Gibson/Epiphone guitar question?

MNM7

I might not be up to date. The last I heard is that Gibson had left the country and thus you can't really get Gibson or Epiphone guitars in SA from dealers. Just want to know of that's still the case and then if it's possible to import them personally?

ZarK

Yes Gibson/Epiphone has left the building... You can still find Epiphones in some shops, however. Haven't seen a Gibson in a shop for a while. Many Gibsons available second hand, though... You can import almost anything you want. Personally I would import a Gibson if I was so inclined, but not an Epiphone. Reason being that the shipping cost on a guitar irrespective of purchase price is quite high to SA. Therefore importing a more expensive guitar would make more financial sense to me... Also check out Tokai Les Pauls (Love Rocks…) if you wish. Excellent quality copies of Gibson Les Pauls…

All of the best.

DonovanB

Funny that I saw two new Epiphone Les Paul's in Marshall Music Hillcrest

msch997

Phone Marshall Music in Woodmead Johannesburg they seem to source Epiphone and Gibson from somewhere. A month or so back they had quite a few Epiphones on the wall as well as a 2010 Gibson Les Paul standard and Gibson SG Standard. Doubt if they would still be there as there was a lot of interest at the time.

But if they had them once maybe they will have them again.

aubs1

I saw a Gibson Les Paul '56 Gold Top (not an RI) with P90s (near mint) today, even touched and played it.

Sad news, the guy is selling on behalf of an American friend.................he wants..................sit down..................

US$30K..........................convert to Rands.............OMGosh!!!!!

Tokai-SA

Aubs1 wrote: I saw a Gibson Les Paul '56 Gold Top (not an RI) with P90s (near mint) today, even touched and played it.

Sad news, the guy is selling on behalf of an American friend.................he wants..................sit down..................

US$30K..........................convert to Rands.............OMGosh!!!!!

I also played and 'studied' a real 56 P90 Gold Top at Andy's last week.
It was there to be re-fretted and re-finished by Andy.
Was the one you played nice and light in weight...those old one's were surprisingly light?

I wont mention the owners name, but I can tell you he also owned and sold a 59 in MINT condition to a Japanese collector...and I mean MINT. ?

Tokai-SA

MNM7 wrote: I might not be up to date. The last I heard is that Gibson had left the country and thus you can't really get Gibson or Epiphone guitars in SA from dealers. Just want to know of that's still the case and then if it's possible to import them personally?

Marshall Music and Music Connection are both importing Epiphones and Gibsons.

vic

Aubs1 wrote: I saw a Gibson Les Paul '56 Gold Top (not an RI) with P90s (near mint) today, even touched and played it.

Sad news, the guy is selling on behalf of an American friend.................he wants..................sit down..................

US$30K..........................convert to Rands.............OMGosh!!!!!

That's NO problem for you Aubs... ?

aubs1

vic wrote: That's NO problem for you Aubs... ?

Hahahahahahah......LOL ......Vic, my last name is definitely NOT Trump, Gates, Jobs or the like .......

You are the guy with all those Awesome Vintage Gibsons!!!!!! (Still saving for my PRS 513.......remember?) ? ?

Tokai SA wrote: I also played and 'studied' a real 56 P90 Gold Top at Andy's last week.
It was there to be re-fretted and re-finished by Andy.
Was the one you played nice and light in weight...those old one's were surprisingly light?

I wont mention the owners name, but I can tell you he also owned and sold a 59 in MINT condition to a Japanese collector...and I mean MINT. ?

It may well have been, but it was definitely not at Andys, the guy where I saw and played it has "connections" with, and does some work for Andy, or/and vice/versa.......bliksem, does that sound like English?

Tokai, I was so in awe, I honestly cannot tell you if it were lighter......might have been. This one was what I would describe as "near mint".

Tokai-SA

Aubs1 wrote:
vic wrote: That's NO problem for you Aubs... ?
Hahahahahahah......LOL ......Vic, my last name is definitely NOT Trump, Gates, Jobs or the like .......

You are the guy with all those Awesome Vintage Gibsons!!!!!! (Still saving for my PRS 513.......remember?) ? ?

Tokai SA wrote: I also played and 'studied' a real 56 P90 Gold Top at Andy's last week.
It was there to be re-fretted and re-finished by Andy.
Was the one you played nice and light in weight...those old one's were surprisingly light?

I wont mention the owners name, but I can tell you he also owned and sold a 59 in MINT condition to a Japanese collector...and I mean MINT. ?
It may well have been, but it was definitely not at Andys, the guy where I saw and played it has "connections" with, and does some work for Andy, or/and vice/versa.......bliksem, does that sound like English?

Tokai, I was so in awe, I honestly cannot tell you if it were lighter......might have been. This one was what I would describe as "near mint".

The one at Andy's arrived in really bad condition...definitely not the same one you played.
Andy had to strip it down completely (except the Gold Top), re fret it, and then respray and relic it.

Same here, I was also in awe holding it and checking it out...we actually held it up against one like yours to compare colours...the 56 Gold was more "greenish", I guess that's 54 years of ageing. ?

Vintage-Guitar

Tokai SA wrote: I wont mention the owners name, but I can tell you he also owned and sold a 59 in MINT condition to a Japanese collector...and I mean MINT. ?

That must have been the 'AFRICAN BURST'
Left our shores some time ago. 8)

vic

Aubs1 wrote: I saw a Gibson Les Paul '56 Gold Top (not an RI) with P90s (near mint) today, even touched and played it.

Sad news, the guy is selling on behalf of an American friend.................he wants..................sit down..................

US$30K..........................convert to Rands.............OMGosh!!!!!

That's about R230,000.....I wonder if this would still be a good investment in today's climate ? It's a bit cheaper than in the US I think ( if the guit is in good original condition) and it's already on SA soil.

MNM7

OK so Music Connection and Marshall Music Woodmead. OK will check em out over the weekend.

aubs1

vic wrote: That's about R230,000.....I wonder if this would still be a good investment in today's climate ? It's a bit cheaper than in the US I think ( if the guit is in good original condition) and it's already on SA soil.

My thoughts too Vic, but even though I am in awe of such vintage guitars, I am not really a dedicated "collector", so no, I would rather still have a PRS 513.....so by the time Eli gets his inheritance, it'll be at least 20+ years old, and his child(ren) will have a few vintage guitars......... ? ? ?.

MNM7 wrote: OK so Music Connection and Marshall Music Woodmead. OK will check em out over the weekend.

Good luck with your search, hope you find the perfect guitar..........

MNM7

[qoute]

MNM7 wrote: OK so Music Connection and Marshall Music Woodmead. OK will check em out over the weekend.

Good luck with your search, hope you find the perfect guitar..........
[/quote]

Thanx. Me too. ?

ZarK

MNM7 wrote: [qoute]
MNM7 wrote: OK so Music Connection and Marshall Music Woodmead. OK will check em out over the weekend.
Good luck with your search, hope you find the perfect guitar..........

Thanx. Me too. ?
[/quote]

I've spent some time this week checking out Epi Les Pauls and PRS SE's (amongst others... If you're into the Les Paul shape, do yourself a favour and check out the PRS SE single cuts and more specifically, the PRS SE Tremonti... I much prefer them to the current batch of Epi's I've tested. Maybe you feel differently, but at least try them for yourself.

All of the best!

singemonkey

vic wrote:
Aubs1 wrote: I saw a Gibson Les Paul '56 Gold Top (not an RI) with P90s (near mint) today, even touched and played it.

Sad news, the guy is selling on behalf of an American friend.................he wants..................sit down..................

US$30K..........................convert to Rands.............OMGosh!!!!!
That's about R230,000.....I wonder if this would still be a good investment in today's climate ? It's a bit cheaper than in the US I think ( if the guit is in good original condition) and it's already on SA soil.

Really hard to say. There might be another downturn for vintage Les Pauls. Everyone might go through a phase of being sick of Les Pauls again - they're probably even more popular now than they were in the seventies. So the prices might go down for a spell. But ultimately, I think people are going to be saying, "I wish I'd bought a gold-top when they were going for less than $100K."

bENDER

SA prices are CRaZYYY!

Do you guys perhaps know of any Epiphone/Gibson Explorers floating around?

vic

bENDER wrote: SA prices are CRaZYYY!

Do you guys perhaps know of any Epiphone/Gibson Explorers floating around?

There are a few Epis on Gumtree... at reasonable prices as well..