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After having my
Junior for 2 years, and
buying my first acoustic (Ovation Celebrity) and playing
an Applause Strat copy (since I needed more than 1
pickup by then), I splurged once again (still working in
the same restaurant but I think I was up to Short Order
Cook). This would have been around the end of
summer/beginning of Fall. The only reason that
sticks out is that I played my first gig with the
Goldtop in September. Prior months leading up that
purchase, I used to stare at the picture in Guitar
World's (?) second Buyers' Guide, (before they started
putting sluts in their Buyers' Guides); a stunning
picture of a Goldtop, showing off that nice dish on the
belly. Also, drooling over pictures of Joe Walsh's
Deluxe didn't help. And again, thanks to my Dad
who saved me $500 by driving me to the music store and
wheeling and dealing (it's a Koval talent that I seemed
to have missed out on). I remember there being two
Goldtops there. The $500 savings in mine was
because there was a 7" check in the finish on the left
hand side. No biggie.
I was pretty elated. I had two Gibsons and I wasn't
even 18. But like I said, I paid for them, not my
parents.
And then the learning curve began. Honestly, if
I didn't have the Goldtop, it would have taken longer to
learn, well, anything. Having a great instrument
really does help. I didn't get into many bad
habits trying to fight with a bad guitar. The only
bad habit I developed was trying out new instruments and
immediately thinking to myself, "Nope - not as good as
Goldie".
Originally, I thought I was getting P-90s, but they
were the P-100s. Great pickups. Why they
don't make them anymore, I'll never know. Gibson
doesn't make too many bright decisions as of late.
Anyways, it would be another 4 years before I would
touch a new electric guitar.
It's been my main guitar for many years now.
Many years. It's been to too many bars around the
city. Nothing has been replaced on it. The
only thing that's changed on it is the checking that
magically, one day after leaving the window open, grew
another couple of inches. I don't take her out
much anymore though. For one thing, I don't need
her stolen and finally after all these years, I found a
replacement for her (when playing out). But for
recording, it's still my main instrument to use.
As much as I love all of my guitars, there really is
only one guitar for me and it's my Goldtop.
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Year:
1989
