Guitar Info

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Via the Guitarz Facebook page, reader Grégory Gutierez asks if we can identify the guitar being played by Mike Oldfield in this 1980 performance.

It looks rather like a Gibson L6-S that has been customised with new metal pickguard, pickups, and a metal plate on the headstock. Oldfield was known to play this model Gibson, and there are photos of him playing such a guitar, albeit without the modifications.

Shaped like a rather wide-bodied Les Paul, the L6-S was the first Gibson to have a 24-fret neck. It was designed by Bill Lawrence and was in production from 1973 through to 1979.

The L6-S Custom model (which is, I believe, what Oldfield played) features a chicken head 6-position rotary switch for pickup selection allowing for various series, parallel and out-of-phase tonal options.

Pictured here we see a Gibson L6-S "Midnight Special" which is currently listed on eBay with a very low starting price. It might be one to watch if you want a "budget priced" Gibson, assuming that the bidding does not go too crazy.

The Midnight Special mainly differed from the other models in the series by having a bolt-on neck.

G L Wilson

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