Joe doing a James Gang cover with the Eagles!

Joe Walsh on the Howard Stern show with his then solo band.

Joe and Don Felder were an amazing two-guitar team!  "Hotel California" is a song that got way overplayed on the radio.  But there is a video of the Eagles playing the song live that I refer people to when they ask, "what is the difference (in sound) between a Fender and a Gibson?".

Saw Joe in 1975.  One of my best shows from the old days.  I love Barnstorm, So What, Smoker you Drink, all them.  Barnstorm is calling for a vinyl play, thanks to the Joe talk here.  I have read Joe had a huge guitar collection, and had given guitars to other artists.  Like to read more on that aspect.  

@rusty Enjoyed the video and the twin neck Gibson SG. To me they had a somewhat different tone than a Les Paul and the ES-335 is yet a bit different from those Gibsons. And looks as if Joe is on a Tele which is, to me, way different than a Stratocaster.  Of course talking mostly stock instruments.  Some players have axes so modified the tones are not typical of that guitar. 

Also there is an old interview and phone in that I can't find on YouTube now with Duane Allman and Berry Oakley at a New York City radio station and they take some calls and a caller compliments Duane for the Layla album and wants to know when is it Duane playing and when is it Clapton? Duane begins by talking about what a great cat and what a great guitarist Clapton is. But in answering the question Duane says " I played a Les Paul Gibson on that album and Clapton played Fender Stratocaster.  If you know the difference in their tones then you can tell which one of us is playing a certain solo. If not man then just enjoy the music man for it's all good".

@bird72 There are some articles on the net with Joe on guitars. He has a large collection of over 100 axes. The last one I read he said lately he has been buying some Carvin guitars and the lead player in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers turned him on to Dusenberg guitars and Joe has bought two. Yes he has given some guitars to friends and interestingly Joe Walsh said the James Gang was the opening act for Led Zeppelin on their first US tour and he got to know Jimmy Page and Jimmy felt he needed a different tone for Led Zeppelin than the Telecasters he was using which was his axe in the Yardbirds and Jimmy ask Joe if he had a Les Paul he would let go. Joe said he did for him. Joe Walsh felt his Les Pauls sounded better with the pickup covers removed and the pickups move up as close to the strings as possible but he had a 1959 sunburst Les Paul Standard he didnt like as well as his main Les Paul so he let Jimmy Page have it and it was Jimmy Page's number one road guitar for years. Joe said Les Pauls were not as darn expensive then as they are now but he had to have it flown into where they were so he charged Page $1,500.00 for the instrument.  

Joe also said he especially likes Les Pauls,  Telecasters and Stratocasters so his collection features a lot of those. Joe also said he owns a good number of acoustics and most are Gibsons which is his favorite make of acoustics. 

Joe got wealthy after joining the Eagles. His 2020 net worth is $70 million. 

To see how he stacks up with Don Henley, I checked and Henley 2020 net worth is $250 million!! 

OT, but related to what Joe sold his LP to Page for.

I am a big Les Paul fan and found some interesting guitar store brochures from a defunct store called Guitar Trader that used to be in NJ.

In this 1978 sales brochure they list 1959 and 1960 Les Pauls for $3500.00. Just 4 years later they were selling them for $7500.00 and they have taken off to 6 digit prices now.

They were alos selling preCBS Fender strats for $750.00 to $1250.00

If we only knew back then and had the $$$ to buy a bunch

I also found it interesting that Guitar Trader offered free air fare and a car to and from the airport if you purchased a 1959 Les Paul.

They were also one of the first companies to attempt to create a 1959 copy and went to directly to Gibson and had them make a small run of LP's to their specs. Guitar Trader also offered to fit the replica's with real PAF humbuckers while supplies lasted.  The cost on presale was $1500.00 or about 5X less than they were selling a real 59LP for @$7500.00 in 1982.

I enjoy Joe, the James Gang and Barnstorm stuff. Could never ret into his goof ball rock shtick.

Joe Plays on this track below.

@bill_graham. I know a man about my age (74) who is no longer a player and now lives down in Alabama. He bought a beautiful 1959 Les Paul in 1973 for $2, 750.00 from a pawn shop in Baltimore. Last time I spoke with him was about 2016 and someone had offered him $6,000.00 for the Les Paul but he turned it down. I assume he still owns it. Need to give him a jingle. 

I read the other day someone offered Jack Pearson $6,000.00 for one of his Squire Stratocasters made in Singapore but Jack turned it down. Guess Jack felt it was worth more than $6K joking 🤣

Posted by: @jszfunk

I enjoy Joe, the James Gang and Barnstorm stuff. Could never ret into his goof ball rock shtick.

If I hear "Life's Been Good" one more freakin' time ... 😉 

Posted by: @robertdee

@bill_graham. I know a man about my age (74) who is no longer a player and now lives down in Alabama. He bought a beautiful 1959 Les Paul in 1973 for $2, 750.00 from a pawn shop in Baltimore. Last time I spoke with him was about 2016 and someone had offered him $6,000.00 for the Les Paul but he turned it down. I assume he still owns it. Need to give him a jingle. 

I read the other day someone offered Jack Pearson $6,000.00 for one of his Squire Stratocasters made in Singapore but Jack turned it down. Guess Jack felt it was worth more than $6K joking 🤣

My best pickin' bud bought a brand-spankin' new Les Paul Custom in 1975 for the meager sum of $500.00.  In relatively beat-up condition, you can get 2-3 grand for one of these from that period (Norlin era).

If I had a real, genuine, honest-to-gosh 1959 Gibson Les Paul (not a reproduction) and somebody offered me only six grand for it, I'd probably kick their nads up their watchpocket.

Offering Jack Pearson or ANYBODY $6 grand for a Squier is just a sign of stoopidity and mis-information.  I've got a Fender Blues Jr - about 10 years old or so - in tweed.  It looks like a vintage amp, so every now and then somebody offers me a couple of grand (or so) for it.  One of these days I'mm liable to take them up on it!  😉 

@rusty Jack was just joking. Jack Pearson is proud of the several Squire Stratocasters he has picked up out of Singapore for $80.00 and $90.00 and Jack says they play just fine and he uses them most of the time. But he has passed on many more than he has bought. But what the hey!! You can take chances for $90.00. 

The co-owner at the big music store here told me he couldn't recommend a Squire to a serious player. He had three for sale. One with no paint on the body was $45.00. He told me Gibson's cheaper brand Epiphone was better quality than Fender's Squire. He had not heard of Jack Pearson and was skeptical a Nashville player used Squires. 

He showed me a new Gibson Les Paul sunburst that was indeed very pretty with bright silver pickup covers. $5,500.00. He has a 2020 red with dark brown waves Paul Reed Smith Carlos Santana custome for $6,700.00   And as I said he has a 2020 Squire Stratocaster with natural finish and maple fretboard for $45.00. Man that makes me laugh. 

They are a Martin dealer but he said lately Taylor acoustics are his best seller. 

Jack with a $90.00 Squire Stratocaster. It even has incredible sustain. I don't understand it. 

Posted by: @rusty

Posted by: @robertdee

@bill_graham. I know a man about my age (74) who is no longer a player and now lives down in Alabama. He bought a beautiful 1959 Les Paul in 1973 for $2, 750.00 from a pawn shop in Baltimore. Last time I spoke with him was about 2016 and someone had offered him $6,000.00 for the Les Paul but he turned it down. I assume he still owns it. Need to give him a jingle. 

I read the other day someone offered Jack Pearson $6,000.00 for one of his Squire Stratocasters made in Singapore but Jack turned it down. Guess Jack felt it was worth more than $6K joking 🤣

My best pickin' bud bought a brand-spankin' new Les Paul Custom in 1975 for the meager sum of $500.00.  In relatively beat-up condition, you can get 2-3 grand for one of these from that period (Norlin era).

If I had a real, genuine, honest-to-gosh 1959 Gibson Les Paul (not a reproduction) and somebody offered me only six grand for it, I'd probably kick their nads up their watchpocket.

Offering Jack Pearson or ANYBODY $6 grand for a Squier is just a sign of stoopidity and mis-information.  I've got a Fender Blues Jr - about 10 years old or so - in tweed.  It looks like a vintage amp, so every now and then somebody offers me a couple of grand (or so) for it.  One of these days I'mm liable to take them up on it!  😉 

Yeah those Norlin era LP's always had a bad rep for quality and some of the dumb changes they made like the sandwich body and volute at he headstock.  They are starting to gain some value now as the older LP's are so expensive.

@robertdee, If your friend still has the 1959 LP tell him I will give him $10K for it to take it off his hands 😀 

Just kidding, as hopefully if he still has it he knows the going rate for those old 1958/59/60 LP's is over $100K these days if in decent condition.

Posted by: @rusty

Posted by: @jszfunk

I enjoy Joe, the James Gang and Barnstorm stuff. Could never ret into his goof ball rock shtick.

If I hear "Life's Been Good" one more freakin' time ... 😉 

HA!! Right on.

@bill_graham Bill I'll give him a call this evening. Yes I wonder if he knows the 1959 Lester he has is worth $100 grand. What a valuable guitar. 

THE POWER OF A LES PAUL AND SEVERAL MARSHALLS DOWN IN THE BRIDGE PICKUP!!!

Bill if you haven't seen this being a big Les Paul fan, at about 3 minutes in this starts shaking and pounding the ground like the Space Shuttle taking off from Cape Kennedy. High octane Les Paul playing.