1957 Gibson ES-25, 1960s Vox Cougar Bass & More VINTAGE Arrivals!

Transcription Summary:

This "Plugged In" episode focuses on PAF guitars. Nathaniel starts with a 1960 Gibson L5-CES Sunburst, discussing its sound and comparing it to an ES-295. Then, they move to the vault, showcasing a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Burst and discussing its clean and overdriven tones, playing some Thin Lizzy riffs. Next, they feature other PAF guitars including a 1957 Gibson Gold Top and a 1960 ES-335, mentioning its history as a house guitar at RCA Studios. Finally, a bonus guitar from Gary Rossington's collection is played. Nathaniel plays a Skynyrd song as a tribute. 

Full Transcription:
Hi folks, back with 'This Just In,' back with Nick. Hello. Sorry, can we start that over? No, we’re live. We’re live. That is in there. That is in there. Well, at least you’re here. I’m not sweating anymore. So, oh, that’s good. That’s good. Welcome back, by the way. Thank you very much. Glad to be back. You—you put a disco light. What’s—what’s all this? I’m just, uh, I’m just bringing up the mood down here. You know, if you work in the basement all the time, it’s a bit—yeah. You put on some good music, you know, and you got the lights, so you’re just happy to be here. Why not? So, so you’ve got some, uh, cool guitars that you want to show us. Yes. Yes, I got—let’s see. What should we go with straight in there? Um, let’s go—um, let’s go in with this guy.

Okay. Is it one of your favorites? Uh, this one’s not one of my favorite, but it’s a good one. Uh, it’s a 1965 Gibson B-25. A B25. Oh, that is nice. Oh, yes. So that’s lovely.

Beautiful shape. Yeah. Look at that. Look at the checking on it. That is lovely to see. That’s stunning. Have you played it? Yeah, I played it. Uh, so it’s all tuned up. No—no weird tuning. No. No, I was hoping you’d put it in a weird. We try it then.

That sounds good, doesn’t it? This is nice to play.

It’s interesting with the disco lights playing Bob Dylan. This is—so I could slow it down, too. No, no. It sets the mood. I like it. It’s like I’m at a [...] open mic night back home. I’m in a pub. Um, this feels great. Looks great and all, doesn’t it? What kind of neck’s on there? How small is it? Uh, do you know? I don’t know how—how else to say it—it’s a comfortable neck to play. It’s not big. It’s not small. Really nice body size. Beautiful sounding and great playing guitar. Yeah. Um, and yeah, you like the body, very, and very affordable. Like the—the price is sweet. The price is great for that guitar. So this is cool. Slight bit of work done there, I’m sure, which is fine. Yeah, there the, uh, tech looked at that. It’s not structural or anything like that. That little crack by the, um, the bridge there. But yeah, it’s—he said it was totally fine. What year is this again? 1965. 65. That is really nice. Great style with original chipboard case. So why do they call chipboard? Uh, just ‘cause it’s like, uh, it’s basically cardboard, you know, but that’s the term—chipboard. Chipboard. Yeah, I never knew that. Now we know. It sounds chipboard—fried fish and chips. Maybe like some fish and cardboard. Always with the fish and chips, isn’t it? Always with fish and chips. I love fish and chips. You’ve never had a good fish and chips in your life. I haven’t. But if you haven’t been to it—if I’m in your neck of the woods, I—you give me recommendations. All right. And I will see, you know, you got down the chippy. That’s—you’re saying that you can’t get good—you can’t get a good [fish and chips] here if there’s no—I’m sure there’s somewhere. Well, well, not like—not like back home. Good. No. I—I’ll rephrase that. Of course you’ve had a good fish and chips. I’m just saying, but I haven’t had what you’re saying is from a chippy. Yeah. Now you’ve had—you’ve had obviously fish and chips here, right? Yeah. So he’s not—no, it’s different. It’s nice though. Fish and chips. It’s nice. What do they do that’s different? I’m just curious. It’s like the chips themselves. They—they’re like soggy, like—like our—our chips. That’s a plus. Listen, it sounds horrendous, I know, but that with a mushy piece. It’s like microwave French fries, like frozen French fries with a proper [fish and chips]. I’m telling you, proper chippy. All right. So we got another Gibson acoustic here. This one is a 1959 Gibson LG-1, right? And this one’s a bit of a different sound. It’s kind of got a more of like a—like a boxy, but like punchy kind—punchy out. Yeah. So, all right. Let’s see. Give that a whirl. This one’s beautiful condition. It looks great, doesn’t it? Let’s see. Definitely different sound. Yeah.

I mean, it feels good to play. Definitely. I’d personally go for the other one over this. Yeah. But it still sounds great though, right? What would you go for, this or the one? I’d go for the other one. But this one, I guess, you know, some people would go for more like a punchier sounding guitar.

You’re doing that kind of picky stuff. Yeah. For like the—like really kind of projects. And that’s the thing, too, if like you’re playing like, uh, you know, in a small club or just like coffee shop, there’s a—like a perfect guitar to play ‘cause that project sound out really well. [Music] Yeah, I mean that feels great. If you had a coffee shop gig in an hour, what’s—in—in an hour? Potbelly’s. Yeah. You got to get—hey, I—I got rejected from Potbelly’s. Are you serious? Swear to God. I—I when I [went to] Potbelly’s—if they’re watching this right now—yeah. Potbelly’s, I went to—where did I go? It was the one up in around Loyola. I was like, I was like, "Oh, can I, you know, ‘cause you know you get people stop up in the thing playing," and he’s like, "Oh no. You don’t sing." So, no. Oh, they just—they need people to sing to anyway. I get it. I don’t sing. But, all right. All right. Using them on my own. So, not—not in the Potbelly’s, I suppose I wouldn’t. But anyway, I’m more in the shower. I like the reverb, you know. But there you go. Makes you sound better, right? Exactly. And in tune. No, I’m right. Two great acoustics to start off with. Wait, what year was that one again? That was—that was a ‘59. 1959 or ‘57? I maybe 1959. 1959 at an affordable price, I might say, as well, as well. See that pop up in the—yeah, we get it on there. The spinny picture on great acoustics. Off to a wonderful start here. All right, we’ll do, uh, let’s do a, uh, an old electric. Yeah. Oh wow. This one’s—I got to be careful with this case. Case is falling apart. Not the original case.

I’ve never seen that, by the way. This is a 1957 Gibson ES-225. Oh, that’s lovely. Yes, that’s really good. That one’s good to go. Do you want to plug that in? Give it a quick plug in? Yeah, why not? Let’s do it. That is lovely. Grab that. You got it. Is that unusual for them to have gold hardware? Is that—is that normal? That could be—they could be non-original. They could be replaced. Uh, I had not seen the notes on this one yet. Maybe that’s just me though. Yeah, 275. Is it—what’s up? What’s it—what the 275? This—I was [thinking of] the price. No, no. The—the actual name of the model. No. 225. 225. Yeah. Is it pickguard? Yeah. This the original pickguard? That’s right here. I like it. Yeah. Some people prefer not to have them on there. They could be in the way, but we still have that there. Probably I’d definitely bring the action down a touch. Yeah. Yeah. It still hasn’t been through a setup yet or anything, but our techs, you know, they make sure things are interesting. I don't know. They know what to do. Wow, plenty of reverb. Why not? I don't even have it that high up.

Definitely needs a help. It definitely needs a help. Or maybe it's just my bad playing. Probably is. And we're ready to go hang. Yeah, I mean, obviously, now we're not going through like an amp that's going to do it much justice, but...

It's nice to play though. Feels good though.

Uhhuh. That's where I've been going. The—the switch. It's reversed. I was wondering why. Why that's not normal, though, is it? It could just be. It could just be twist. Oh, makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. I mean...

Yeah, that's much better.

Yeah, I mean, that feels—well, sounds a lot better.

Yeah, I also think what happened was, 'cause guitars like these, they'll check them out before we—before we even buy them. So, they'll—they'll take them apart, and then once they're like, "Okay, we're going to buy it." So, it's a bit odd as to why they'd reverse that, though, right? The middle's the same. Yeah, exactly. It could be just a preference for the player, you know. Yeah. More like it just got turn. Oh. Uh...

Worst version. Probably why you traded it in. It's actually backwards. No, being sloppy and right. We'll—And what year is this again? '57. '57. '57. 1957. Questionable fake. It gets in logo. Yeah. Yeah. Look at this logo here. Yeah. Look at this. Oh [...] That's homemade. Yeah. You don't think that's from the factory? It's a Murphy Lab. I like it. I like they've done their. I'd do the same. I would. Why not? I mean, it's probably as sad as old case broke and. Yeah. But got to pick up. You just put that in there for me? Yeah. These are a nice addition as well. I might. Thank you. I thought of you when I saw that. I was like, you know, when we all do that, the—the flamingo. Yeah. Instead, you know. I—I may have to run. I'm going to run out of amps out of here soon, you know, for people to sit on. So that's it. Why not? Yeah. All right. Right. So, we've had three good guitars so far. Are these all potential ones for the episode? No. I'm going to let you do your thing. Yeah. No, some of these are, I mean, just if you're curious, like some of these are—are stuff that just came in for trades. Oh, yeah. So, I'll hang on to them for a few days, uh, before we process them. 'Cause people changed their minds about things, so we want to make sure, like, "Oh, we already pushed that guitar through. Sorry." You know, sometimes some people, they're like, "Oh, you know what, I made a mistake." Yeah. "I—I want my guitar back. I can't let it go." So, that's why we—we hang on to trades for—for like 3 days, and then, and then we'll push them through just in case, you know, changes their mind. So, all right. Well, you have your choice here, right? You see the name on there. Which color would you like without looking at what's on there? No, you already know. No, I—I genuinely haven't seen. It's okay. They're Eric Johnson's. Which color would you like? I do like Eric Johnson. Well, white? Blondie? It's got—it's got to be sunburst if it's Eric Johnson, right? Okay.

Yeah, we, uh, we met him at the Dallas guitar show. What's up, Eric Johnson? Oh, you did? Nice guy? Yeah. We—Mr. Johnson, I love hot laks. Yeah. Where we go, the 2023 Eric Johnson signature Strat. Yes. U still—Still has, uh, the U sealed up. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. Has it rain in the light of day or what? Koa. It looks like it's never—No one's touched.

[Music] Yeah, I mean, sounds like a Strat, which is what you want. [Music] Oh, it sounds great. Sounds like a Strat how you'd want it to sound. All right. You know. Yeah. You ready, Drew? You ready for it? Can I remember how...

To...

Anyway, you get the idea. We just tuned it up, folks. But, um, I mean, just feels like a great Strat, I've got to say. Feels really [Music]

Nice. Little pickup demo, you know. Including a bum note. Oh, it sounds great though.

That. Yeah. So, struggling to stay in tune, but I'm sure it will.

Can't remember, right? Uh...

[Music] Something like that, dude. I have the treble tuned down so much on that. I know. Yeah, that's crazy. It's almost down to like one. I think it sounds good, though. Yeah, but it sounds really good. Sounds great. Yeah, I like that. See, I've always loved a Sunburst Strat. I love—I love the sound of Strats, but whenever I like—I pick one up and I play it, it's like I don't—it doesn't sound—it doesn't sound that way. But what about—but what—what about Sunburst, though, as well, finish? Do you like sunburst Strat? No. A sunburst Strat? Yeah, I mean, that's like a—that's like a classic. Yeah, it's a classic look. So, yeah, I couldn't say no. Yeah. It's not ox blood, though. No, ox blood. That's your thing. That's your gig. Could you unplug this? Yeah, 'cause people moan, obviously. I got that. I like that. I do like that. You a fan of, uh, Eric Johnson? Yeah, huge fan. I mean, I need to play some of his stuff better, obviously, but, um, huge fan. I mean, no one else sounds like him, you know. Now, this is an odd-looking case. I notic—I'm trying to get my head around without cheating. What could this be? Well, we have to. It's not a D'Electrol. No, you're close. I think what, uh, what could it be? [Music] Uh, what would come in like a teardrop case that you normally would see a box? Yes. Vox. Yes. Yes. Go in. Yep. So, we got a 1960s Vox Cougar Bass. So, yes. That's cool. And you like cougars? We love cougars, don't we, Nick? Yep.

Sorry. Some, uh, low-hanging fruit there. Cougar's up there.

[Music] Only joke. Oh, wow. There you go. I'm playing with a pick. I shouldn't be doing that. No, I can't play bass.

I mean, this feels great. Really? Have you played this? No. I lit—I literally just saw it this morning. Yeah. Yeah.

There we go. Wes is...

In. How many storm rolls is baselines can we [Music] do?

Uh, something like...

That. Uh, you know that one? "Fool's Gold." You know that one. Uh, wait.

You know that one. Manchester? Shout. Manny. Manny and Manchester. Yes. Yeah. Manchester United. Yes. Uh, giving it—giving it bigger, aren't you? Yeah. Giving it? Well, you can. I suppose you did win. So, wait. This feels great. I've got to say. I love how thin the neck is. You like that? I am not a bass player, as we all know. Um, short-scale, too. Is it? Yeah. Is it actually? Yeah, I think. Yeah, it is. Made in Italy. Wa. It feels great. I mean, it looks great as well. Oh, that bowl is like crazy. It's got some like, uh, some heavy checking in here in the front. It looks good. That's cool. What year did you say? 60s? It's a 60s. So, 60s. Yeah. We don't—we have—can't pinpoint an exact date or year on this quite yet. Um, that's a really nice bass though. Yeah

"...Yeah, that's total of five. We had to throw a bass in there. We did. Drew was—Drew was like, “We got to throw a bass in.” Like, “Fine.” I’m glad we showed this one. This one—that is a nice dude. They'll come—they'll come here. They'll come for you. So, my pick. Go on then. Out of them all. Right. And I'm picking this one. The, uh, which one was it? The B-25. The first one. Yeah. Let's get that 65. The B-25. Let's have one more butcher's at it. Let's have a look.

Because that would be my favorite out of the bunch as well. I’ve got—by the way, this is my guitar on the bottom. So, when nobody gets mad with a bunch of cases on top, which is a telly, it's mine. Yeah. Oh, it's a telly. Oh, Daniel's playing early. Yeah. That—that was nice. That. Oh, you liked it. You're pinching it for yourself. I like it. What? You're—you're keeping it for yourself? Yeah. Oh, no. It's been mine. Oh, it's actually your. I'm just getting—uh, I'm just doing a little work to it today. So, yeah. Right. So, here's our pick of the day. The Gibson. What? B25. Yours too? Huh? Your—your pick? Yeah, my pick as well. What song do you want to hear to play us out? Tell you something, a [...] Nick's in. Hold on. [Music] This is the first song I learned how to play, and I'm playing it terribly. That sounded a little too tall for these two pounds, right? Yeah. It's the first riff I've learned how to play. Does it? Yeah. It's a great sound. Honestly, I liked, uh, such a cool guitar. [Music] That like the "sore." See if I can remember this. [Music] One. Oh. [...] Hold on. Yeah. [Music]

Did you see your—? Yeah, that's not your—Oh, why not? 'Cause it's not like—uh. Can I just see? Yeah, you can see it. What did you say? Oh, Taka—Takia. The "Taca," right? "Tacer." That's how I first pronounced him when I was a kid: "Telaca—Telacaster." Uh, for me, uh, "Dep mode"—I used to say, uh, uh, "Depache mode"—"Apache mode," because my brother had all these the tapes and everything, or "Metallica." I used to say, uh, "Metallica." "Hell yeah, Killing All…Killing All" album. "Hey! Hey! Metallica tape!" Uh, as my brother and they would just laugh at me. And then, uh, we've all done it. Mentioned it. Kind of roast your telly, dude. It's—rate your telly. It's a two. I bought this when I—I bought this when I worked at another music store years ago. Oh, yeah. Rival. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, I know. No, it's just—it's just a 2001, uh—Oh, that's nice. Yeah, man. Road-worn telly, made in Mexico. I modified it. Uh, I put a—Yes, you did. I got a four-way in there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, you have your series and parallel for in between. So, there's your bridge and neck, right? And then there'd be your neck. And then it's your bridge and neck again, but in parallel. Oh, wow. That's cool. And then, uh, but then, yeah, I got some lawers in here. Got the, um, J Street in the in the bridge. It's kind of like a—it's got—it's kind of like a P90, right? Okay. And then this one's just kind of like a vintage-style, uh, deck pickup. So, that's pretty sick, man. Yeah. But, right, that was disgusting. Do the handshake. It sure was. What? Oh, we got to do—Oh, is this the Rocky thing that I seen the other day? What are we going to do? Is that—is that what we got to do? Close—you got to close up. We got to get close up. Yeah. Wait, you want to show that? Let's—we need to show this. Let's show it. All right. Hold up. We haven't shown the—No. Have we shown the beo? Last time we did not. I tell you what. Are you sure? All right. Okay. We—we got a bonus. We got—we got a bonus here. What's that? A poster? Yeah. We'll show it off too. Gone. So, we got a, uh, bonus rounds. Yes.

We got ourselves a Gibson Eric Clapton 1960s Les Paul. Yes. Right. The—the bino. So, this is—uh, Oh, that looks good. You know, that looks really good. Is it in tune? Please be in tune. Yeah. Wow.

[Music] So, this one comes with the goodies. Oh, it does? Yeah. Blues breaker. Yeah. This is—you know where he—Yeah. Yeah. Known to play that, uh, guitar. And then we also have the COA included. Wow. This also comes with a CD player. Yeah. A CD player, right? Comes with a strap. And then also [Music] a bit of Crossroads. Yeah. So, we do have a poster. Oh, I assume it's a poster there. Is it? Or maybe is it CL—no, it's—I think it's the—Oh, Cream. Yeah. Is it—no. The—the old—That's cool. Yeah. It's like the old comic. Yeah, they had—Can you help me with that other corner just so we can lay it out a little bit? I don't want to bend it or anything like that. But it comes with this, uh, print. Yeah. High-quality print, too. It's a good—uh, This is a good print as well. So, it's not just like some piece of like copy paper or anything like that. Yeah. That is cool. You can feel it. That's not bad. [Music]

players. That sounds great. Might like the Little—Anyway, you get the idea. Yeah, you teach me to play that too. You get the idea of how that sounds. That sounds great. Sounds good to me."