1978 Les Paul Custom (John Sykes specs) demo

[@johnnymoraes23]

Beautiful tone. The end of the 70's seems like it was a magical time for Gibson. Have seen many incredible sounding and looking custom shops from that time around.

[@donobrien1977]

Great find. Fantastic tone, Sykes is the man!

[@dannymcmince]

It was Phil Lynott who recommended the mirror pick guard and pickup surrounds!

[@ralpherl5657]

Danny Brew wow really? Cool idea from Phil

[@dannymcmince]

Ralphie Leonard Cheer's

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

I do know that Phil decided to put a mirror pick-guard on his Fender Precision bass after getting the idea from Noddy Holder's mirrored top hat when Lizzy were supporting Slade in the early days.

[@gameroftheyear1000]

Correct! Sykes had cream plastics and gold hardware before converting over to the mirror plastics and chrome hardware.

[@dannymcmince]

@@gameroftheyear1000 That's correct 🤘

[@klextacy]

Sounds fantastic, man! I had a '78 that I'd outfitted basically the same way(save for the relic'ing and the brass nut), and it's such a tremendous guitar. Easily the best playing guitar I've ever owned.

[@FlashGrover]

Thanks man. Yeah this one is also a killer guitar - easily the best Les Paul ever

[@wendyhetherington7402]

I have his back up 91 Les Paul Custom,used on the blue murder Japanese tour from that era

[@the.original.K]

That's a work of art. Sounds and looks amazing.

[@billyc6678]

I just came across your vid, damn , if that isn’t some amazing tone. Awesome sustain!! 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

[@MauricioCaran]

I put dirty fingers on both neck and bridge in my LP and it sounds absolutely great ! Very 80's !

[@matsandersson8857]

I've liked Thin Lizzy since the 70's. I had records with Tygers Of Pan Tang before he joined Thin Lizzy. He did a solo single with Phil Lynott before (Please Don't Leave Me). The summer of 1983 Phil, Brian D, Mark Stanway (Magnum) and Doish Nagle did a tour of the Swedish Folk Parks. They played my home town and my brother and a friend helped their sound man buy new shoes. So we went to the gig with him and got to watch the whole soundcheck. They hadn't rehearsed that much so the soundcheck lasted almost two hours. They played other stuff also on that like a Beatles song. John played some Ozzy riffs like I Don't Know. I believe there were thoughts about him playing with Ozzy then. We also got to Go backstage after the gig. I've met John he's really nice. I know because i was a member of the Thin Lizzy Supporters Club, i've red a lot of stuff through the years and i've asked people through mail and stuff. Although my favourite player is Brian Robertson who was in Thin Lizzy.

[@EPstroker]

Sweet guitar and you nailed the tone perfectly!! Nice demo.

[@FlashGrover]

Thanks!

[@dieterschanzer7075]

yh really nailed that Sykes tone, lovely axe

[@FlashGrover]

thanks

[@bobbaumeister5243]

perfectly playin' on a wonderful guitar! Congratulation my friend, I'm also very happy about my 25/50 Anniversary! 1978 was a very good year!

[@rkb3573]

Excellent Job! Love the sound.

[@ralpherl5657]

That sounds so smooth, very nice

[@t-boog2173]

4.8 kilos = 10.5 lbs. Btw, I have a 70's Tribute Paul with Dirty Fingers and I love them. They have a huge sound and great pick attack chirp yet they also do a nice job on Classic Rock stuff. From Frampton to ACDC to Slash... It all sounds terrific.

[@Lespaul13100]

Awesome mate! Cheers! Love it! Gonna do the same to my Epi Les Paul Custom!

[@TheTruthseeker59]

sykes is the man! you are a lucky guy! awesome!

[@remingtonsteele3581]

I've got a Sykes signature model number 116. Love it.

[@WyattWillis88]

stumbled across your video I rarely comment but props to dialing in such a tremendous tone man!!! Really balls out badass sound! Im a bit of a tone freak and i can tell you must have put a fair bit of time into that sound. Congrats on such a great fiddle brother!

[@AndreaMaccianti]

Man I subbed! I love this guitar! ❤ Great sound and playing!!!

[@astrophotonics9470]

Nice find......love old LP's that reminds me of my 74" 20th anniversary custom......

[@adrianlee3497]

Sounds like an utter beast!!!😁😁😁😎😎😎😎

[@extrememike]

Amazing find!

[@inatorquoisemood93]

Where could you get a guitar like that today ? Thanks, its a beauty !

[@MuditBadlani]

Wow! Gorgeous tone. Thank you for the quality content sir!

[@FlashGrover]

thanks. happy to help

[@epicvsfvror]

Wow, fantastic guitar and tone!

[@morph666g]

was john sykes’s custom a norlin guitar with 3piece neck and pancake body

[@andre.1984]

What an awesome tone!! Geez...

[@janispetku4450]

Excellent sound.

[@guitarheroal]

Lovely guitar though,and a nice sound with tons of sustain

[@kenvorland]

Awesome man you need the hair to just kiddin rock on

[@massimosguitartrainer8440]

JOHN SYKES IS THE KING OF THE ROCK!

[@jasonbarnesbefuddledprofessor]

Absolute Beauty ❤️

[@kaptenbarbosa1436]

Very good tone. John Sykes tone indeed

[@godzillasimpson8357]

A Sykes guitar would also be great for playing a lot of randy Rhoads riffs

[@gameroftheyear1000]

Rare photo around of Sykes wearing a Diary of a madman tour T-shirt from when he went to see Rhoads play during the European leg of the tour in ‘81. Apparently from what I’ve read, Rhoads had an influence on him.

[@skummtoons6686]

Nice find Beautiful tone .

[@wampaku2]

Heavenly tone 🤩

[@FlashGrover]

thanks

[@Walkerbjj]

black/gold looks way better to me BUT John is a guitar God....incredible player and song writer

[@alexchrome9560]

Damn! that fucking amazing tone! Dude that it's a great guitar!

[@FlashGrover]

thanks :)

[@trillrifaxegrindor4411]

thats stunning,miss my 70 les paul custom in the worst way other than it disliked having a headstock and it would come off regularly.

[@hasrinmacintoshjawie]

Great sound

[@viletantrum]

Nice playing...you kick ass

[@CalmerBarber]

Jesus! This gave me goosebumps.

[@lesgibson969]

I'm big fan of Sykes and this guitar sounds amazing. Which amp/gear do you use to get this amazing tone?

[@FlashGrover]

Thanks. Axe FX II XL - patch is posted below.

[@jfsiqueira7813]

What is the neck profile of this beauty?

[@brCharlieNagy]

Awesommme tone, sir. What amp you used ?

[@fernandes5986]

Very good. I'm speechless. Did you tune to Eb?

[@chromemirror783]

Natural and Good Sound !!

[@matsandersson8857]

John Sykes guitar has the original T-top pickup in the neck position not a Dirty Fingers. The guitar already had the Dirty Fingers in the bridge position when he bought it used. Sometime in the mid 90´s the Dirty Fingers pickup stopped working so he had a Gibson Classic 57 put in instead. John has also bypassed the tone control on the bridge pickup so only the volume control works on that. I don't know when he had this done Also John´s guitar has a 2 stamped on it wich means the guitar was a second. It must have had some little fault wich didn´t pass Gibsons inspection when it was made. Was all the parts changed when you bought it or have you changed them? Was it already aged to look like Sykes guitar? John used Mesa Boogie amps and preamps for some time. But now since long he uses José Arredondo modded Marshalls. It´s Adrian Vandenberg who plays the solo on Here I Go Again on the 1987 album.

[@dannymcmince]

How come you know so much about Sykes!

[@dannymcmince]

Bye the way, are you sure it was Vanderburg that played that solo on Here \I go again?

[@rock_it9771]

100% Vandenberg on Here i go again

[@maxmustardman298]

Interesting, I thought he still had the Dirty Fingers when he recorded that live album in 2004. Frankly I didn't like the sound he got out of it, but that might also be due to the amp he used then.

[@benjaminwoodrowmusic6070]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitesnake_(album) Vandenburg on the album version and huff on the remix

[@puertecitos6888]

fantastic guitar, hope you didnt get rid of it

[@RandyFricke]

Well done!

[@trilogyopus]

It sounds better then Bernie Marsdens , Gary Moore's or Zakk Wylde Les Paul. Must be very expensive. Well done.

[@einarabelc5]

Gary Moore, I doubt it...Even Bernie's

[@connyblomqvist3648]

Can you please give me the modell name of the picups. Thanks for this video !

[@FlashGrover]

Dirty Fingers

[@zerohourtowersofavaricejas557]

Nice man, I've had interest in this guitar. What's the weight on it?

[@matsandersson8857]

AbnormalThoughtPatterns I believe John's guitar is rather heavy. Think i've red like 4.7kg. But i might be wrong on this. But 70's Les Pauls is often heavy and Customs is often heavier than Standards.

[@jeanpaulconvers5385]

Nice guitar. The neck pickup is not a Dirty Fingers. Only 6 ajustable ( by screwdriver) poles. The bridge pickup is a Dirty Fingers : 12 ajustable poles. It's the only Gibson pickup with these 12 ajustable magnet poles.

[@gameroftheyear1000]

The neck pickup should be a Gibson ‘57 classic stock. The dirty fingers should also be stock in a ‘78 custom. Right around the time when they started incorporating them into custom builds.

[@puertecitos6888]

Flash Grover, can you tell me what the neck pickup is?

[@FlashGrover]

Bridge & neck are Gibson "Dirty Fingers" pickups

[@pauloesterle9823]

What kind of amp are you running that through brother that's a great tone

[@FlashGrover]

Thanks. Axe FX II XL - patch is posted below.

[@johnwbusbee]

nailed it!

[@ibexthadevil3533]

That guitar is fucking rad

[@FlashGrover]

Thanks bro!

[@ramapramudana3104]

How much that guitar in today price?

[@whistlerisdannic]

Great tone. I can't see the preset here anywhere. Is it on axechange?

[@FlashGrover]

axechange.fractalaudio.com/detail.php?preset=5302

[@whistlerisdannic]

Ha, I actually downloaded that preset at the time, but renamed it so didn't realise. Have to say it's been my go to '80s rock sound. I use it all the time, just awesome. Definitely going to check out your other patches now. Great job man.

[@epicvsfvror]

So please mate, tell me, what's the brass nut you used on your guitar?

[@FlashGrover]

Im afraid i dont know - bought the guitar with the brass nut already on it

[@davidbaron8330]

Sounds right, but I couldn't do 10.5 lbs. That would KILL my back and shoulders.

[@georgeestremera1464]

I'm sorry if I missed it but is your neck pickup also a Dirty Fingers?

[@FlashGrover]

yes it is

[@madden7732]

@@FlashGrover hi! May I know which pedals did u used here? You really nailed that Sykes tone! I can hear some reverb, chorus I think, idk which distortion are u using, and Idk if there's any other pedal you used. Thanks in advance :)

[@FlashGrover]

@@madden7732 No pedals. All amps, distortions & effects are in the Axe FX preset which you download.

[@madden7732]

@@FlashGrover thank you very much for your response!

[@emiliogarza4856]

Awesome

[@dannymcmince]

Dan Huff played that solo on Here I go again!!

[@andresorio9389]

It was vanderberg

[@dannymcmince]

No Vandenberg played the other version!! Huff played on the US re-mix version

[@guitarheroal]

Bernie Marsden played the solo,he also wrote the song....lol

[@dannymcmince]

@@guitarheroal He sure did write the song and the original solo, not one that I was referring to, cheers

[@nicktrierweiler3690]

Listen to the wide vibrato guys. It's Sykes absolutely. Listen to the technique. Listen

[@hirskdubbi]

Is that guitar sound from software on your PC? How'd u get that sound?!

[@FlashGrover]

Thanks. Axe FX II XL

[@matsandersson8857]

Totally sure. I believe it's even written on the album/CD sleeve. There is an American Mix also on that Dan Huff plays guitar. According to Keith Olsen Dan Huff also did some guitars on the album. I'm not sure but that's what he says. Remember the recording started in 1984. But due to problems it wasn't released until 1987. So much could have happened during that time. This is what Keith Olsen says. If it's true i don't know. www.melodicrock.com/phorum52/read.php?1,1021126,1021126

[@totigerus]

mats andersson man I don’t know what the fuck to believe anymore about that whitsnake 87 album. I’ve heard so much shit about it, and it all contradicts one another. I wish I knew the truth. I want to know if I should be mourning the career of Sykes or not. What about Blue Murder? That shit sounds incredible! Are they gonna say that they brought in studio cats for that album too!?!?!? What the fuck?!?

[@matsandersson8857]

Totigerus I’m quite sure it’s John Sykes on the Blue Murder and Sykes albums. I guess we’ll never know for sure it took a long time to finish the 1987 album. Much can happen in the studio. Still i believe most of the guitar playing on 1987 is John Sykes Remember Sykes made some great stuff before the 1987 album in Tygers Of Pan Tang and Thin Lizzy.

[@blastfromthepast8344]

Just bought the new 30th anniversary CD of 1987. I agree that the full TRUE story of its recording will probably never be known, certainly it is skipped over in the CDs booklet notes. I think Vandenberg plays on the version of 'Here I Go Again' that is used here as backing - but he does seem to have been made to sound like Sykes. I think Sykes is on both Blue Murder albums without a doubt.

[@blastfromthepast8344]

Sykes was apparently not keen to re-record Here I Go Again and so I can well imagine that either he didn't do a very good job of the solo or he didn't bother to record one. Coverdale has stated that his guitar was replaced by Vandenberg, so probably the first of these.

[@matsandersson8857]

David Cox Well could be but can you be totally sure? Most with Sykes was done in 1984 maybe 1985 also. The record came out in 1987. Vandenberg doing the solo on Here I Go Again could be that he joined Whitesnake and DC wanted him on the album. Much happens in the studio you know. Things that are written on the sleeve isn’t always true you know.

[@remingtonsteele3581]

I've got a Skykes signature model number 116

[@guitarheroal]

Or you could buy mine,I have his backup 91 custom from the Blue Murder tour....lol

[@DevinRyanVitek]

Really? You should post a video of it. I bet it’s a beautiful guitar. Did you buy it from Sykes?

[@owlperchedsilo3745]

dont get rid of that

[@EvaSlash]

Are those stainless steel frets?

[@barrysoetoro1543]

What are you pluged into ??????

[@FlashGrover]

This is an Axe Fx II - preset can be found on the Axe Exchange

[@barrysoetoro1543]

Thank you... sounds really good!

[@yngveskarphedinssons]

amp used and fx???

[@FlashGrover]

Fractal Axe Fx II for everything

[@vazztheclavion6962]

SALE?

[@FlashGrover]

Ha! no. This one is a keeper

[@temomiken]

sykesのシグネイチャーモデルでvandenbergのソロをcopyするシュールさ。

[@einarabelc5]

Stop hitting the desk with it mate.