NZGuitars.com

Hi all,
Happy New Year!
I'm a new member; I came here recommended by one of your casuals, and I am already getting a lot of good info reading past posts, so thanks for having me. I am looking forward to meeting other guitar lovers like me!

My New Year resolution is that in 2024, I will buy my first Gibson Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, ideally from the 90s, as I don't know if I can afford a 70s one, and will become my new partner in crime for years to come. I am a huge John Sykes fan, and I have played borrowed LPCs over the years but never managed to get my own. I have been living with a Flying V and a Charvel Socal for the past ten years.

One of the members let me borrow his 80s LPC, making me want my own even more!

I am after advice on how to find the perfect one for me in terms of Specs, years, what to look after, where to look, any leads, what years had good woods, which to avoid, etc. I don't know much about the whole hardware and gear, so this is the best place to learn this side of guitars I've always ignored.

Thanks so much for having me, and your help is very appreciated!

Welcome aboard!!

Happy new year, and welcome Bitbull

Happy New Year, welcome, and... be careful what you wish for

Welcome, no idea on how to find a good LPC here in NZ though. but I’m sure there will be some around. 90s is a good place to start with quality of woods and general build but I wouldn’t narrow my search to just that, plenty of good ones from different eras. Isnt Dhamajester selling an LPC currently?

Edit: https://www.trademe.co.nz/music-instrum ... 550891.htm

This is his one here

Ooh, SoCal, pics please.

Welcome Bitbull!
A word of advice; whatever GrantB says about Les Pauls will be the best advice on the planet. He's a trained professional with impeccable taste and is never wrong!

For real.

No pressure Grant...

Welcome.


https://www.nzguitars.com/forum/viewtop ... 49&t=42085

Reg18 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 01, 2024 10:22 am Welcome, no idea on how to find a good LPC here in NZ though. but I’m sure there will be some around. 90s is a good place to start with quality of woods and general build but I wouldn’t narrow my search to just that, plenty of good ones from different eras. Isnt Dhamajester selling an LPC currently?

Edit: https://www.trademe.co.nz/music-instrum ... 550891.htm

This is his one here

Bitbull - That's gotta be as good a find as you could hope for, right there!

Yeah, I saw that one, but I'm not sure about the Richlite and that year of LPC. any experience or advise with it?

Bitbull wrote: ↑Mon Jan 01, 2024 1:18 pm Yeah, I saw that one, but I'm not sure about the Richlite and that year of LPC. any experience or advise with it?

No direct experience. The best advice I have is that it is being sold on behalf of a forum member by a forum member who has knowledge, experience and taste you'd struggle to find elsewhere.
Chat to Dharmajester. He can answer your questions directly and wouldn't put you wrong.

I have 4 LPC's. 1979, 1990 and 2 Historics from the 2010's.

I reckon the main specs to look into are:
mahogany cap (50's reissues) VS maple cap (most of them)
mahogany neck (most of them) VS maple neck (late 70's)
I'm ok with richlite fretboard but resale can be tough.

70's are not worth what people ask for nowadays imo unless you really really want maple neck (eg Adam Jones and Zakk Wylde fans), however the Skyes sig was also maple neck since his original was a '78;
90's are good bang for the bucks;
Historics are nice but generally a bit rarer than R7/8/9's.

Awesome, thanks, mate. Yes, I have a feeling that the '90s is where it's at for me. I might have to look into the Aussie market if there is none in NZ. Does anyone know where to look over there? Reverb?

Bitbull wrote: ↑Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:20 am Awesome, thanks, mate. Yes, I have a feeling that the '90s is where it's at for me. I might have to look into the Aussie market if there is none in NZ. Does anyone know where to look over there? Reverb?

Gumtree is the other one.

Gumtree is good if they're willing to ship. Since they use PayPal integration you've got recourse if something goes wrong. I got my Charvel from Australian Gumtree.

I've bought 3 guitars from MusicSwopShop (sic) in Melbourne over the last 2 years and they've always been fantastic.