Michael Holland
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 26 Apr 2014 8:15 pm |
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Here is my "Lucy" tribute and the story behind it. For those of you who may not know, "Lucy" is a 1957 Les Paul currently owned by Eric Clapton and previously owned by George Harrison and before him, Rick Derringer and is the guitar that Eric played on the solo of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the Beatles' White Album.
I bought this guitar, a Gibson R7, from George Gruhn in 1998. It was manufactured in 1994 and carries the R7 stamp in the control cavity, although it does not have an early "Custom Shop" sticker on it, but it does have an inked on '57 style serial number as well as the correct shape and pitch headstock. It was indeed a goldtop when I bought it and it is a superb guitar which I played for many years and put alot of honest playing wear on it.
In 2009, I was driving home from a gig in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and was almost home when I fell asleep at the wheel and ran off the road, clipping a light pole and totaling my Ford 500 Premier. I was pretty banged up with a broken rib and lots of bruising, but my seat belt and air bag did their jobs and I pulled through. I told my wife, "My Les Paul was in the floorboard of the back seat", and she went out with a friend the next morning to see if they could find the guitar at the scene of the accident. There was already an NES crew there repairing the pole and seeing my wife and her friend drive up and get out asked, "What are y'all doing here?". My wife told them that it was her husband that destroyed the power pole and that "his Les Paul" was in the car at the time. The NES repaiman asked, "A Gibson?", and she answered, "Yes". Ashley and her friend Anita looked around the area and Anita said, "I think I see it!". The guitar (in its case) was down in a little gulley and she went right down in there and pulled it out to the applause of the NES team.
Well, they delivered the guitar back to me and I pledged my undying gratitude for finding and retrieving it. I opened the banged up case and the neck came right up out of the guitar (under pressure from the strings). After loosening and removing the strings, I could tell that the neck had lifted out of the body, not too cleanly, but could possibly be repaired. After my recuperation, I contacted Shelly Farell and Nashville FretWorks and showed him the guitar. We agreed that the neck could be glued back in with enough clamps and enough time and careful positioning (the truss rod amazingly still worked). I asked Shelly to do his best with it and when he thought the glue was cured, leave it for another week. He did glue the neck back in successfully and the guitar played absolutely perfectly, but the cosmetic damage was evident. Then I told him of my affinity for the "Lucy" Les Paul, and while I understand that re-finishing a guitar is an unknown process, I would like him to do a tribute and remove the gold (not knowing what kind of top we would find under the finish) and finish in a cherry red like "Lucy". He agreed, and I asked him to call when the goldtop finish was removed. I received a call a few weeks later and Shelly told me that underneath the gold finish was a book-matched quilted/spalted maple top. I couldn't have been happier and asked him to take his time doing the staining and lacquering of the top with its new red color.
When the finished guitar was delivered to me, it looked exactly as I had hoped, and still played and sounded like a dream. The grain dances in every direction no matter how you look at the top and the color is perfect. The damage is almost un-noticeable from the first-class repair and the finish is stunning.
Thanks to everyone who had a hand in the transformation of my Les Paul, and I want you to know that I will treasure it always.
Gibson is now producing a limited edition of the Clapton/Harrison "Lucy" guitar. One can be found on ebay at this time.
Michael
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"I am certain of nothing", Anthony Bourdain |
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