If
there’s ever been a match made in Rock and Roll Heaven, it’s
Neil Young and his trusty 1953 Les Paul “Old Black.” The
battered six-string with more raunch than a Vegas stand-up comic has
been his main electric axe since the late ’60s, burning its
way into history on 1969’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
with the blaring rocker “Cinnamon Girl” and the freewheeling
guitar epics “Down By the River” and “Cowgirl in
the Sand.”
Over the years the guitar has brayed and sang its way through all
of Young’s most jolting transformations, from the dark journey
of 1974’s Tonight’s the Night to the electro-pop
diversion of ’82’s Trans to 1988’s blues
explosion This Note’s for You.
Of course, “Old Black” also can be heard on albums and
songs that are considered part of the firmament of Young’s career:
Rust Never Sleeps, American Stars ’n’ Bars
and After the Gold Rush among them. And for those who’ve
been lucky enough to hear Young live, especially backed by Crazy Horse
or Booker T. and the MG’s, the vision of the shaggy-haired chameleon
slamming his longtime companion’s strings into grizzly bear
growls on “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” or lupine
howls of feedback for his occasional renditions of “Blowin’
in the Wind,” the experience is indelible – pure rock
and roll nirvana.
Those familiar with the history of the Gibson Les Paul Standard know
“Old Black”’s true colors. This trusty steed came
into the world as a Les Paul Gold Top. When the Gibson Les Paul model
first went into production in 1952 that was the only finish available
and P-90 single coil pickups were standard. In ’57, the pickup
configuration changed to humbuckers, and the finish options began
to evolve in 1958 with the introduction of the Gibson Les Paul Standard
Sunburst, the instrument made famous by Eric Clapton, Peter Green,
Jimmy Page, Michael Bloomfield, Billy Gibbons and other guitar deities.
How his Les Paul’s heart of gold, or at least the finish of
that hue, turned a gristly nearly spray-painted black is something
of a mystery, since Young acquired the guitar in its distinctive noir
finish. But much is known about this iconic instrument.
Young got his versatile pal during his original stint in Buffalo
Springfield, from bandmate Jim Messina in 1969 – shortly before
recording Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. One reason “Old
Black” sounds so distinctive is its pickup configuration. The
original ’53 P-90 has always remained in the neck position,
but the bridge pickup was first replaced with a Dynasonic single-coil
and then with a mini-humbucker from a ’72 Gibson Firebird that
has remained in place ever since. The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece was
on by the time of the Everybody Knows This is Nowhere sessions
and can be heard putting some sonic chills in “Cowgirl in the
Sand.”
Another distinctive touch is the aluminum pickguard that replaced
the white plastic one that was standard issue for early Gold Tops.
The plate is stiff and, obviously, metallic – qualities thought
to enhance Young’s romance with feedback.
There is speculation about the year of “Old Black”’s
neck. It has a partially painted-over pearloid inlay on its headstock
that appears to be a “wheat stack” rather than split trapezoid
style. The “wheat stack” inlay was applied to Gibson necks
made between 1961 and ’68, well past “Old Black”’s
vintage. Of course, most of the paint is off the back of the guitar’s
mahogany neck after decades of brutal and beautiful playing, and the
binding is equally frayed. Also, there’s another aluminum plate
in the rear, just under the bridge to access the bridge screws from
behind.
Perhaps the guitar’s most unusual modification is the toggle
switch mounted on its front between the volume and tone speed dials.
It is reportedly a bypass switch that lets “Old Black”’s
signal go straight into one of the small, late ’50s amps that
Young sets on “stun” to create his big, bad rumble, dodging
the potentiometers and capacitors within the guitar.
If Young were a wizard – which, of course, he is – then
“Old Black” would be his familiar. But it’s not
the only Gibson in his trove of guitars. He owns Explorers and some
newer Gold Tops. On 1973’s Time Fades Away tour he
used a Flying V on stage. And on “Old Man,” from Harvest,
that’s James Taylor picking away on Young’s 1927 Gibson
Mastertone banjo.
