I have a bit of an unhealthy obession with guitar's. Some people get hooked on music theory, I love the instruments. Some time ago I started a simple search based on a singular image of Manabe playing a very unique Les Paul, here. I got nowhere, but recently started looking around again.

[img]http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4937/unknownlespaul.png[/img]

Several back and forth forum posts later, led to this Les Paul Special. As it turns out, this was a prototype for a Bob Marley limited Les Paul from Gibson. You can see that the pickup is the wrong color and the shape of the selector plate is also wrong.

[img]http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/9121/marleyproto1copy.jpg[/img]

More digging led to this black and white image of Marley.

Selector plate matches, so does the color of the pickguard but it has a white trim on it that's not on Manabe's. I still have yet to identify it. I've never seen him use this guitar ANYWHERE, no old videos, DVD's, nothing. Maybe it was custom? An LP Special or Studio that he stripped?

[img]http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/3506/bobmarley243x187.jpg[/img]

Did you check the gear thread in the library?

Theres some discussion about it [url=http://pirouzu.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=627&start=45]Here[/url]

iirc: It's just a Les Paul copy

[quote="Spikeness"]Did you check the gear thread in the library?

Theres some discussion about it [url=http://pirouzu.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=627&start=45]Here[/url]

iirc: It's just a Les Paul copy[/quote]

I didn't even know we had a Gear thread. If not for that picture from the Nine Miles CD showing the headstock, I would have said it was a Les Paul Junior Special with transition inlays, after looking at dozens and dozens of late 80's and early 90's LP's.

I suppose it's not all that suprising given Sawao's ESP Thinline copy, but I am still a bit dissapointed.

I'd totally dig owning one of those. Nice color, too.

[size=150]More screenshots:[/size]
[img]http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/1913/reg01.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2161/reg02.jpg[/img]

[size=150]I always assumed he owned it because it looked like one of Bob Marley's guitars. I didn't actually realize that it wasn't a Gibson till now. I usually catch that stuff. It's probably just a copy that he customized on his own over time.[/size]

It's not a Gibson, check the circular headstock logo. I used to have a closeup of it that I snapped from some video, but I seem to have lost it. It's probably an ESP of some sort or a boutique maker's rendition of the Marley Les Paul.

[quote="ThinlineTele"]It's not a Gibson, check the circular headstock logo. I used to have a closeup of it that I snapped from some video, but I seem to have lost it. It's probably an ESP of some sort or a boutique maker's rendition of the Marley Les Paul.[/quote]

Yes it's an ESP, I said that earlier. You can see it clearly in the Nine Miles booklet, it's a copy of a Les Paul Junior Special.

Found these images while lurking in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3647&start=210

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/Marekenshin/Sound%20Designer/mnb01b.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/Marekenshin/Sound%20Designer/mnb03b.jpg[/img]

I'm digging that worn out blue J-bass.

It's funny because a year later I have that shot from Walkin' on the Spiral as my avatar.