One of the stars of the guitar world is the Gibson Les Paul Guitar. A solid body electric guitar, the partnership between Les Paul and Gibson Guitars began in the 1940s. Lester Paul was a very popular guitarist musician of the time and was well known due to his radio show. In his spare time Les Paul also enjoyed playing around with the idea of amplification of the guitar sound and dubbing of various sounds over the top of others.
In his home, Les Paul would begin to play around with the idea of the solid body guitar and come up with some of his own draft models. One of the thoughts of the time was that this would give an honest sound as the hollow body guitar shape does alter the acoustics. The solid piece of wood would also emphasise the sustain quality of the sound.
The "log guitar" was Les Pauls first home-made attempt at the solid-body guitar. It was a very simple guitar that unfortunately attracted more amusement than genuine interest. Its similarity to a strung broom stick didn't help Les Paul but he persevered with the concept and eventually put forward the instrument to the Gibson Guitar company in 1946.
Gibson Guitars did not initially see anything positive with Les Paul's Guitar and he was initially rejected outright. Things started to change in 1950 and the first commercial success of Fender with the release of the Broadcaster, soon to be called the Telecaster.
The Gibson Guitar company need to start thinking seriously about the possibilities of the solid body guitar and got back in contact with Les Paul in 1951 wanting to work with him and his ideas. There was now an urgency to the issue as besides Fender, other guitar manufacturers such as Richenbacker, National and Bigsby were also testing the idea.
The collaboration between Gibson Guitars and Les Paul was a successful one as history now shows. In 1952, Paul signed an endorsement contract to have input into the design and also play Gibson's first solid body guitar and so the Gibson Les Paul was released. For his part Les Paul was to receive 5% in royalty of sales for a 5 year period.
Gibson's first ever solid body guitar was simply named the Gibson Les Paul Standard and it was released at a price of $210. The Telecaster guitar from Fender was on the market for about $180 - $190. The Gibson Les Paul Standard had a solid mahogany body which gave it a full warm tone and this was topped with a carved maple top which gave the sound a bright clear edge. The guitar was always simply referred to as the Gold Top because of its beautiful gold finish.
The 3 way selector switch was used to control the two single coil P90 pickups that were contained in the first Gibson Les Paul Standard. There was a volume and tone control for each pickup. There was a rosewood fingerboard on the guitar which was overlayed on a mahogany neck. There were mother of pearl, crown shaped inlays as position markers on the finger board. There as also a combined mechanism which was a bridge and tailpiece that attached to the base of the guitar on the original Les paul Model. This was basically the design that Les Paul had used for the previous archtop guitars. It was soon replaced in 1953 as being not needed or wanted on a solid body guitar.
With the growing market, Gibson soon released more models of its signature Les Paul Guitar. In 1954 they produced a cheaper model targetted at the beginner market which was called the Les Paul Junior. At the other end of the range was the Les Paul Custom with its gold hardware. This was the beginning of the golden age of the rock guitar. Gibson was closely aligned with the rock genre and was favored by many rock gods of the 60's and 70's.
In his home, Les Paul would begin to play around with the idea of the solid body guitar and come up with some of his own draft models. One of the thoughts of the time was that this would give an honest sound as the hollow body guitar shape does alter the acoustics. The solid piece of wood would also emphasise the sustain quality of the sound.
The "log guitar" was Les Pauls first home-made attempt at the solid-body guitar. It was a very simple guitar that unfortunately attracted more amusement than genuine interest. Its similarity to a strung broom stick didn't help Les Paul but he persevered with the concept and eventually put forward the instrument to the Gibson Guitar company in 1946.
Gibson Guitars did not initially see anything positive with Les Paul's Guitar and he was initially rejected outright. Things started to change in 1950 and the first commercial success of Fender with the release of the Broadcaster, soon to be called the Telecaster.
The Gibson Guitar company need to start thinking seriously about the possibilities of the solid body guitar and got back in contact with Les Paul in 1951 wanting to work with him and his ideas. There was now an urgency to the issue as besides Fender, other guitar manufacturers such as Richenbacker, National and Bigsby were also testing the idea.
The collaboration between Gibson Guitars and Les Paul was a successful one as history now shows. In 1952, Paul signed an endorsement contract to have input into the design and also play Gibson's first solid body guitar and so the Gibson Les Paul was released. For his part Les Paul was to receive 5% in royalty of sales for a 5 year period.
Gibson's first ever solid body guitar was simply named the Gibson Les Paul Standard and it was released at a price of $210. The Telecaster guitar from Fender was on the market for about $180 - $190. The Gibson Les Paul Standard had a solid mahogany body which gave it a full warm tone and this was topped with a carved maple top which gave the sound a bright clear edge. The guitar was always simply referred to as the Gold Top because of its beautiful gold finish.
The 3 way selector switch was used to control the two single coil P90 pickups that were contained in the first Gibson Les Paul Standard. There was a volume and tone control for each pickup. There was a rosewood fingerboard on the guitar which was overlayed on a mahogany neck. There were mother of pearl, crown shaped inlays as position markers on the finger board. There as also a combined mechanism which was a bridge and tailpiece that attached to the base of the guitar on the original Les paul Model. This was basically the design that Les Paul had used for the previous archtop guitars. It was soon replaced in 1953 as being not needed or wanted on a solid body guitar.
With the growing market, Gibson soon released more models of its signature Les Paul Guitar. In 1954 they produced a cheaper model targetted at the beginner market which was called the Les Paul Junior. At the other end of the range was the Les Paul Custom with its gold hardware. This was the beginning of the golden age of the rock guitar. Gibson was closely aligned with the rock genre and was favored by many rock gods of the 60's and 70's.
About the Author:
Terry Booth is very much a supporter of the Gibson Les Paul. Terry has numerous selections of them currently available listed at his guitar site for Gibson Guitars.
