This guitar was purchased in the USA from Thoroughbred in Florida (before they became Sam Ash) when Tony was on a trip there in 98. It's a Gibson Les Paul that came from the custom shop before they used that for marketing only. Interestingly it only weighs around 6 Lbs ( that's around 2.8 Kilo's to everyone else ) so it is a very light guitar for a Les Paul - in fact it's the lightest Les Paul that we've ever seen.

It is supposedly equivalent to a 56 Les Paul but with obvious enhancements such as the PAF pickups etc. The guitar utilizes aged parts and binding with an inked serial number. The cost to Tony was $US2600.00 and he felt that this was a good price at the time. There is some lacquer cracking on this guitar - this could conceivably be related to the overall weight/wood combination - who knows.

This guitar is featured on "Mother Funker" from the Rainy Days Album - in fact Mother Funker was written on this guitar by Tony in around 10 minutes! - checkout our Real Audio page for the sound of this guitar. More recently this guitar featured on "Commoner" from the "Guitar Lab" album.

The truth is - that a 'friend' of mine wanted a play - he did - but dropped the guitar on the neck and cracked the wood - causing a costly repair - which he would not pay for (fancy that). This was in fact one of the best guitars I ever owned - that is, until he screwed it.. Needless to say, he's no so much a friend anymore (actually he's an a******e) so there I've said it.... if you want one of those - take him - he's free! He tells me these days he owns the guitar... best place for it - with the other junk. I well remember his father visiting me to collect other kit which I was holding until he paid for the repair. I gave the kit back eventually and never got paid - period.

This instrument has been sold - it was never the same after the neck job and I don't need a kitchen table right now.

The moral of this story is - don't let ANYONE touch your guitar, that is unless you don't care about the guitar, or it can easily be replaced - but most of all make sure the dude who drops it pays can pay in full - if not then don't let them near your kit!

Here's the Picture ...