Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I got this today 1981 Les Paul Custom in Goldburst ,kind of a rare color (read the letter from George Gruhn).










Check this out: Gibson Les Paul Custom Goldburst

Really interesting one that, Mitch. Do you know what pickups are in there now? Looks like they've been changed or at least the covers have been taken off.
I used to own a Gibson ES-347 from a similar period and it had the most brutal ceramic pickups in it.

Very nice. Congrats, Mitch!

ricardo_vicente wrote:Really interesting one that, Mitch. Do you know what pickups are in there now? Looks like they've been changed or at least the covers have been taken off.
I used to own a Gibson ES-347 from a similar period and it had the most brutal ceramic pickups in it.

Hey Richard,

The Gibson 347's came with Gibsons "Dirty Fingers" pickups. There are a lot of people who seem to really like those.

Mitch, that guitar is AWESOME! Enjoy it. I loves me my Les Paul Custom, but they are heavy guitars

Thanks guys! I think the original pickups were Tim Shaw's version of PAF's. This is a nice guitar,it weighs about 10 Lbs which is not too bad. The neck is 3 piece maple which is kinda strange for a Les Paul.the body is not a sandwich body like the earlier Norlins, looks like one piece back and top.Maybe it isn't but the finish is very thin on this and I can't see the seams.

I thought about trying to restore it to the original look with gold covers on the pickups and black plastic knobs and guard,but I think I will just leave it as is for now.Looks kinda cool like it is.

Danotron wrote:
Hey Richard,

The Gibson 347's came with Gibsons "Dirty Fingers" pickups.

Kind of. They were the high-output ceramic pickups which were used as the prototype for what is now referred to as the "Dirty Fingers". As I understand it, they were standard on pretty much all Gibson models at that time. Kind of out of place on a semi-hollow jazz guitar, so I swapped them. Got good money for the pickups though becasue a guy was looking for a period-correct set for his Les Paul from that era.

Almost absolutely positive they were referred to as "dirty fingers" back then as I've heard the name for many, many years. Just don't ask me if Joan Jett ever used them

Sweet guitar Mitch

whojamfan wrote:Almost absolutely positive they were referred to as "dirty fingers" back then as I've heard the name for many, many years.

Well, it would certainly be an apt name with all that gooey black resin on the back!

Thanks for the posts. Last week I posted pictures of my guitar over at The Les Paul Forum to ask members about what this guitar would have looked like when it was new because I wanted to buy a pickguard and knobs for it. A member posted a picture of a 1981 Goldburst he used to own. I thought to myself "Huh, maybe they are not as uncommon a George Gruhn said" I mean if this guy had one maybe there are alot of them out there. But then the guy who posted the picture described some scars on his guitar and as it turns out my guitar is the same one that he used to own! Here is what he said:

"D***!!!!! That's my old guitar. Holy C***!

I was a freshman in college when I bought it. I raised the funds by pumping gas. For 10 years I played that guitar every day. I got a lot better at playing on that axe. It was gigged starting in 1983 when I got it. It was my only guitar till '88 when I got my first Standard. After that it became the backup. I have pics of it on stage behind me, right next to my JCM800 2010. DAMN..the hours I spent on that guitar

**** enjoy it, it's a great guitar and served me well."

Wow! It was like meeting the birth parents of your adopted child. Gee I hope he doesn't ask for visitation rights. Oh wait,the guitar is 29,so it's not a minor.

Here is My Gibson Les Paul Custom circa 1986

Good story there Mitch, small world!

Danotron wrote:Good story there Mitch, small world!

Thanks Dan. I just wish I saw that picture before I bought a set of black speed knobs for my Les Paul.Now I have to get a set of gold ones!

Danotron wrote:Good story there Mitch, small world!

+1 What were the odds?! Obviously, pretty good.

It's funny,this is what the guy who used to own my Les Paul Custom posted before he realized that it was the same guitar he used to own.I just read this post for the first time today. Now I know what happened to the finish on the neck.



"Wow. I owned one of these, an '81, from '83 to about '93. Got it used/mint condition for $450.00. My first
real Les Paul. I played the guitar daily during those years and it took most of that time to wear all the paint off the neck...exactly like this pic. At first I though it might be my old guitar .

Mine was very fat and dark sounding and I did use those fold out crank tuners. They're really convenient. The paint on these was not well thought out as is evidenced by this neck shot. This is due to the fact that the laquer stayed unusually porous over the copper color, allowing sweat to get in, turning the paint green and 'textured' which lead to the whole finish flaking off in chunks.

These are pretty scarce. I gigged for a long time over three states and never saw another one like it. I sold mine somewhere between '93 and '95 in a protector case because I was more interested in gigging a standard."

Wow, Ace Frehley has a 1981 Les Paul Custom Goldburst!

I wonder if he's got it rigged as a "Smoker". I saw kit's for that on eBay.