The Gibson Les Paul Guitar Story

In 1950, there was a big boom in the world ofin which up gradation of the hardware was
music when the Fender Telecaster (electric guitar)offered with a black finish. There was a constant
was introduced in the market. Another breed ofimprovement seen in the pickup, body and
guitars led the world of music after this withhardware patterns that truly pulled lots of
Gibson Les Paul. As the name suggests Gibson isguitarists towards it.
the leading musical instrument manufacturer andThere are different features that distinguish the
Les Paul was one of the most respectedGibson Les Paul from the rest of the brands.
guitarists in history. Les Paul has been known forGibson Les Paul is known for mounting of its
his innovation in musical instruments and it was forstrings, which are always mounted on top of the
this reason that the president of Gibsonguitar body and not through the guitar body as
Company, Ted McCarthy, got Les Paul to be awas seen in the Fender's models. Gibson Les Paul
consultant for Gibson.has offered a wide range of decorative models,
Les Paul made a solid body prototype, which wascustomized hardware, and electric pickup options.
known as The Log. Les Paul had approachedThe humbucking pickup completely eliminated the
Gibson in the year 1945 with this prototype but60-cycle humming that previously beset the
this idea was refused, but then again in 1951 Lesamplified guitars.
Paul and Gibson worked together and Les Paul'sGibson Les Paul has gone through an evolutionary
innovative idea gave birth to a marvel thatprocess over the years and has brought on
rocked the music world. The line of models forunique models to gear up with state of the art
the Gibson hollow-body electric guitars providedadvanced technology and style. The line of Gibson
ideas to create Gibson Les Paul, which differedLes Paul models are Goldtop (1952-1957), Custom
from Fender in having a more curved body and a(1954-1960), Gibson Les Paul Junior (1954-1960),
glued-in neck.Gibson Les Paul TV (1955-1960), Gibson Les Paul
There are different controversies regarding theSpecial (1955-1960), Gibson Les Paul Standard
role of Les Paul in Gibson. One of the(1958-1960), Gibson Les Paul SG 1961, Gibson Les
controversies is that the president of GibsonPaul Deluxe 1968, Gibson Les Paul Studio 1983, as
Corporation approached Les Paul and asked himwell as the modern Gibson Les Paul guitars.
for the right to print his name on the headstockIt was in the 1960 that the icons in the world of
of the guitar so that they could increase the salesguitarists such as Mike Bloomfield, Keith Richards,
of that specific model and name it Gibson LesJimmy Page as well as Eric Clapton acknowledged
Paul.the professional capability of Gibson Les Paul's late
It was also claimed by McCarthy that they only50s guitars because they had the thicker and
had discussions with Les Paul regarding themore sustaining tone of Gibson's humbucking
tailpiece and fitting of a maple cap over thepickups. This innovation just gave Gibson Les Paul
mahogany body for increased density and sustain.the unique standing in electric guitars and then
Les Paul also wanted the new model to have athere were a lot of companies that followed the
gold finish but the Gibson gave flame and tigerlead of Gibson in making the humbucking pickups.
maple finishes for it to compete with the Fender.Following these icons, a lot of other bands and
The Les Paul guitar started out with two models,artists made Gibson Les Paul their choice and now
the regular model, which was then nicknamed asa 1959 Les Paul can cost in a range of about
the Goldtop and the other was the custom model$100,000 to $500,000.