Well, not so much lightning as static.
I would like to tell you a story so if you are sitting comfortably I will begin.
Once upon a time there was a guitarist and he fell in love with a beautiful black creation adorned with gold. Her name was Black Beauty, in her day the queen of the Gibson Les Paul family with an elegantly formed body the colour of purest ebony, her long neck abounding with mother of pearl, her head crowned with six gold studs and in the middle of her beautiful body were set three, not two, mesmeric gold boxes. Our hero lusted after this magnificent creation but for forty seven years made do with lesser creations until one day he chanced upon Black Beauty surrounded by her courtiers in a palace known as GAK in Brighton. There was a small ransom asked for the release of this fair maiden but he went home, broke open the family piggy bank and escorted his dream out of crowded store and back to his sanctuary, there to carress her and get to know her in every way. Well there the fairy story ends.
Yes, over the years I have owned many Fender, Gibson, Burns, PRS, Gretsch guitars including at least ten Les Pauls but always wanted a 3 pick-up Les Paul Black Beauty. Last December I found one at GAK in Brighton and bought it. It played very well and the tones were excellent BUT, very quickly static built up so that as I moved my hand up and down the neck I would get a crackle through the amp. At the time I also had a cherry-burst 2 pick-up Les Paul Custom as well as various other instruments, none of which crackled in this way. I assumed the guitar had an earthing problem and as i wanted it modified so that the second tone control could be turned into a third volume control to allow the middle pick-up to be independently bled in in any combination with the two other pick-ups (not the standard wiring for a Les Paul 3PU) I took it to a local luthier to "upgrade" and sort out the earthing. The wiring was done but he could find nothing wrong with the earthing. I won't bore you with the next part of the saga as it went on for two months during which time the guitar went to Gibson's Service (non-service) centre in the Netherlands and one of their recommended warranty repair people here in the UK. Everyone could see the problem in that they were able to get the static discharge through whatever amp they plugged the guitar into but short of a complete refinnish they couldn't resolve the problem. Because I had had the wiring upgraded of course the Service Centre didn't want to know. The UK man did come up with a short-term fix in that if I sprayed the areas that I touched with G-WAX (anti-static polish) the static could be reduced to a manageable level for a few hours at a time. Finally, I traded the guitar in against a different instrument, now £600 the poorer on the whole deal and very sad that the love of my life had so cruelly cheated me.
Despite this sory story I still hankered after a 3 pick-up Black Beauty and a week ago came across one at a store in Stevenage. I ordered it and yesterday this new creation of ebony beauty was delivered to my front door. With trembling hands I openned the case and gazed on this exquisit creation in black and gold. I warmed up my amp, plugged her in and sat in heaven as the sweet warm tones burst forth. After a few minutes playing I adjusted one of the volume controls and as I did so the tips of my fingers brushed the surface of her body. My heart fell with a sickening bump as the crackle of static discharge rang forth from my speakers. Still, no crackle as I moved my hand up and down her fine neck. Ok, I could live with the "body-crackle" as it only happened if I touched the body whilst adjusting the controls. Thirty minutes later the guitar was back in its case and packed up ready for collection - the neck crackle had built up on this one as well.
I was gutted and so disappointed. I can only assume there is something in the black paint finish used by Gibson as, as I said before, no other instrument or Les Paul of sunburst finish, has had this problem in my hands.
The moral of this story - never get a guitar modified and taken out of warranty until any initial faults are sorted at the manufacturer / reseller's expense.
Brian