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Les Paul (guitar)

Gibson Les Paul (Deutsches Museum).jpg
1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard
Manufacturer Gibson
Period 1952–1960
1961–1963 (in SG form)
1968–present
Body type Solid, Hollow, Semi-hollow
Neck joint Set neck
Body Mahogany (often with a maple top)
Swamp ash (rare)
Neck Usually mahogany
Maple
Fretboard Usually Rosewood
Ebony
Maple
Richlite
Bridge Usually Tune-O-Matic
Pickup(s) Usually 2 humbuckers
2 P-90s
3 humbuckers
Various, often sunburst-type finishes
Goldtop
Ebony
Alpine White
Wine Red
External images
Prototypes on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Les Paul House of Sound (2009)
"The Log" prototype
"The Log" (c.1940)
Les Paul's electric guitar "Clunker"
based on 1942 Epiphone Broadway
1951 Les Paul prototype (refinished) with Les Paulverizer (a triggering device for sound-on-sound performance)
1951 Les Paul prototype (white)
Manufacturer Gibson
Period 2008–2010
Body type Solid, Single Cut
Neck joint Set-in
Scale 24.75"
Body Mahogany, Maple Top
Neck Mahogany
Fretboard Ebony
Bridge Tune-o-matic
Pickup(s) A Burstbucker 3 humbucker at the bridge, P-90H at the neck, and a piezoelectric built into the bridge.
Exclusive nitrocellulose finish consisting of dark red on the Maple body top; glossy finish on body top and headstock face, satin finish everywhere else.

The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The Les Paul was designed by Gibson president Ted McCarty, factory manager John Huis and their team, along with guitarist/inventor Les Paul.

The Les Paul was originally offered with a gold finish and two P-90 pickups. In 1957, humbucking pickups were added, along with sunburst finishes in 1958. The sunburst 1958–1960 Les Paul – today one of the best-known electric guitar types in the world – was considered a failure, with low production and sales. For 1961, the Les Paul was redesigned into what is now known as the Gibson SG. This design continued as a separate guitar when the traditional single cutaway, carved top bodystyle was re-introduced in 1968. The Les Paul has been continually produced in countless versions and editions since. Along with Fender's Telecaster and , it was one of the first mass-produced electric solid-body guitars. Les Pauls have been used in many genres, including rock, country, pop, soul, rhythm and blues, blues, jazz, reggae, punk, and heavy metal.

In 1950, the ancestors of Fender Telecaster (Fender Esquire and Fender Broadcaster) were introduced to the musical market and solid-body electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction to market demand, Gibson Guitar president Ted McCarty brought guitarist Les Paul into the company as a consultant. Les Paul was a respected innovator who had been experimenting with guitar design for years. He hand-built a solid-body prototype called "The Log", often suggested as the first solid-body Spanish guitar ever built. "The Log" was given its name from the pine block running through the middle of the guitar whose width and depth are a little more than the width of the fretboard; conventional hollow guitar sides or "wings" were added for shape. Although numerous other prototypes and limited-production solid-body models by other makers have since surfaced, it is known that in 1945–1946, Les Paul had approached Gibson with "The Log" prototype, but his solid body design was rejected.


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Wikipedia

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