[NEWS] The first-ever Gibson Les Paul – owned by the man himself – is going up for auction

[u/sindisil]

According to Guitar World, it "will be sold as part of Christie's Exceptional Sales lot in New York, which takes place October 13".

[u/JudgeArthurVandelay]

The bridge intonation is a valid point. However other than that, there’s really nothing about that guitar that needed significant improvement. The tuners are fine, or at least not any worse than grovers. The “gloss” poly finish you are talking about actually suffocates the resonance of the wood and makes it sound worse. There’s nothing wrong with checked finish, other than the appearance.

It’s possible that it needs a fret job to really play it, or new pots or whatever else. But, my point is that this guitar is an example of an era where Gibson was doing it right. The best epiphone LP in the world is just never going to sound as good as a 50s LP.

[u/mongolmark23 → u/JudgeArthurVandelay]

There’s nothing wrong with checked finish, other than the appearance.

100% agree. I would even go as far as saying I'd rather see wood/paint age NATURALLY than the shiny finish/plastic of gloss. I have never owned vintage gear but I think heavy relicing is exaggerated anyway and I have no idea how a nitro finish guitar will end up like SRV's Number One or John Mayer's Black One without intentional scraping of wood and paint lol

[u/JudgeArthurVandelay → u/mongolmark23]

And of course, John Mayer’s black one was a fake relic job anyway!