The History Of Gibson Les Pauls

By: Nevets Notrom

Gibson Les Pauls have a unique history among electric guitars. In the early 1950s, Fender introduced an electric guitar, which later became known as the Telecaster - it was a runaway success. Gibson was looking to answer Fender with its own solid-body electric guitar. Thus began a collaborative effort between Gibson Guitar Corporation and Frean Donni, a noted jazz musician. Les Paul would not come into the picture until a bit later.

The famous ES-150 is a prime example of Gibson Corporation's earlier work in the field of electric guitars. While new to solid-body guitar design in the early 1950s, Gibson had been manufacturing hollow-body electric guitars since the 1930s. They would therefore continue in the tradition of the ES-150 and create a traditional-looking solid-body electric guitar with a set neck. The Fender Telecaster, by contrast, had a more modern, utilitarian look, with a bolt-on neck.

When Gibson approached Les Paul in the early 1950s, he was already well respected, as a jazz guitarist and a guitar inventor and innovator. He had been creating experimental guitar designs for his own personal use. In fact, Gibson rejected one of his designs for a solid-body electric in 1945, but this may have led to them bringing him back in for collaboration on the Les Paul Guitar design.

When Les Paul was invited into the design process in 1951, Gibson president Ted McCarty stated that the guitar was almost finished - Gibson had only asked if they could put his name on the guitar. This version of the facts is widely debated, however. McCarty also conceded at one point that Les Paul had input on the design of the tailpiece of the guitar.

Others dispute Ted McCarty's version of the facts, and believe that Les Paul helped design the trapeze tailpiece, a substantial share of the hardware, and had significant input into the guitar's finish. He was said to have created the look of the early Les Pauls - the "goldtop" models. He wanted a gold version of the guitar, and a black version - both of which he believed would give the Les Paul a classy look.

The first Gibson Les Paul guitars, which would become known as goldtop Les Pauls, were introduced in 1952. It was originally known simply as the Les Paul - the goldtop designation would come later, as guitars of this era became associated with their gold finish. It was an archtop guitar with a mahogany body, and featured the classic P-90 pickups.

In 1954, the Gibson Les Paul Custom ushered in a new era for Gibson Les Pauls. This guitar featured alnico pickups created by designer Seth Lover. Also in this year, the Gibson Les Paul Junior - a budget version with one pickup - was introduced. The following year, the Gibson Les Paul Special would be introduced. It was a two-pickup variation of the Junior.

Gibson Les Pauls continued to receive new innovations. In 1957, Seth Lover created the humbucking pickup, with a unique side-by-side coil design. These were issued in the Les Paul Standard, introduced in 1958. The new pickups would give the Les Pauls a warm tone with greatly reduced noise. Also in 1958, Gibson introduced new figured wood tops. They used a clear burst lacquer finish and showed off exotic wood patterns - tiger stripes, flames, and figured woods. Despite these changes, interest in Gibson Les Pauls would start to fade until the mid to late 60s. Rock icons such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck began to use the late 50s Les Paul models. The popularity of Les Pauls skyrocketed once again, and remains high to this day.

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

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