Neil Young & Old Black

 Old Black is the name of Neil Young's '53 (maybe '52) Gibson Les Paul Gold Top.
He swapped his Buffalo Springfield collaborator Jim Messina an orange Gretsch 6120
Chet Atkins for it in 1969 and virtually all of the electric guitar parts Neil's recorded
ever since have been played on Old Black.

Whoever owned it before Jim Messina had - for reasons unknown - painted
it black, and that paint's been chipping off ever since.

Here's some picture of Neil's guitar tech Larry Cragg holding Old Black.

Mr. Cragg knows all there is to know about Neil's guitars and amps and pedals.
You can learn from him here:

Larry Cragg - Neil Young's Guitar Tech

Neil Young's Sound

or this info-graphic can give you the Coles Notes:








There's also an interesting page on the Gibson guitar site called:

Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Magic










These two pictures are not pictures of Old Black!
These are pictures of a replica made in Finland
by Juha Mäntymaa from www.monsteramps.net







If you want to know more about it,
you can go to Old Black replica.








Not my cup of tea, but hey, be happy.
You can also get yourself a Neil Young replica guitar strap,
but remember that these days Neil wears his upside-down.

Then, of course, you may want one of these...










*