Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Magic

Ted Drozdowski explains the magic of Old Black, the 1953 Gibson Les Paul played by Neil Young:

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.”

Video: Neil Young w/ Crazy Horse - Like A Hurricane
(from Rust Never Sleeps)

» gibson.com