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Memphis Les Paul Copy


twistedMr

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Hi,

This is a great site,and cant wait to read more posts.Here are some pics of my Memphis i bought 20+ years ago.Over the years two volume knobs broke off,and i had them replaced.Every thing else is original parts.Great playing guitar,and cant find another one like it.I seen one on Ebay years ago that i wish i had bought.Should i list this guitar on my house insurance?When i got it back from the music store the repair tag said Les Paul.

 

Any info on this guitar would be great.

 

thanks Ed

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Should i list this guitar on my house insurance?

 

You could, but it's not really all that valuable.

 

It's a pretty run of the mill Japanese knock off brand, if you want the honest truth. There are far better import copies from that era that are much more highly sought after.

 

Fun fact: one of Slash's first guitars was Memphis Les Paul copy.

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You could, but it's not really all that valuable.


It's a pretty run of the mill Japanese knock off brand, if you want the honest truth. There are far better import copies from that era that are much more highly sought after.


Fun fact: one of Slash's first guitars was Memphis Les Paul copy.

 

I have herd that before.Maybe this was his.:lol:

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I had a Memphis double cut Les Paul Special. Looked spot on from 10 feet away - it was cherry. Wasn't all that great in the sound,plaability, weight department (about 15 lbs) but there are not many of them out there anymore.

 

Cool guitar.

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Some chat about Memphis guitars:

 

http://www.axecentral.com/memphis-guitars-222746.html

 

http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/forum/other-replicas/memphis-guitars/

 

I always thought they were Korean, and comparable to Hondo, but it seems some are MIJ (as some of the better Hondos were).

 

Not really worth adding to your insurance (a claim for it being stolen would probably do more harm than good to your insurance history), but certainly a guitar to have fun with.

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Hi,

This is a great site,and cant wait to read more posts.Here are some pics of my Memphis i bought 20+ years ago.Over the years two volume knobs broke off,and i had them replaced.Every thing else is original parts.Great playing guitar,and cant find another one like it.I seen one on Ebay years ago that i wish i had bought.Should i list this guitar on my house insurance?When i got it back from the music store the repair tag said Les Paul.


Any info on this guitar would be great.


thanks Ed

 

 

 

 

 

The bolt-on ones are much more common. The set neck ones are much more rare.

 

Memphis is a brand that has a love or hate relationship with players that have come across them. The only two that I've ever played were utter {censored}, but I've seen one guy play one live that sounded like heaven, and said it was the best LP that he had come across in years.

 

They're still kind of an under the radar brand, which is why the good ones haven't skyrocketed in price.

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The Memphis Les Paul was made by Yamaha. Your guitar is nice example of some of the LP copies out there. I also have one that I inherited from my father who passed in 1979. I don't know what year it is and have not seen another one like it with the sunburst finish and black hardware and pick guard. Notice the "open book" design of the head stock. This is a pre lawsuit design that was later changed. This guitar is heavy and sounds amazing in the right hands. I took mine in for a tune up and the shop owner offered me $3,000 for it but it has sentimental value so selling it is out of the question.

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The Memphis Les Paul was made by Yamaha. Your guitar is nice example of some of the LP copies out there. I also have one that I inherited from my father who passed in 1979. I don't know what year it is and have not seen another one like it with the sunburst finish and black hardware and pick guard. Notice the "open book" design of the head stock. This is a pre lawsuit design that was later changed. This guitar is heavy and sounds amazing in the right hands. I took mine in for a tune up and the shop owner offered me $3,000 for it but it has sentimental value so selling it is out of the question.

 

Could you please tell me the name and address of that shop? I have some guitars and other stuff that the owner may be interested in purchasing.Thanks.

 

brooklyn-bridge.jpg

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Notice the "open book" design of the head stock. This is a pre lawsuit design that was later changed.

 

:facepalm:

 

Why is it that everyone thinks that "open book" automatically = "pre-lawsuit" = "instantly valuable"?

 

Gibson's 1977 lawsuit against Ibanez has NOTHING to do with the thousands of other LP clones that came from the far east during the late 70's-early 80's.

 

Dig it-- there was a lawsuit against ONE company-- Ibanez. Not Yamaha, Not Memphis, Not Greco, Not Matsumoku, Not Tokai. None of the other companies were named in the suit.

 

This whole pre-lawsuit BS is one of the biggest fallacies out there surrounding Pacific rim guitars.

P.T. Barnum had it right... there IS a sucker born every minute-- You should have taken the $3000 from that poor sap "dealer" and run like the devil.

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The Memphis Les Paul ... I took mine in for a tune up and the shop owner offered me $3,000 for it but it has sentimental value so selling it is out of the question.

 

 

He neglected to mention it was an offer of $3,000 trade-in value on a $3,500 Epi LP???

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I mentioned pre lawsuit because after gibson won the copywrite lawsuit, which was only for the headstock shape, manufacturers of these copies were forced to change their design. This "open book" design therefore dates the copy to pre 1977. I am in no way saying this enhances the value, it does however make the pre '77 copies identifiable.

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The Memphis Les Paul was made by Yamaha. Your guitar is nice example of some of the LP copies out there. I also have one that I inherited from my father who passed in 1979. I don't know what year it is and have not seen another one like it with the sunburst finish and black hardware and pick guard. Notice the "open book" design of the head stock. This is a pre lawsuit design that was later changed. This guitar is heavy and sounds amazing in the right hands. I took mine in for a tune up and the shop owner offered me $3,000 for it but it has sentimental value so selling it is out of the question.

 

 

Memphis LP was made by Yamaha?? I've never heard this....I didn't think Yamaha used any other brand names. I'd like to see verification on this. It may be true, but I am skeptical...

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Dude you should have taken the 3 grand. A Memphis LP copy is barely worth $300.


Also, they were not made by Yamaha.

 

 

so who were they made by? you always seem to have a wealth of knowledge and a {censored}ing nose track opinion on everything not MIA or name brand... so tell us, who made them? oh, and i have a 70's-80's era Japanese guitar that i would put up against anything(in a much better player's hands of course:facepalm:)

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so who were they made by? you always seem to have a wealth of knowledge and a {censored}ing nose track opinion on everything not MIA or name brand... so tell us, who made them? oh, and i have a 70's-80's era Japanese guitar that i would put up against anything(in a much better player's hands of course:facepalm:)

 

 

i did some research and there seems to be a variety of opinion and no consensus......but it certainly looks like they were NOT made by Yamaha.

 

btw. I am certainly not an MIA nut.....as I have both a Yamaha sbg2000 and a Gibby LP Custom and on any given day the Yamaha wins.

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i did some research and there seems to be a variety of opinion and no consensus......but it certainly looks like they were NOT made by Yamaha.


btw. I am certainly not an MIA nut.....as I have both a Yamaha sbg2000 and a Gibby LP Custom and on any given day the Yamaha wins.

 

 

that wasn't directed at you wader... it makes no difference to me who made them, but i get tired of the snobbery around here... this is not 1959, the bulk of instruments are no longer hand made, most everything is CNC. and in all honesty, a little Chinaman can push a button just as well as anyone else...

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