All Time Legend *Gibson Les Paul Personal 1970*

This guitar was for sale on eBay recently. At first glance it appears to be a 70s-era Gibson Les Paul Recording model, but closer inspection reveals several distinct differences from that guitar. This is in fact a Gibson Les Paul Personal circa 1970 and the main differentiating feature is the XLR microphone input on the upper bout (see photo below).

I remember seeing Les Paul himself on television many years ago playing one of these complete with microphone, and I had always previously thought that it was a Recording model. Obviously it requires a mic with a rigid stem!

To borrow shamelessy from the eBay listing for the guitar offered for sale, the features of the model inlcude:

Low impedance electronics and pickups. Clear grain British Honduras Mahogany body with center crossband. Three piece laminated British Honduras Mahagony neck construction. The laminations are quarter sawn for maximum strength. Buffed and polished clear walnut finish reveals all the fine grain-line features of the basic wood. Ebony fingerboard with "fretless wonder" frets, mother of pearl block inlays, Gold Plated Deluxe design machine tuning heads with sealed gears, Gold Plated Tune-O-Matic Bridge, 18 1/4 inch long, 14 inches wide, 2 inches deep, 24 3/4 scale, 22 frets, neck joins body at 16th fret. XLR Microphone Input Jack, Microphone volume control next to pickup selector switch. Also Bass, Treble, Decade and Volume Knobs (with 0-10 levels each) and Tone Selector and Phase Switches.

It is believed that only 146 examples of this guitar were built.

Like finding a new child.

I have just recently saved enough funds for a new electric guitar. There have been many weeks of stressing and trying to round up enough cash for the new guitar to go with the relativily unused 100watt Fender amp that I had found in 'Cash & Stock Traders' for $399. My reasearch on finding a new guitar that was going to last me a decent while was extensive.

I had rang every music shop on the Sunshine Coast, searched every 2010 new guitar model catalogue and was checking ebay constantly, but the decision is just so hard to choose. I was in search of a metal style guitar, preferably a 'Dean', 'Jackson', 'Ibanez' or a 'B.C. Rich'.  Yet most top range guitars that are made buy those companies are quite pricey and I was only looking at something for around $500-$700. Just yesterday I was browsing through some guitar forums and blogs and there were many reviews and mentions of 'Schecter' guitars throughout. I did some searching on the mid-range models and found a stunning guitar, the 'Omen Extreme' model Schecter. It was retailing for approx. $699 on the Billy Hyde music store website. Later that day I searched ebay once again for some recently posted items.

With no luck, I decided to engage an Australian search on 'Schecter Guitars'. There were at least 3 or 4 decent models that were displayed and one of which was a brand new, 'Omen extreme' Schecter guitar. It was for sale at  a 'Buy it now' price of $500 and free postage, with the seller also considering a near offer. I offered $450 and early yesterday the seller had accepted the price, so I emailed and replied that I would pay using 'PayPal', then fowarded the money straight away.

Loaded with the features that modern guitarists seek, the Schecter Omen Extreme Floyd Rose Electric Guitar has a Floyd Rose Special Bridge that lets you play for hours without any tuning fears.

A comfortable, double cutaway body made of mahogany with a quilted top gives good looks and comfort, while the maple neck and rosewood fingerboard give excellent playability. This beautiful guitar also includes vector inlays and black chrome hardware.

Schecter tuners and 2 Schecter Diamond Plus pickups provide an array of tones for every musical mood. Plus, the guitar's no-nonsense controls include a Master Volume and Tone control with a 3-way toggle switch.

What I Dream About.

The 'Dimebag Dixie Rebel' is an electric guitar designed by Dime himself. Dimebag Darrell was a walking textbook of modern metal guitar techniques, liberally spraying bone-crushing power chords, dissonant intervals, tremolo arm insanity, and a shredding lead voice worthy of the masters. The Dixie Rebel guitar features an 'ML' body shape with a hand-airbrushed distressed rebel flag finish coated on the body, It also has star inlays on the rosewood fretboard that are highlighted by a" REBEL" pearl inlay at the 12th fret, just too top it off.

With a fully bound mahogany body and set neck, you'll get the wicked sustain and tone you expect from a Dean guitar. The Dimebucker bridge pickup supplies tons of power, and a double-locking Floyd Rose tremolo setup keeps you in tune.