Quote
with sssoul
on pages 2-3 this thread here: [www.iorr.org] there are some shots of that guitar in action
and some speculation about whether it's a Spirit or a Special, but i haven't seen anything about what numbers Keith used it on
I still have not been able to identify the model. According to Gruhn's Vintage Guide (note -when a guitar is not listed in that guide it doesn't exist...), it's not a Spirit I (only 1 pickup, nothing bound), not a Spirit II (bound top, no pickguard), and the colour Vintage Wineburst (Keith's guitar colour) was only available in...1983. All Spirits have 3 knobs, keith's has 4...
So, the best description still is 'Les Paul Special'. The unbound body / bound neck combination is standard on the LP Special, the knob arrangement is like a Special, they did make them with two humbuckers in the late '70's, and they made them with a single wrap around bridge (but not with a Bad Ass bridge though as far as I know). It is not a standard guitar though in any way, it must be a prototype of any kind.
There's two songs that he used it on confirmed: Beast of Burden and Let's Spend in Munich 82.
Mathijs
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
ChrisM
()
Date: October 24, 2011 19:08
Indeed. I know it is...Quote
KeithNachoQuote
ChrisM
The guitar in the second pic above is not a Gibson...
It's Zemaitis
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
Naturalust
()
Date: October 25, 2011 03:18
Quote
Mathijs
The last picture is a early 60's Gibson Melody Maker with added humbucker. The cheapest of all Gibsons.
Mathijs
I would say "least expensive" of the Gibsons....Cheapest is not the word I'd use to describe the Melody Maker. Sweet playing guitars of the ones I have played and great access with the small body and double cutaway. I love my Melody Maker! Got any cheap ones laying around Mathijs? I'm your man to dish them to....lol peace.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
Naturalust
()
Date: October 25, 2011 03:33
Quote
RockinBud
Thanks for the note on the V. I am thinking of acquiring a Heritage Korina reissue to round out my collection as follows:
Black Beauty LP
Goldtop
Burst 58 reissue
Zemaitis disc front
60 Cherry LPjr
67 Blonde Tele
52 CS blackguard tele
54 Strat 50th anniv
335
for reasons best known to all of you I feel the need to have as many of KR's guitars in my collection as I can
any thoughts on this matter would be welcomed
forget the rest. I wanna know more about your 335 and the gold top. Some of those 335's are really the cats meow. I have a 71 Deluxe with the small humbucker pickups but am itching for a gold top with a bigsby trem setup. I know Neil Young has a 3 pickup Black Beauty Les Paul from the 50's. It is rarely played. They are worth a small fortune these days. peace.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
Naturalust
()
Date: October 25, 2011 18:36
Quote
with sssoul
smile: why me? but since you ask: i don't think Keith needs to miss playing black 3PU LP Customs -
i imagine that whenever he feels like playing one, he goes right ahead and plays one. i hope so, anyway! :E
but as for making it publicly known that he plays them: yeah i believe those 1977 Ken Reagan photos
are the most recent ones i've seen as well - now over to HM, Mathijs and open-g [passing popcorn]
chocolate covered raisins for me thank you...I think I remember reading that Keith rented guitars for several photo shoots in the 70's. The mention was in Keith's book Life as I recall. I love the scene where Keith is explaining his pexi-glass guitar knob arrangement to Jimi Hendrix during a backstage moment. Most of the audio for that video clip is left off the youtube video probably for copyright reasons but I would love to hear it someday. It's the day that Mick Taylor gets up and jams with Jimi.....someone probably has this audio track somewhere..peace.
Re: Keith & some lesser-known Gibsons
Posted by:
Stones62
()
Date: October 25, 2011 18:49
Really? I did not know that. I'm fairly familiar with Neils guitar arsenal and I have never seen him play one. I recently read an interview with Larry Cragg, Neil's guitar tech, in Guitar World and he talked about Neil's guitars but made no metnion tof the Black Beauty. May I ask how came by this information? I'm curious!Quote
Naturalust
[I know Neil Young has a 3 pickup Black Beauty Les Paul from the 50's. It is rarely played. They are worth a small fortune these days. peace.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.