Japanese Guitars: Gateway to Gibson

I wanted a Gibson Les Paul badly when I was a young guitar player, but I couldn’t afford one. All I could do was ogle my guitar teacher’s Les Paul, Deluxe Gold Top, and hope one day I could join the club.

Being the cool guy my teacher was, he recommended an alternative that would tide me over until I could afford the real thing. He told me he’d seen a cool Les Paul copy at a music store not far from where we lived. I talked my mom into taking me to check out the guitar. It was a copy of a Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty. It was cool! It seemed to have all the appointments of the real thing except for the bolt on neck. We somehow walked out of the store with the guitar and I was on my way.

This was my guitar for the next several years. And it really was a good guitar for me at the time. It stayed in tune, had good action and was reliable. I learned how to play Smoke on the Water, Iron Man, Sweet Home… And many other tunes on this axe. My lust for the real thing never waned, mind you, but the copy served me well.

As we all know there are tons of Japanese guitars from entry level to pro. But for many of us starting out, we relied on inexpensive copies of the guitars we coveted – and would one day own. These guitars were really gateways to the Gibsons and Fenders that we knew we’d someday own.

Fast forward a few years, and sure enough I’m the owner of a couple Les Pauls. I now have a Les Paul Classic, and a Les Paul Deluxe – among a few other guitars.