Loading Videos... ,

     Home    |    Vintage Guitars & Amps   |   Fender    |    ES335    |    Les Paul    |    Music
Les Paul had been developing the concept of the solid body guitar since the 1930's. In 1941, he split an arch-top Epiphone in half lengthwise and bolted both sides to a 4" x 4" solid block. This two pickup monster (Les called it "The Log") was not a pretty sight, but it established Les' idea that solid body instruments had a unique sound and musical future.  
In 1951, the collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and Les Paul would begin in earnest. How much input he had in the design process is a subject of fierce debate.The President of Gibson at that time, Ted McCarty, found Les and Gibson's Les Paul guitar made its debut in 1952. For the first time, two woods - maple for the top and mahogany for the back - were combined on a solid instrument for a musical purpose, balancing the bright attack of maple with the warmth and richness of mahogany. The tune-o-matic bridge appeared on the Les Paul in 1954, and the humbuckers followed in 1957. When the LP was offered with a cherry sunburst top in 1958, one of the greatest electric guitar designs ever was firmly established.
The first version of the Les Paul electric guitar, which would become known as the goldtop Les Paul, was 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.
 Les Paul Standard 1959
The 1952 Les Paul featured two P-90 single coil pickups, and a one-piece, 'trapeze'-style bridge and tailpiece, with strings that were fitted under (instead of over) a steel stop-bar. The weight and the tonal characteristics of the Les Paul were largely due to the mahogany and maple construction: maple is a hard and quite heavy wood, but was restricted to a cap over somewhat lighter mahogany, to keep weight under control.[9] In addition, the early 1952 Les Pauls were never issued serial numbers, did not have bound bodies, and are considered by some as "LP Model prototypes". However, the later 1952 Les Pauls were issued serial numbers and also came with bound bodies. Interestingly, the design scheme of some of these early models varied. For instance, some of the Les Pauls of this issue were fitted with black covered P90 pickups instead of the creme colored plastic covers that are associated with this guitar, even today. Of note, these early models, nicknamed "Goldtops", have begun to gain the interest of collectors, and subsequently, the associated nostalgic value of this instrument is increasing. In fact, re-sale prices of the vintage Les Pauls have begun to compete with already high priced, but more practical (and usable) Les Paul versions issued in later years.

In 1957, designer Seth Lover created and patented the humbucking pickup, a unique design featuring two coils side-by-side, which reduced noise and gave the Les Paul a warm, distinctive tone. This would form the basis for the Les Paul Standard, introduced in 1958, and produced in various incarnations to this day. Along with the introduction of the Standard was a new look for the Les Paul top, using elaborate wood patterns such as tiger striped, flamed, and figured woods, and a burst lacquer finish. Ironically, as the Gibson Les Paul continued to evolve – many would say improve – interest in the instrument would wane throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was not until the mid to late 1960s, when rock legends such as Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton rediscovered the late 50s Les Paul Standards that this guitar would see a resurgence in popularity. The Les Paul Standard remains popular to this day, with a new version introduced in 2008. In 1958, Gibson changed the top finish on the regular Les Paul model from the gold color used since 1952 to the Sunburst finish already being used on Gibson's archtop acoustic and hollow electric guitars. These Sunburst-finished guitars were later referred to as Les Paul Standards to differentiate them from the earlier Goldtop. The hardware specification was the same as that of the '57 Goldtop, featuring PAF humbucker pickups with some models. Today, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has BurstBucker pickups on the Vintage Original Spec models and Burstbucker Pro on the lower end models bearing the 'Standard' name.
 Les Paul Custom 1969
The Custom was conceived as a top-of-the-line Les Paul in 1954. This Les Paul model featured alnico pickups designed by Seth Lover. The Les Paul Custom featured a mahogany top to differentiate the instrument from its Goldtop predecessor's maple top.

It also featured the new bridge design and a pickup with an alnico magnet in the neck position.

In addition, since 1957, the Custom was fitted with Gibson's new humbucker pickups,and later became available with three pickups instead of the more usual two, which retained the standard Gibson 3-way switch so the neck and bridge-only settings were retained, but the middle was changed to switch in the middle and bridge pickups
 Les Paul Deluxe 1954
The DeLuxe was among the "new" 1968 Les Pauls. This model featured "mini-humbuckers", also known as "New York" humbuckers, and did not initially prove popular.

The mini-humbucker pickup fit into the pre-carved P-90 pickup cavity using an adaptor ring developed by Gibson (actually just a cut-out P90 pickup cover) in order to use a supply of Epiphone mini-humbuckers left over from when Gibson moved Epiphone production to Japan.

The DeLuxe was introduced in late 1968 and helped to standardize production among Gibson's USA-built Les Pauls. The first incarnation of the DeLuxe featured a one-piece body and three-piece neck in late 1968.

The "pancake" body (thin layer of maple on top of two layers of Honduran mahogany) came later in 1969. In late 1969, a small "volute" was added. 1969 DeLuxe's feature the Gibson logo devoid of the dot over the "i" in Gibson. By late 1969/early 1970, the dot over the "i" had returned, plus a "Made In USA" stamp on the back of the headstock.

By 1975, the neck construction was changed from mahogany to maple, until the early 1980s, when the construction was returned to mahogany. The body changed back to solid mahogany from the pancake design in late 1976 or early 1977. Interest in this particular Les Paul model was so low that in 1985, Gibson canceled the line.

 Les Paul SG 1961
Les Paul SG (Solid Guitar) was manufactured only in 1961-1962. During that year, the wll known classical shape of the LP was supplanted by the more modern SG body, with twin cutaways.

In 1963, the 'normal' Les Paul body was again used, and the 'SG' body went on to become the popular SG line of Gibson guitars. The reason was as follows: in 1960, Gibson experienced a decline in electric guitar sales due to their high prices and strong competition from Fender's comparable but much lighter double-cutaway design: The Stratocaster. In response, Gibson modified the Les Paul line.

This 1961 issue Les Paul guitar was thinner and much lighter than the earlier models, with two sharply pointed cut-aways and a vibrato system. However, the redesign was done without Les Paul's knowledge. When the musician saw the guitar, he asked Gibson to remove his name from the instrument and parted ways with the company. Although this separation occurred in 1960, Gibson had a surplus stock of "Les Paul" logos and truss rod covers, and so continued to use the Les Paul name until 1963. At that point, the SG guitar's name was finally changed to "SG", which stood simply for Solid Guitar. In addition to the SG line, Gibson continued to issue the less expensive Jr's and Specials (and the Melody Makers) with the newer body style.

These were the standard Gibson electric models until the reintroduction of the Les Paul Standard Goldtop and the Les Paul Custom guitars to the market in 1968
 Les Paul Special 1956
The Les Paul Special was released in 1955, featuring two soapbar P-90 single coil pickups, finished in a TV Yellow variation (but not called a TV model).

In 1959, the Special was given the same new double-cutaway body shape that the Junior and the TV received in 1958. However, when the new design was applied to the two-pickup Special, the cavity for the neck pickup overlapped with the neck-to-body joint. This weakened the joint to the point that the neck could break after only moderate handling. The problem was soon resolved when Gibson's designers moved the neck pickup farther down the body, producing a stronger joint and eradicating the breakage problem.

This stabilized version of the Special is currently offered only by Gibson's Custom Shop in the "VOS" series in TV Yellow.
 Les Paul Junior 1958
In 1954, to widen the solid-body electric market still further, Gibson issued the Gibson Les Paul Junior. Although previously the Melody Maker was marketed toward the novice guitarist, Gibson targeted to the beginner again with a Les Paul Junior design. Over time, this Gibson design has proven well-suited for even professional use.
There were marked differences between the other Les Paul models and the Les Paul Junior. For instance, although the Junior's body outline was clearly reminiscent of the original upmarket Les Paul guitar, the Junior issue was characterized by its flat-top "slab" mahogany body, finished in traditional Gibson Sunburst.

The Junior was touted as an inexpensive option for Gibson electric guitar buyers: it had a single P-90 pickup, simple volume and tone controls, and the unbound rosewood fingerboard bore plain dot-shape position markers. However, as a concession to the aspirations of the beginning guitarist buyer, the Junior did feature the stud bridge/tailpiece similar to the second incarnation of the upscale Gold-Top.

In 1958, Gibson made a radical design change to their Junior and TV models: with the design change came cosmetic changes to these guitars that would later take on enormous importance. To accommodate player requests for more access to the top frets than the previous designs allowed, Gibson revamped both these electric guitar models with a new double-cutaway body shape. In addition, the Junior's fresh look was enhanced with a new cherry red finish, while the re-shaped TV adopted a new, rather yellow-tinged finish for its new design.