Jared James Nichols is no stranger to restoring storm-destroyed Gibson Les Pauls to their former glory, having previously embarked on the high-profile restoration of Dorothy – a 1952 Les Paul, which had been ravaged by a horrific tornado.
Now, the blues rock maestro has shared details of his latest rescue mission, which will see him bring a battered-and-bruised 1975 Les Paul Custom back to life.
As Nichols explains on social media, this particular LP had once belonged to an individual called Joe Thompson, whose father had sadly died while playing this exact electric guitar.
“He was electrocuted by being barefoot and completing the circuit between an ungrounded amplifier and an electronic heat grate in an old farmhouse,” Nichols explains.
After the incident, the guitar was placed in Thompson’s sister’s storage shed for decades, until it was disturbed from its slumber by hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Despite the fact it had been caught up in the devastating storm, the Les Paul Custom survived “against all odds”. Thompson – who may or may not have been aware of Nichols’ penchant for restoring battered Les Pauls – then reached out to Nichols, who has since acquired the guitar.
And, in true JJN form, he has every intention of bringing the Custom back to the stage as soon as possible.
“Against all odds, the guitar seemingly survived,” Nichols says of his newest acquisiton. “Fast-forward to today, I have just become the new custodian of this very, very special Gibson Les Paul Custom. It sounds absolutely incredible as it looks.
“She is gonna need some TLC, but soon will be right back to her Rock & Roll glory days, and back on stage. I have the chills.”
In a follow-up post, Nichols took the Custom Shop model for a tone test: “Here are the FIRST NOTES w/ my 1975 Les Paul Custom,” he writes. “This was the other night, right after pulling it out of the box! Imagine the dirtiest LP on the planet, but even WORSE!!
“It wouldn’t even fret above the 12th fret.Rusty strings/frets/pots…it was ROUGH! But listen to that sound…it’s STILL alive!!!
“I’ve been slowly cleaning and getting her tweaked up, it now plays on every fret and rings like a bell. It’s gonna be KILLER!!! Still a long ways to go before it’s stage and tour ready.”
Nichols added that he hopes to have the guitar – which has been appropriately christened “Katrina” – restored and ready for his upcoming shows with Queensryche.
Judging by Nichols’ pictures, Katrina’s injuries don’t seem to be anywhere near as bad as Dorothy’s, and as such the restoration doesn’t seem like it will be as extensive as Nichols’ previous miracle job.
Indeed, Dorothy’s neck had been snapped off the body in a rather grisly injury, while its hardware had also been completely ravaged.
By comparison, Katrina has been completely stripped of its glistening white Custom finish, but still has its neck attached. That will certainly speed up the restoration process.
Other than that, it looks to be a case of wrestling with waterlogged electronics and, as Nichols notes, some general TLC to get it back in full working order – a refret, perhaps some new hardware, and, of course, a very deep clean.
We don’t expect Nichols to restore the white finish, though. Indeed, the natural undercoat serves as a reminder of Katrina’s storm-riddled history, and will help it look right at home next to Dorothy.
Head over to Jared James Nichols’ Instagram account to keep up to date with Katrina’s restoration.
