It was time. I finally developed enough will and want to get an icon. I walked into Flipside Guitars and found this bastardized beauty: a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom body mated with a Tokai neck, electrified with a set of DiMarzio pups and wrapped up with a Bigsby B5.
1969 Les Parts Custom
I put up my factory 2nd Gibson EB-3 as a straight trade offer and a deal was made. Something that originally cost me $300 just netted me a 1969 Gibson Les Paul Custom!
I quickly learned that the Bigsby nor any tremolo/vibrato was going to be in my bag of tricks. So I removed it and restored it back to its former glory with a stop bar tailpiece and covered the Bigsby holes with an original Gibson “Custom Made” placard.
Gibson "Custom Made" Placard
As much as I loved my Goldtop, I let’er go in another straight trade — this time for a Parker Fly Mojo Single Cut that, at the time, retailed for $2100; my initial $300 investment had increased sevenfold.
Photograph of Gibson placard, courtesy of…
