Originally Posted by: JeffS65Pre-lawsuit Ibanez was pretty bold to essentially do what they did in the 70's by making near copies of the original. Good stuff too.[/quote]

Different times. No internet information overload nor buying onliine. What was available in stock in the local few and far between music shops was it. I was a naive kid who didn't know what I was buying at the time as I recall. Sometime circa late 1974 I walked in and place my trust entirely in the hands of the store owner. Paraphrased, his sales qualificiation of me and the subsequent conversation went something like this.

"Are you are Fender or Gibson man"? ..."Umm" ..blank no idea expression on my face.

"Do you prefer the sound of Fender ..or Gibson guitars?" ...Thinking for all of a nanosecond ..Paul Kossoff "All Right Now", Tony Iommi "Paranoid", without hesitation "Gibson!" says I emphatically.

"Well have a look at this then" as he guides me to the THE Ibanez SG clone in Cherry Red lying in its own factory hard case showcased against contrasting gold lining. I nearly dropped dead right there and then with guitar lust and image association in my imagination. "These are new, incredible quality, Made in Japan and sound great" . Or, he pointed to the price of the Gibson on the wall. He didn't have to spin any further. A short demo followed by handing it to me maximising all the tactics of arousing buyer excitment and closing me with "buy now!" lust worked a treat. I walked out of the shop with it not having any clue what I had bought really ...other than it was an electric guitar. That said, he had given me good advice, and I was more than delighted with that guitar and the purchase. The lust for that guitar never wore off in the time I owned it.

[quote=JeffS65]I got my red Les Paul as an emotional buy. My first guitar was a 68 Les Paul and I regretted that I ever got rid of it. I loved that guitar. It felt like home.

Like all things nostalgia, on the one hand I kinda' wish I still had that Ibanez SG if for nothing else as a keepsake, but by the same token, I'm glad I don't have it which might tarnish that rose tinted memory with a dose of reality when compared against my current inventory. Either way, it's the past. I'm hell bent on enjoying the present, what's left of it.