Global Made Les Paul Look-Alike Guitar LP90

Global Made Les Paul Look-Alike Guitar LP90

  -Alan Arnell

I am sitting here trying to write a coherent article about my Global-Les Paul look alike Guitar and I keep having the new song I am learning to play on guitar still surging through my mind, mudding up my thinking.  Sorry to tell you my personal problems, but I’m sure you can relate.

Since, I was a little boy wanting my first guitar I would set and dream about having my own Les Paul Guitar.  To be more specific, a Les Paul Custom.  Link to my article about my first guitar a Gibson SG.  I am sorry to say, that I have yet to realize that dream.  However, I did choose to help relieve as least some of my desire to have a Les Paul by buying facsimile that has the look of a Les Paul but not the overall quality of a real Gibson Les Paul Guitar.  

My Global LP90 Gibson Les Paul Look Alike.

I have an instrument collection.  I only play a handful of the musical instruments I own.  Half of the instruments are not in working order.  Why do I have them?  I display them around my house for my own enjoyment and pleasure.  If it were not for eBay, I would not have such an extensive collection. I would give low bids for an instrument and every once in awhile the spaghetti would stick to the wall. I bought a violin, functional, for $5.  Where is the fun in having so many instruments that I do not play or they may not even be functional?  The hunt, the buying, opening the package and the infinite amount of pleasure I receive just glancing at them as I walk by.  Besides, I think they look cool and you can not argue with that logic, now can you?

One part of my personal musical instrument collections.

Let us get down to business.  I went out for lunch in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas at the Pecan Lodge BBQ.  Across the street from the restaurant is a vintage-antique store.  Being a lazy Saturday afternoon the family and I decided to check out the store.  I enjoy looking at the retro things in such stores.  The items bring back many pleasant memories.  I seldom purchase merchandise, because I need to really get rid of stuff in my house, not bring home more!  Except, in a corner away from the mainstream items set a soon to be mine Global Gibson Les Paul look alike guitar.  I always look at guitars when they are for sale and this day was no exception.

From ten feet away the guitar looked fantastic!  It looked like a sun burst Gibson Les Paul.  Yet, when I picked up the guitar, I quickly knew something was wrong or right depending on your point of view.  The name of Global on the head of the guitar was disheartening, however the $49 price tag was not!  

I thought, what is up with this guitar?  I quickly dug my phone out of my pocket to do a web search on Global Guitars.  The first post I found was, “It was the mid-range model from the Sears Christmas Catalog, and I remember it well.  Did I mention that it was absolutely terrible?”

Sears Christmas Catalog

Picking the guitar up again, I was about to play it when I notice the bottom three strings were missing.  The E, A, and D strings were only strings on the guitar.  Those three strings were no where close to being in correct pitch.  Then again, the strings were a comfortable distance from the fret board unlike some acoustic guitars I have and have played with terrible string action.  I had no idea if the electronics worked and no way to test them, but the guitar looked great, from a distance.  More importantly the guitar had the look and shape of that Les Paul I always wanted.  I offered $45 dollars and took the guitar home to add it to my musical instrument collection and display.

Guitar Tuner

Usually, I take a new guitar purchase to a music store to have new strings put on, a professional check up and a general tune up.  I can put strings on as well as the next guy, but I want everything checked out and adjusted the first time by a professional.  

With the Global LP90 I had no illusion it was going to be a guitar that I would put into my regular guitar playing rotation.  I was planning to use the guitar as a display.  I bought the cheapest strings I could at Guitar Center, slapped them on, tune them with my electronic tuner and voila; I had a functioning guitar if not a great playing one.

Guitar Strings

The guitar is what it is.  It is an entry level model sold by Sears and Montgomery Wards department stores in the 70’s and 80’s.  The guitar was what you bought your kid to start playing with and if he or she kept up and continued to play you would later go and buy a real guitar for them to play.  

“A friend of mine in 6th grade got a Global LP-70 for Christmas (that was in 1977-78). Crappy guitar...just AWFUL, but it was an electric, and we all would just plug it into his little Silvertone amp and make horrible sounds with shear delight!”

The Global LP90 I owe is technically a so called “Lawsuit Guitar” Link to a previous blog that gives an indepth explanation for the Lawsuit Guitar.  I am sure you are aware, that  there are low end to high end quality instruments in almost all brands and models from early lawsuit era to the present day.  The Global model guitar I have is maybe in the middle of that quality spectrum.  My Global was made in Korea in the early 1980’s making it technically a post lawsuit guitar.  The Global I possess may be a replica of the real Gibson but its quality is far from the quality of my beloved Gibson Guitar.  Like I said, It is what it is.

What is a Global Guitar?  

There is little information on the internet about the Global Guitar Organization.  There may have been two or three different Global Companies or perhaps they were different branches of the same company,  It would seem, one was in Japan and one was in Chicago area. The Chicago company imported guitars and sold them through the Sears catalog although this may have just been an extension of the Japanese company. There's two different types of Global logos, here's pictures of them.

Style as seen on Global Electric Guitars

Style as seen on some of the better Acoustics Global Guitars

To check if I got a deal on my Global guitar, I made a series of eBay searches for Global guitars.  Mostly, I found cheap acoustics not worth buying for more than $5, basically yard sale stuff.  The most common electric Global Guitars for sale on eBay appeared to be the Gibson Les Paul, SG copies and generic Teisco style guitars.  Once or twice, I saw a Strat copy with a maple body and a Gibson Dove copy which had an adjustable bridge, which is rare for acoustics.  I can not attest to their quality as I was not able to find reviews on them.

Gibson Dove

I discovered that my Global guitar was made with  really low quality wood and fixtures. In a chat room one poster implied that the body of the guitar is made of plywood and some unknown weak wood for the neck.  I was unable to fact check that claim and to find out I would have to scratch or drill the body of my guitar.  Who would do that?  Basically, most Global owners post that the guitar was a great example of what poor quality was during the cheapo invasion guitar era.   On the bright side one person wrote, “ I modified it (Global E70) extensively (I have a workshop) And now it is a good player. I kinda dig its tone, despite it being made out of plywood. Also, I think Hondo made a guitar almost exactly like the E70S so I'm guessing they were made in the same factory.”

Global guitars sold both acoustic and electric guitars. The instruments came from a variety of Asian sources were imported to the US by an importer located in Chicago, Illinois.  The Chicago importer gave the guitars the Global name and distributed their product to catalog companies as low end budget priced instruments as well as to discount retail outlets and music shops during the 60's, the 70's and some in the early 1980's. The imports were 6 string and 12 string acoustic guitars and 6 string electric guitar copies of name brands, not quality.

Most Global Guitars may have good tone.sound and projection or they may not have any of those things.  Opinions vary on the quality of the Global brand due to the fact that a guitar's sound is subjective to each individual based on that person’s  knowledge, ear, feel and personal preferences!

I tried to trace down a rumor that Global made a 14 string sitar.  I found no evidence of such an instrument,  however that does not prove that Global did not sell sitars.  In the past thirty years Asian sources made copies of almost every stringed instrument they could copy.  I was told by a high school orchestra teacher that they even copied violins.

The same teacher told me that overtime massed produced Asian instruments retained or became better in quality.  Some instruments even for a time were of better quality than American made products.  The price tag of the product produced by Asian sources with their quality put a strain on US made instruments manufacturers.  Corporate managers of US guitar makers decided that to be able to compete with the imports they needed to construct better built guitars at a lower cost.  Their solution?  The went offshore for product to sell.  

American instrument manufacturers started having their instruments made overseas in Asia and Italy.  The instruments were then importing back to the North American marketplace.  Even companies such as Fender and Gibson were forced to go offshore to make a profit while maintaining or increasing quality control for the mass marketing of their instruments.  In the long run the Japanese instrument companies, such as Ibanez, made large gains in the market share starting in the 1970's and 1980's and onwards.

Even the most ardent Gibson fan can not deny that Japanese made guitars could be great guitars. He or she will also be quick to tell you that there were also many worthiness made guitars marketed as well.  The buying public must be careful and aware of all brand’s models when choosing a guitar. For example I bought a Fender acoustic guitar for $100 new.  A Fender!   

Fender FA-100

I had no misconception as to what I was getting when I purchased a fender FA-100 acoustic guitar.  I knew I was buying a $100 guitar and all that goes into that.  Why did I buy a junk guitar when I have several great quality guitar to play?  Well, I was out of state for an extended period of time for business.  To pass the time, I went to a half price book store and found a great music compilation of songs for the band Bread.  I took the book of songs to my hotel and looked it over.  I wanted to play my new sheet music so bad I could not stand it!   I had to have a guitar.  I went to Guitar Center and bought a Fender FA-100.

I knew what I was getting.  Even so, I was happy to have the guitar to use for the many hours of playing enjoyment it gave me while I was away from home.  Consumers must be mindful that in today's marketplace there are low end to high end quality instruments in most of all guitar brands of guitar.  This is true for guitar models made in the early era to the present day and on into the future. You may have to make a compromise of price, quality and need when purchasing a guitar.  That being said, don’t buy a $20,000 Gibson Les Paul Custom for your twelve year old for his or her first guitar.  They would not know the difference anyway.

“My "LP" Global came from the Montgomery Ward's catalog in 1979. It was my first electric and was a great deal of fun to play since I had absolutely no idea what I was doing - ignorance was truly bliss, I suppose. It may still be the underlying reason that I've been playing Telecasters ever since.”

The first electric I ever played was a Global LP70 in 1977/78. A friend got it for Xmas and it did come from the Sears catalog. Bolt-on POS, but we ROCKED!”

My Global Guitar plays fairly well considering its petagreed.  It has a comfortable neck and action. It sounds okay with basic volume and tone controls for each pickup. The three way toggle switch changes sound, but not too significantly. Cosmetically, the guitar is great looking even close up. There are no scuffs or dings on the body.  The neck is clean with no cracks or warping. The  metal hardware is slightly tarnished a bit, but that is more than okay for its age. The mounting screws look good and are not stripped, pitted or rusted.

Gold Fixured Gibson Les Paul

Do I want a Gibson Les Paul? Who doesn’t?  Do I need a Gibson Les Paul guitar?  Not really.  Will a Global fit the bill for my playing ability and the reason I want one?  Yes.  So, you get what you pay for and I feel the guitar is well worth the $45 i paid.  I am happy to have bought a decent playing guitar for the money that has nice vintage characters.  Having my Gobal helps me just a little to forget that I don’t have a real Gibson-Les Paul Custom that I saw Jimmy Page playing all those years ago.