I decided to take a break from writing by...writing. Writing about something other than work or consumer behavior for a few minutes will be nice.
In 1994 or so, I paid a visit to the Guitar Center in West Covina, CA (I think). In it, I found a left-handed Les Paul Standard guitar. I tried it out for a while, and although I couldn't play very well, I noticed how different it felt in my hands versus the Fender Stratocaster that I played at the time (I still own that guitar, my first, by the way--never play it, though). It was fast--my fingers seemed to dance effortlessly around the neck as I played. It was then, for the first time, that I understood what a difference a fine instrument could make to a musician. Unfortunately, I was poor at the time and couldn't afford the $3000 price tag. It would be a long time before I saw a left-handed Les Paul again.
I almost bought one (a cheaper Epiphone version) when I decided to start playing again a year and a half ago, but the shredder in me got the best of me and I came home with the black Ibanez guitar that I posted a picture of a few weeks back. It's a great guitar for doing wild things, but it still didn't have the tone I was looking for.
I recently started looking at Les Pauls again online. As I mentioned above, it's hard to find left-handed ones (it's hard to find any decent lefty guitars, for that matter), so I was considering ordering one online. That's always a dangerous proposition, though. You don't buy a guitar for the way it looks; you buy it for the way it sounds and plays. I ended up not having to do this, however. The little lady and I paid a visit to our local Guitar Center on Saturday night, and much to my delight, there were two Les Pauls hanging up in the tiny "lefty" corner of the store. After playing both for a while (a Studio and a cheaper Epiphone), I decided to buy the Studio:
This picture doesn't do it justice, but it's wine red and has gold hardware. I love the way it looks. The Studio version of the Les Paul is made for tone--all the extra inlays and art are removed so that what is left is a very solid guitar, built purely for sound. I found this to be very true--its tone and feel are incredible, and for whatever reason, it doesn't feel as heavy to me as the typical Les Paul, which is good. It was expensive, but I finally have the kind of guitar I've wanted almost the entire time I've played. I'll keep the Ibanez, but there's no question that this will be my main guitar for a long, long time. I love playing it.
There are better images of it on the Gibson website: http://www.gibson.com/en%2Dus/divisions/gibson%20usa/products/lespaul/studio/
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