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​Greetings from Northern California!
 

I am contacting you gents because I truly have to tell you how absolutely blown away I am by your Doyle Coils TRU-CLONES PAF Humbucker pickups and TIME MACHINE Les Paul Relics.
 

But before I get into all of that, I want you to know who I am and little bit about my background, and why I’m so impressed. You see, I have been working for the Gibson Guitar Company as their California Area Product Specialist for over 15 years. Before Gibson, I managed Gary Brawer Stringed Instrument Repair in San Francisco for 5 years. If you are not familiar with Gary he is one of the best techs in the world and works on all the “major artist’s” guitars. Suffice it to say that I have seen quite a lot over these past two decades. I’ve seen every new widget, upgrade, whiz-bang gadget, pedal, pickup, etc. from every major musical instrument manufacturer, and from the boutique and aftermarket crowd… All trying desperately to get the Les Paul to sound better… to sound as it should… as it has been promised. Having been in the music business in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 50 years, I’ve seen it all… heard it all, been there – done that! Alas, despite all of the claims, promises, marketing hype, build up, it’s all fallen rather flat, frankly. That is until now!
 

When I first heard about Les Paul’s dream of a clean, clear, articulate humbucker that Les’ guitar maker had been working on… I was a little dubious. As I mentioned I’ve heard it all… Especially from my “employer”. But when I installed a set of Doyle Coils TRU-CLONES pickups and your ‘59 Holy Grail Harness - it was nothing less than a complete metamorphosis! I was shocked at how my guitar came alive. Finally, someone cracked it! And I guess that someone was none other than Mr. Les Paul himself and his right hand man, Tom Doyle and his team… Who’d a thunk it, huh!!??
 

I brought my “new” Les Paul around to all of my dealers, famous rock stars, studio musicians, engineers, recording studios, famous guitar techs, you name it… and every single one of them were simply floored … mouths just hung open, and heads just shake in disbelief. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it hundreds of times… everyone just says, “Now that’s what a Les Paul is SUPPOSED to sound like!” And I agree!

 

And then, if we all weren’t impressed enough… I got my hands on one of your coveted Tom Doyle TIME MACHINE Les Paul’s and I just can’t get my head around it! Because of my position with Gibson, connection to all of these California guitar heroes & rock stars, famous bands, legendary recording studios, collectors, etc… I’ve personally held, played, examined, and drooled over no less than a dozen “Real Deal” actual Bursts over the years… some were fantastic, some were OK, and a few were dogs, actually. I have been trying to get the sound of a great Les Paul Burst without spending exorbitant amounts of cash since the 60’s. Then I played a Tom Doyle TIME MACHINE Les Paul… Its next level stuff we’re talking about here!!! The tone, the clarity, the expressiveness, the articulation, the openness, the woodiness, the raw power… and that lack of mud. Like I said, next level stuff… WOW!

I imagine that you can appreciate that I know a thing or two about Gibson guitars, The Les Paul, the pickup market, and guitar market in general… Well, this “old salt” is beyond impressed, and so is everyone else I’ve shared your stuff with. Way to go! Thank you for bringing Les Paul’s dream alive and for everything you’ve done here. I will NEVER part with this guitar… ever!

 

Sincerely,




 

Glenn Franzen
Gibson Product Specialist Retired