The 'Greeny' Les Paul: A Short History; Peter Green and Gary Moore's Fabled '59 Burst

Artist Works courses here:
Use the promo code: FWW40

T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and tumblers

For five watt world short history bundle and Favorite Preset pack:

To make a donation to support the channel click here:

Get regular updates on what's happening at the channel on Instagram:

John Cordy's videos on the Greeny Standard:

I am fascinated by our desire to know the history of guitars used by our guitar heroes. The better the story the more we want to know. Well "Greeny" has a great story and I've tried to do it justice in the short history format here. I hope you enjoy learning it as much as I did.
Keith

[dylanadams]

I love the fact that Kirk doesn't keep it in a display case or locked away somewhere - he tours with Greeny and plays it every night, as it should be.

[jfredknobloch]

No one, least of all you, or maybe not, will believe this, but I was there at the warehouse when Peter Greene played his last gig with Fleetwood Mac. We were good fans of Fleetwood Mac, but huge fans of the Grateful Dead.

And yes, that is the night that the dead was busted, and hence the song. If I remember correctly, we paid $4.50 to get into the show. And of course, it was packed because of the Grateful Dead. But I was really impressed with Fleetwood Mac even though I was already familiar with their stuff.

What was great about them as a guitar player was that one played a telecaster and one played a Stratocaster and Peter Green who I was familiar with played a Les Paul. Now Being from Jackson Mississippi. I had not seen any Les Paul’s up to that point. And that night Fleetwood Mac were playing through these enormous fender, super showman amps. I was probably 50 feet away from the stage and just marveled at the sound coming from those three guitars. They worked together so well!

We finally left the concert at probably six in the morning… And had heard that they were going to do a jam session at Audubon Park the next day. That was when we heard that the Grateful Dead had been busted, and the only people that showed up were the two drummers from the Grateful Dead and Mick Fleetwood .

Peter Greene was amazing! And some of the best guitar work I’ve ever heard him do was playing through a twin reverb, which I have never been able to make sound great at all!

Some of the solo work he’s done is just amazing and I think he’s the best English blues guitar player ever. That’s just my humble opinion.

Wonderful film, and really well done again! And FYI, it was the January 31 show.

[richardcamp]

Hi Keith, love your videos! You didn't mention that Greeny suffered catastrophic damage when someone crashed into the back of Gary Moore’s car. When my 335 suffered a headstock break, I was recommended to have her repaired by Phil Joiner, the guy who put Greeny back together. He told me the story of just how bad a state Greeny was in and how much work was involved in reconstruction so the repairs were as invisible as possible. Sadly, like Gary, Phil isn't with us any more having passed away in a car accident many years ago but it was an honour to have had my guitar lovingly repaired by someone with such talent and ability.

[fluffytoaster]

Keith's the embodiment of "Quality over Quantity"

Love this Short History series man, keep them coming

[DirtyDavesDirt]

Peter Green and Gary Moore were amazing players. They made beautiful music, and the legacy of the guitar will live on through them.

[CC-tezf]

Most excellent. Greeny represents the kid in all of us - there's something magical about these guitars that stays in our dreams no matter how "old" we get.

[MattyK-USA]

I know that I'm repeating myself, but I feel compelled to express my admiration and gratitude for your work, Keith - just sublime. 🔥❤👍

[jschwam]

One thing I recently noticed while watching a live version of Fleetwood Mac playing “oh well“ in 1969 was that when they did a close-up of Peter’s guitar, the pickups were adjusted in a very odd and unique way. The bass side of both pickups were actually slightly sunken into the cavity while the treble side was sticking up at a normal level. This is true of both the neck and the bridge pickup. That had to have a direct effect on tone and I don’t hear anyone talk about it and I certainly don’t see anyone playing like that. I have a Vintage V100 MPG model “Greeny” that I plan to give that a try on today just to see how it will affect tone.

[pedro_rivera]

I'm pretty much a metal fan/player but since 2017-2018 discovered Gary Moore's "Still Got The Blues" and his guitar playing floored me, the way on how an abrasive and yet soulful way he made Greeny sound, like he was channeling the guitar's emotive cry.

[paulcopsey]

The sound of this guitar 1st came to me on a beach in Cornwall in 1969 at the age of 5 & has never left me... followed me with Moore in the 70s as a teenager.... both never to be forgotten. I spent 40 years not playing guitar. Inspired by may daughter, I started Les Pauls

[visionop]

This really cleared up a lot for me. I was like "it doesn't look green to me, what are they talking about?". I had a feeling I was in need of a history lesson and now I get it. I noticed this guitar because I'm for some reason attracted to honey burst colored Les Pauls

[bw]

I love Peter Green enough to give the "Greeny" treatment to my own Epi Les Paul. Flipping the magnet over, not the wiring polarity, along with rotating the pickup 180 is definitely the way to get to the tone closest to the real thing. I only had to relocate the ground wire to get it to reach. I've left it this way ever since, and I've found it to be a more versatile, interesting, and unique guitar than it ever would have been.

Great to see the genuine article being cherished still.

[chrisnash]

Loved Peter Green as writer and performer ... he was truly a master player ! Thanks !

[Sean_Plays_Guitar]

Well done Keith! Sorry to have missed the chat on this one. I can attest to the esoteric perfection of the "right" Les Paul. Mine is my 1978 Les Paul Deluxe. Handed over to my loving and waiting hands from my father in 2006, it was a personally coveted instrument for me. My Dad bought it in a "old lady with a case in the closet" deal in 1989 (ish?) for a ridiculously low price and it was kind of just always around. Being Norlin guitar, and my Dad being strictly a Rhythm Player and Lead Singer in his cover bands, he understandably found it to be way too heavy for a 4 hour bar gig so he mostly played it around the house. I will never forget waking up before everyone and walking into my Dad's jam room where Excalibur (as we named it) was already plugged into the Hot Rod Deville and was basically just waiting for 3-year-old me to flip a switch and strum it. LOL I woke everyone up at like 6 AM. It was awesome. I played the intro to Layla on it when I was about 20 years old and my Dad said I should take it. I wasn't sure if I should hug him for ten years for the amazing gift or slap him in the face for teasing me so mercilessly. In any case, I traded him my MIJ Nashville Telecaster for it and it's been my baby ever since. But really...he said it was my guitar all along. He was just keeping it safe for when I was ready.

There is nothing so special as finding the "Right" les Paul for yourself in my experience as a guitar player. I have several guitars and they are all special for different reasons, but there is something about my nearly 13 LB, Mini Humbucker sporting, paddle head stock having, low/wide fretless wondering, clown busting slab of mahogany that just holds my very heart right in the neck pickup. They can definitely be special. It's not always about the particulars. Sometimes it's intangible. And a guitar, as mine is, can absolutely be priceless. Thanks for another great video in your incredible line of amazing videos. I appreciate what you do and why you do it! 🤘

[Ab]

Got myself a Harley Benton 550 honey burst 8 years ago £110 when I was competent I did the mod on pick up and oh boy then when I could changed wireing and pots to Gibson standards and oh god I’ve got a greeny and it my favourite ❤

[patrickb.]

This is just an amazing recount of so many musicians, but I just have to salute the great Gary Moore for his connection to the Greeny legacy.

[foesfly]

John Cordy playing in the style of Gary Moore was Absolutely Outstanding!!! Now I have to see if I can find more about this contemporary player.

[DSGRadio]

This is going to be awesome, as per usual with 5 Watt World. Can’t wait!

[jwhittmusic]

I'll never understand why anyone would ever want to strictly duplicate someone else's sound or replicate their instrument. Makes more sense to just come up with a sound that you like; that's how those guys did it. You honor them by having that pioneering spirit rather than trying to clone a moment in time that isn't yours. As always, I love these videos...still holding out for an hm strat and contemporary strat video 👍

[ernieb]

great video Kieth. Im having neck surgery in a couple days and look forward to enjoying your videos and voice durring my recovery. Lord willing, my hands will play again. thanks as always.