This month on Bought & Sold, the venerable Doug Aldrich drops by to talk gear regrets, best buys, and answer the philosophical questions that have plagued guitarists since the golden era of electric guitar – single-coils or humbuckers?
It is a conversation that reveals his guitar preferences, too. Be it with Lion, Dio, Whitesnake, or The Dead Daisies, Aldrich’s love for Gibson Les Paul Goldtops has been the one constant throughout his career.
What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money?
“I had to borrow $150 from my mom and dad in the '70s, and I got a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Deluxe. It was $300 total – I had saved around $150 and borrowed the other half. I sold a mini-bike to help pay my parents back and I earned back the rest by doing yard work. But the Goldtop was only a couple years old; it was from a friend of my sister. I wish I still had it.”
What was the last guitar you bought and why?
“The last guitar I bought was a 1953 Les Paul Goldtop. It’s player-grade from my buddies at Chicago Music Exchange. I wanted player-grade because I’m not a collector per se; I want to play it and the price is actually a lot more reasonable if there’s been some modifications.”
What’s the most incredible find or bargain you’ve ever had when buying guitars?
“There’s one I got in 1988. I was teaching guitar at a music store and I had been interested in cream-colored Les Pauls like Randy Rhoads had. The first time I’d seen that color was when Randy played it, and in 1988 I walked in to teach during the summer and a used one was there.
“It was behind the counter and I didn’t know if it was there for repair. It turns out they had just bought it from an individual named Will Jennings, who lived in the area and co-wrote a bunch of big hits for Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton. I don’t know why he sold it, but I jumped right on it before it went up on the wall. I still have it.
“It’s an amazing ’78 cream-colored Les Paul Custom. The neck pickup is still the same Gibson one, and it’s killer – it’s just so fat. I always used it with Whitesnake, which was perfect because it sounded like John Sykes’ neck pickup. It’s been on the road with me with The Dead Daisies, too. It’s not every day you get to have some famous songwriter’s guitar!”
What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever had after buying gear?
“I have multi-faceted remorse [laughs]. I found a 1970 Martin D-35. It was just beautiful, big, and throaty. Right away, when I’d hit a chord, I was like, ‘Whoa this thing is amazing.’ I really wanted it; I’d always wanted a Martin, but I never had one.
Every time I do a recording and need an acoustic, I always end up using a Gibson. The Martin is a great guitar, but I haven’t figured out why no one has been able to record it the way it sounds to my ears
“This was back in the early 2000s, and I didn’t have the money to get it, so I traded some stuff. One of the things I traded was a ’68 Tele that I’d gotten from [producer] Andy Johns. God knows where he got it, but he traded me that Tele for a black Gibson Les Paul Custom that he wanted for his son. I traded that and a Fender P-Bass for the Martin, and I loved it.
“But every time I do a recording and need an acoustic, I always end up using a Gibson. The Martin is a great guitar, but I haven’t figured out why no one has been able to record it the way it sounds to my ears, so I definitely regret trading the Tele and the P-Bass. The Martin sounds great to play, but it’s never been on a record.”
Have you ever sold a guitar that you regret letting go of?
“It would have to be that ’68 Tele. But another is my original ’73 Goldtop. I don’t remember who I sold it to, but I did. As a young musician, money is always tight and you’re begging and borrowing stuff. I tweaked, refretted, and made it a great player-grade guitar. I even put new humbuckers in it. I really shot myself in the foot selling that one, man.”
What’s your best buying tip for anyone looking for their ultimate guitar?
“I am probably the worst person to ask about this! Anybody who knows me will tell you that I’m an emotional buyer and seller. I sell way too cheap and I buy way too high. You could put two guitars that are the same on the wall, and one could be $1,000 while the other one could be $2,000, and I’ll say, ‘I gotta get the $2,000 one’ [laughs].
“So my advice would be to take your time and take your emotions out of it. If you find a guitar that you like, really try to spend some time with it and make sure it’s the one. Maybe put a deposit on it and keep it on hold for a minute. Go back to the store, play it a few times, and try to make a deal. If you don’t like it, you can always get the deposit back.”
When was the last time you stopped and looked in a guitar shop window or browsed online, and what were you looking at?
“Last night [laughs]. I browse guitars at night when I’m in bed, it relaxes me. And it’s constantly putting fear in my wife, like, ‘What are you doing now? Why are you looking at that stuff?’ But last night, I was looking at a bunch of different stores to see what they had to offer. I’m always looking at Les Pauls. I really am looking at Les Paul Juniors a lot right now. I just love the simplicity and the different tones you can get.”
If forced to make a choice, would you rather buy a really good guitar and a cheap amp or a cheap guitar and a top-notch amp?
“I’d rather have a really good guitar and a cheap amp. I spend a lot of time playing acoustically, and I really get off on the way the guitar feels and sounds acoustically. I think you can get a great sound out of any amp that works; you can get a sound that’s going to be cool. And if you have a nice guitar, you’re going to be passionate about what you play – and your fingers and your heart determine the sound anyway.”
If you could only use humbuckers or single coils for the rest of your career, which would it be and why?
“It’s a good question. Humbuckers and single coils are both awesome. I love guys that play Strats with single coils, but my favorite tones are probably from [guitars with] humbuckers. I love Les Pauls, so that’s a pretty easy answer for me. But I would hate for a situation to come up where I always had to stay with the same pickup – they’re all a little different and fun to play around with!”
Doug’s Go-To Rig
“I’ve got a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that was gifted to me in 2006, and I’ve got a bunch of other Les Pauls, some of which we’ve talked about. They’re all really good – I don’t think a single one of them is bad. But this one in particular has a pretty hot humbucker in the neck and a bridge pickup that’s not compressed. It’s really open-sounding. It’s got a natural relic from playing it; it’s been everywhere with me.
“For pedals, I work closely with Dunlop Electronics – there’s a lot of stuff I love from their company. I love Jimmy Dunlop, they’ve always been really good to me. There’s a whole bunch of pedals that I love to experiment with.
“And for amps, I love Blackstar. I knew those guys back when they were with Marshall, and they broke off to form Blackstar. I love the HT Stage 100H MK III, their top-of-the-line three-channel amp. It’s been my main amp.”
- This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
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