7hrs on a train, a 30minute walk home from the station, freezing cold weather, and a large credit card bill later and I've got my Gibson "Pearly Gates" Billy Gibbons Signature Les Paul. Six months is a long time when you're suffering with GAS and I just couldn't resist any longer :D
This is easily the best Les Paul I've ever played, and one of those guitars that just isn't going anywhere now I've got it. Speaking to the guys in Coda, of the 10 or so they've had in stock with various finishes there were only 3 (including mine) that had a superb top. The others were very average. The Jimmy Page #2 guitars they had in were incredibly underwhelming, and the Mike Bloomfield sig they have is good but not great. So that's nice ;) Somebody had passed on this one as it was "too flamey" and went for a plain looking one. Madness! :?
Tonally, the guitar just sings like a fantastic harmony choir. My Modern Eagle is a bit more Fender-ish in that the note separation is more distinct. This is in a similar ball park but has that classic Gibson choral thing going on - every string you can hear, but they blur a little and really work together. I've never heard the opening chords of "Jesus Just Left Chicago" sound so good.
It's really, really hard for me to get in pictures how stunning this guitar looks in the flesh - I'm no photographer. I'll have to see if Mrs Twinfan, who has a great eye for photos, can get some good outdoor ones at the weekend. I'll also see if I can get some good clips done when I've dialled the guitar and amp in together.
Meanwhile I've just grabbed a couple of quick shots with no flash indoors to try and represent the colour and flame top. Next on the list is a really nice plain black strap and some straplocks...
