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I don't understand why people dislike Norlin era Gibson products so much...

El Gringo

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For me I have no complaints . As opposed to the horror and abomination the was CBS owned Fender . As bad as some claim that Norlin was to Gibson that is nothing compared to CBS trashing Fender . I grew up playing this era of Fender's and Gibson's and the Gibson's worked and worked very well as opposed to the horror show that was CBS Fender .
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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For me I have no complaints . As opposed to the horror and abomination the was CBS owned Fender . As bad as some claim that Norlin was to Gibson that is nothing compared to CBS trashing Fender . I grew up playing this era of Fender's and Gibson's and the Gibson's worked and worked very well as opposed to the horror show that was CBS Fender .
I respect your opinion on CBS abusing Fender.
 

Snakum

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I think every era has it's turds and gems. I owned two late 60s GTs, both routed for HBs though I have no idea what pups were in them. One was so-so and the other heavenly.

Same with Norlins. Had a Norlin LP Sunburst Custom that was a dog. And a Norlin Black Custom that was just okay. But my Norlin Flying V was like the oldest GT. It had "it".

Slagging or lauding any era of Les Pauls out of hand is ignorant, imho. If think no dogs were made in the 50s you're cray-cray. :LOL:
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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Steve Lukather played quite a few Borlin Gibson guitars, but most of them were the jazz hollow body guitars.

But here is his 1971 Les Paul Standard

06-lukather.jpg


big_images.jpeg


(Equipboard says it's a 1974 Les Paul, but I'm pretty sure it's a 71)

He also played a 71 Gibson ES 335 in Tobacco Sunburst, which he used on a lot of the stuff he did with Boz Scaggs and on Toto's first 4 albums. I think it is in the inner sleeve of Hydra.
He doesn't really talk about the ES 335, but my guess is that either he still owns it, he sold it or it was stolen. He has had several guitars and amps stolen over the years, and he also had mentioned selling several of his guitars (which he understandably regretted).
 

dnabbet2

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May 31, 2017
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Are the Standard and Elite 80s Norlin-era? They were great!

The top carves and finish were good ... necks were comfortable ... Grover tuners ... Tim Shaw pickups, I think.

They were heavy, though. And some of the tops were figured but matched goofily. And the pickup ring plastic was soft, and the rings would go off-square.

Hmmm ... I guess my answer to the question is inconsistent attention to detail?
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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Also when Norlin acquired Gibson, they helped boost the popularity of the Les Paul Jr, Les Paul Special and Les Paul doublecut.

They also helped fix a lot of necks that broke easily on Gibson guitars.
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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Hey @Midnight Blues, saw this 1976 red sequined Norlin Gibson Les Paul owned by Steve Howe and thought you would be interested in seeing it.

 

Midnight Blues

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Hey @Midnight Blues, saw this 1976 red sequined Norlin Gibson Les Paul owned by Steve Howe and thought you would be interested in seeing it.


That's funny/ironic,! This came-up in my YT over the weekend (skip to approximately 3:40):

 

Old dude 70

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Dec 20, 2021
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Back in the 80’s I got my first lp, used 78 tobacco burst standard. Being my first I had no clue but it was reasonable $450 with the plastic defender case

that was one of the Norlen dogs, boat anchor heavy, fat neck, dull pickups and dead sounding unplugged. It just didn’t sound anything like I thought it should. Thought it was me, maybe could have modded it but that was before I knew enough to change it. Never liked it and I moved it on
 

Bonzo

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Dec 24, 2020
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My 76. Bought her new as a high school graduation gift to myself. She’s a great player. We named her the Red Headed “B”. She’s wearing pearly gates but I have the original pickups. Not much else has changed. Fret board is scalloped from all the playing she’s been thru Over the years. My tech once asked me if I wanted him to level the fretboard. I looked at him and said, do you know how much playing went into that. That’s real play with no artificial help.
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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In addition, Norlin was also controlling Moog around the same time that Norlin was controlling Gibson, and a lot of Moog synth guts would be used as the electronics for a Gibson guitar. Plus, the pickguards on Gibson Norlin guitars used to shrink from so much road wear.

Vicki Peterson of the Bangles used a 1972 Gibson Les Paul custom in sunburst finish.
1642391634008.png

This guitar sadly got stolen during a European tour in 2003, but she replaced it with a few other Les Pauls. Not sure if they were Norlin, though.

And Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, playing her 1976 Norlin Gibson Thunderbird bass
1642391734548.png
 

NO-MAD

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Did any of the Norlins have minibuckers (without the adj. screws) as a standard? Just curious as how many combinations of pickups
were involved with the Norlins.
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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Did any of the Norlins have minibuckers (without the adj. screws) as a standard? Just curious as how many combinations of pickups
were involved with the Norlins.
They may have been equipped with minibuckers.
 

Grog

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In addition, Norlin was also controlling Moog around the same time that Norlin was controlling Gibson, and a lot of Moog synth guts would be used as the electronics for a Gibson guitar. Plus, the pickguards on Gibson Norlin guitars used to shrink from so much road wear.

Vicki Peterson of the Bangles used a 1972 Gibson Les Paul custom in sunburst finish.
View attachment 16572

This guitar sadly got stolen during a European tour in 2003, but she replaced it with a few other Les Pauls. Not sure if they were Norlin, though.

And Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, playing her 1976 Norlin Gibson Thunderbird bass
View attachment 16573
A pair of ‘78 RD Artists with Moog circuitry. They eventually came out with an ES & a Les Paul version.

4gKt55z.jpg
 

El Gringo

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In addition, Norlin was also controlling Moog around the same time that Norlin was controlling Gibson, and a lot of Moog synth guts would be used as the electronics for a Gibson guitar. Plus, the pickguards on Gibson Norlin guitars used to shrink from so much road wear.

Vicki Peterson of the Bangles used a 1972 Gibson Les Paul custom in sunburst finish.
View attachment 16572

This guitar sadly got stolen during a European tour in 2003, but she replaced it with a few other Les Pauls. Not sure if they were Norlin, though.

And Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, playing her 1976 Norlin Gibson Thunderbird bass
View attachment 16573 That's a most super cool photo of Vickie Peterson I mean really cool . Love her technique with her Les Paul in this awesome image . Probably one of the cooler photos I have seen in a while ! Thanks for Posting ☀️ You know what else ? I can see Susanna Hoffs leg right next to Vickie's . Maybe check that out to verify that I am seeing that correctly please ?
 

IMMUSICRULZ

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You are correct.

Also remember Suzy Quattro playing a Gibson Ripper or some other Gibson bass. That kinda looked similar to the 1978 Gibson RD Bass that @Grog posted earlier.

1642721054811.jpeg
 

El Gringo

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I was thinkin' of creating a thread about CBS Fender.
I was going to say No ! but if you must maybe focus on 65-72 ? As in 72 they started spraying with the dreadful awful Polyurethane finishes the choker/killer of wood and thus depriving the natural resonance from the more traditional nitrocellulose finishes . Why ? because folks were complaining about finish checks and dealers because of complaints were sending back instruments , and also because the State of California passed new Environmental laws (Fender plant was located in Fullerton California ) .Thus CBS Fender was only spraying Nitro on the headstock over the Fender decal as the decal was not adhering correctly to the poly finish where the decal was placed on top of the finish with the nitro , and thus from 72 forward you see the orange looking shade on the headstocks , where the rest of the neck pales in comparison . Even though the penny pinching CBS took over from Leo Fender in the mid to late 60's there were a lot of great guitars being designed and built by CBS Fender , such as the Pink Paisley and Blue Flower Finishes think Summer of Love thing even though the Pink Paisley Telecaster was embraced by James Burton who was playing for Elvis and caught on more with Country and Western Folks like Brad Paisley ( talk about an amazing master of the fretboard and if you ever have a chance to see him live plying his trade you will be in for a masterclass on the 6 string electric ) The Rosewood Telecaster and Stratocaster which the Telecaster was delivered personally to George Harrison during the making of the Let It Be Album and used on the last live Beatles Performance on the rooftop of Apple studios . The Rosewood Stratocaster was supposed to go to Jimi Hendrix but did not make it in time before his passing . These are a few examples from the takeover from CBS ,who also in 1965 purchased the NY Yankees and carried on there corporate penny pinching and sold off valuable assets and the once proud franchise were last place laughing stocks in the American League . Not a Fan of CBS , but (there always is a but ) also this period from 65-72 is a more affordable chance to snag a Tele or Strat that still carried Leo's DNA and still performs really well in the tone department and is a carryover from the pre CBS era Fender instruments . So there is plenty to mine from this still fertile period in Fender's history !
 
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