Mike Campbell bought this Les Paul at Nadine’s Music in L.A. on the same day he bought his Broadcaster. According to Campbell, the two guitars cost around $500 or $600 each. In the past, he sometimes had refered to the guitar as a 1968 model, but based on its features it appears to be an early 1972 Gibson Les Paul Standard 58/54 Reissue rather than an actual 1968 Les Paul.
Gibson actually called it a 58 reissue for reasons unknown. Most of these came with a stop tail-piece like a 53/54 goldtop and some actually came with a tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece like a 56 gold top. Also some of these came with a sunburst finish.
I walked out of Nadine’s that day with my 1950 Fender Broadcaster and my 1972 Gibson 1954 reissue Goldtop – a gorgeous, glimmering Les Paul with a fat neck, a wraparound tailpiece, and roaring single coil P90 pickups.
I thought the pickups had been swapped out because they looked different and exotic, with exposed coils of thin red wire wrapped around the fat alnico magnets. They hadn’t been though. Somebody had just removed the cream covers. Gibson had called it a 1958 reissue, but the wraparound bridge was true to 1954. It had a mahogany body with a maple cap and cream binding.
It complemented the Broadcaster perfectly. The Fender screamed and the Gibson snarled. I was set. What other guitars would I ever possibly need?
Mike Campbell [1]
Campbell used this Les Paul on a number of important Heartbreakers recordings. He recorded “Fooled Again (I Don’t Like It),” “Strangered in the Night,” the solo on “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” with it. He also used it on “Listen to Her Heart,” where the part was doubled with his Rickenbacker 625/12.
There is also live footage of Campbell playing the guitar on “Breakdown” and “Change of Heart”, and on “Refugee” on several live performances including Saturday Night Live in 1979. Like the Broadcaster, this was one of the guitars that shaped the early Heartbreakers records, but it covered a different side of his sound – thicker, darker, and more aggressive than the Fender.
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