“He went straight for that Les Paul. He closes the lid and goes, ‘That’s my guitar now’”: Scott Gorham nearly lost his 'Holy Grail' 1957 Gibson Les Paul to a customs officer just after he bought it – and he had to go to court to get it back

Scott Gorham’s 1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard is one of the Thin Lizzy hero’s most prized electric guitars – but just a month after buying it, he faced a fight to fly it overseas.

Originally acquired in the late 1970s, the guitar was sold to Gorham for a princely sum of $2,300 by a vintage guitar dealer who visited the band while they were in Boston.

Gorham was besotted with the ‘Holy Grail’ guitar, and – with the enthusiastic encouragement of his colleagues – quickly snapped up the Les Paul, and began playing it while in the States.

When it came to traveling to London a few weeks later, though, Gorham ran afoul of the airport customs security, who seized his new pride and joy while it was entering the country.

“I played that ’57 for a month in the States,” Gorham recalls in the new issue of Guitarist. “We get back to Heathrow and the customs guy has all our cases out, with the lids flipped up.

“And he went straight for that Les Paul. He says, ‘What a beautiful guitar – how much did you pay for it?’ I said, ‘$2,300.’ He goes, ‘Really? On the carnet here it says $600.’ He closes the lid – whack! ‘That’s my guitar now.’”

As a result of the incorrect carnet – which, in the context of music gear, is effectively a passport for goods that lets you take equipment out of the country without paying tax or duties – Gorham’s newly acquired ‘57 Les Paul Standard was confiscated.

Me And My Guitar: Thin Lizzy - YouTube

Watch On

In order to smooth over the issue and get his Les Paul back safe and sound, Gorham had to go to court. Fortunately, London Heathrow airport had its own court, which would hear Gorham’s case.

“So we had to go to court, right there at Heathrow,” he continues. “I didn’t even know they had a court. A guy comes in, he’s got the black robe on, and he goes, ‘Well, Mr Gorham, we find you guilty – and the fine is the price of the guitar, plus £750 for breaking the law.’”

So, what on paper started out as a $2,300 guitar ultimately ended up being a $4,600 guitar with a premium down-payment that, when adjusted for inflation, made it even more expensive.

But Gorham did get the guitar back, and he’d put it to good use for the rest of Thin Lizzy’s career. As he explained in a previous interview with MusicRadar (above), it became his number-one recording instrument.

“I used this guitar right after the Jailbreak album and right to the end of the band at that point,” he said. “Whatever guitar sounds you’re hearing on those albums, it will be this guitar.”

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest issue of Guitarist, which features the full interview with Gorham.