Allan Holdsworth’s “62 Ebony Block “Velvet Darkness” SG Les Paul Custom.

[ppgf]

have this on loan from a friend. Allan used it towards the tail end of his tenure w/ tony williams lifetime. it was featured on the cover of allan’s solo debut, “velvet darkness”. it was refretted by john carruthers. seymour duncan wound/installed the pickups.

it’s a trip to have a guitar that i’ve been ogling, since i was a kid, in hand.

 

[guitplayer]

Cool!! Are those thumbwheels together and on top of the wood?

 

[brandtkronholm]

Wicked cool!

Was it originally a three-pickup model?

What’s your take on the pickups?
How do they compare to PAFs that might have been originally in the guitar?

What are the details on the frets?

 

[ppgf]

2023-09-21 06.39.22.mov

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[zacknorton]

look at those curves and carves!!!

 

[ppgf]

Wicked cool!

Was it originally a three-pickup model?

What’s your take on the pickups?
How do they compare to PAFs that might have been originally in the guitar?

What are the details on the frets?

it was a 3 pickup custom. allan didn’t use the middle pickup.
seymour wound the pickups and they sound spectacular.

will post detailed shots of the frets.

 

[ppgf]

 

[ppgf]

Cool!! Are those thumbwheels together and on top of the wood?

indeed they are.

 

[ppgf]

 

[seafood]

beyond excellent photography !!!!!!!!!!! and i dig those frets !!!!!!

 

[ppgf]

indeed they are.

??

 

[jb_abides]

Thanks for sharing. Very cool.

 

[DutchRay]

have this on loan from a friend. Allan used it towards the tail end of his tenure w/ tony williams lifetime. it was featured on the cover of allan’s solo debut, “velvet darkness”. it was refretted by john carruthers. seymour duncan wound/installed the pickups.

it’s a trip to have a guitar that i’ve been ogling, since i was a kid, in hand.

Cool guitar! So, did you break the pickguard or was it already broken before you took out the pickups?

 

[ppgf]

Cool guitar! So, did you break the pickguard or was it already broken before you took out the pickups?

it disintegrated over the course of a few decades. my boy had a replacement made recently.

 

[Bruce R]

Those are huge frets! The 3-pickup guitars are quite hard to play, so any folks drop the middle one as far down as possible. That pickguard doesn't look too bad. Nice guitar!

 

[seafood]

Really a treat to see this !!!!! Thank You !!!!!!

 

[NINFNM]

The work they did on the neck binding could not be more neglected

 

[Dave P]

The work they did on the neck binding could not be more neglected

You do have to remember at the time, it was just a tool for Allan to make music. Mods were made to suit his preferences. SG's were not super valuable collector pieces when Allan was using them. It wasn't long after this Allan switched to Fender scale instruments (Fender, Dick Knight, Charvel, etc) for better note clarity on the low strings.

 

[EFLOW]

This Gibson is very rare, a part of history !

 

[Bruce R]

Even Les quickly found the annoyance in having that middle pickup