Duane switched between several Gibson guitars, although his favourite was a 1957 Les Paul Goldtop (serial number 7 3312) with PAF pickups. He part-exchanged this guitar in Daytona Beach, FL on the 16th September 1970, having played a concert with a local group there, (having also recorded the large part of Layla with it) for a plain-top 1958/59 cherry sunburst Les Paul that was then in the posession of the guitarist in the opening group; they were called "The Stone Balloon".
The plain-top is the guitar he can be seen to play in the Fillmore Video; it is also the guitar that he used to complete the recording of the Layla album.
When he did that exchange, he also switched over the PAF pickups from the 57 Goldtop to the 58/9 Cherryburst - apparently he preferred the sound of the Goldtop's bridge pickup to that of the newer guitar, and consequently swapped them over in a Hotel Room after the concert where he found the Cherryburst.
Early in 1971 he bought, in addition to the other Les Paul, a 1958 vintage tobacco sunburst Les Paul, with an exaggerated tigerstripe sunburst pattern. This had been owned by singer Christopher Cross, and was found for Duane by Billy Gibbons of Z Z Top. This was the guitar on the "at Fillmore East" and "Eat A Peach" albums.
1958 Gibson Les Pauls - Cherry Sunburst/Tobacco Sunburst
Duane Allman's goldtop les paul was recently re-discovered and brought back to it's original glory- he had traded it long ago (minus it's pickups, which he kept),to Stone Balloon's guitarist, Rick Stine, along with 200 dollars cash and a 50-watt Marshall Head, in exchange for Stine's sunburst les paul. Stine later sold the guitar, and somewhere along the line, all of the gold finish was sanded off the top. Current owner Scot Lamar purchased the guitar from a small music store called Coastal Music in 1977, and had it restored to it's former glory by Tom Murphy at Gibson Guitar's Historic Division. This rediscovered guitar was later authenticated through the exhaustive research of Blackfoot founding member Charlie Hargrett. More information on this iconic guitar can be located at www.duaneallmansgoldtop.com, and is also featured in Vintage Guitar Magazine, Vol.23, No.1, November 2008 -
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