The very first time I saw my husband he was carrying a Gibson Les Paul standard guitar. This was over fifteen years ago, and he still has it. He often jokes that he has had it longer than his wife, though by now, at least I am in better shape than that old thing is. He still loves it though, and he still loves to play it. Slowly over the years his guitar collection has grown, but he still loves the Gibson. He says there is nothing like it, but he does not play it nearly as much as he use to.
He once told me that his Gibson Les Paul standard was much like a woman. I don’t really know what he said after that because I scoffed and walked away. He has always been very respectful of all women, so perhaps I should have listened to what he was going to say. He already had one strike against him because he was a musician, but in the end I gave in. He and his Gibson Les Paul standard moved into my life for good. He didn’t have much when we were first together, but he said he didn’t need much more than that guitar.
He still loves his guitar, but he says it won’t stand up to the abuse as well as it use to. It still sounds good, but he says that he has banged it up too much and goes out of tune rather easily. He has traveled many miles with various bands, and I guess that is just part of the life. His Gibson Les Paul standard has been dropped a few times by roadies (luckily, while still in the case) and there was nothing he could do about that. He knows accidents happen, but he also knows that after having the same guitar for over twenty years that no replacement would do.
You can still buy the Gibson Les Paul standard today, and almost anyone will tell you that they are great guitars. My husband knows this, but he knows he can’t replace the one that he has. It has been through a lot with him, and with us quite frankly, and perhaps it is the history of a guitar that gives it most of its value, and not how much it costs to buy it in a store. In fact, many who have seen him play for years have said it’s just not the same if he’s playing any other guitar.
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