Gibson Les Paul
| Gibson Les Paul | |
|---|---|
| File:LPSHC.jpg | |
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1952 — 1960, 1968 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Woods | |
| Body | Mahogany, Maple |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Ebony, Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | 2 Humbuckers (originally single-coils) |
| Colors available | |
| Various (often natural-type finishes) | |
For the jazz guitarist, see Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul signature model is among the most recognized solid-body electric guitar designs. It was developed in the early 1950s and, together with the Fender Stratocaster, has become one of the most enduring and popular musical instrument models in the world. Its design has been left virtually untouched for nearly 50 years.
Origins
The Les Paul model represented a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar, under president Ted McCarty, and the pop star, electronics inventor and accomplished jazz guitarist Les Paul. After the debut of the Fender Telecaster series of guitars, in 1950, solid-body electric instruments became a craze, and Les Paul was brought in by the company as an innovative and respected figure who had experimented with them on his own. An early hand-built prototype of his, called 'The Log,' was once widely considered the first solid-body Spanish (as opposed to 'Hawaiian,' or lap-steel) guitar ever built, although numerous other prototypes and limited-production models have since resurfaced. Paul had earlier, in 1945 or 1946, approached Gibson with this prototype, but his design had been rejected.
The new guitar was to be an expensive, well-made instrument in Gibson's tradition. Recollections differ on who contributed what to the design, but Gibson had offered electric, hollow-body guitars since the 1930s, and provided at minimum a basic set of design cues, including a more traditionally curved body shape than that of Fender's models, and a glued-in ("set") neck, rather than Fender's bolt-on neck joint design.
As to Paul's contributions, Tony Bacon in his book "50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul" minimizes Paul's contributions to advice on colour (Paul preferred gold as "it looks expensive", and black, as "it makes your fingers appear to move faster on the fretboard", and "looks classy - like a tuxedo") and advice on the trapeze tailpiece. According to Gibson's president Ted McCarty, Gibson showed Paul a nearly finished instrument in 1951, and Gibson was mainly interested in having Paul's name on the headstock, as it would increase sales. Discussions with Paul were on the fitting of a maple cap over the mahogany body for increased density and sustain (which Paul wanted the other way around, but according to Gibson the guitar would become too heavy) and the tailpiece. For flash's sake, and to drive the point home that the Les Paul model was a quality instrument Paul also specified that it be offered with a gold finish. Later models included "flame" and "tiger" maple finishes for the top, and again in contrast to Fender's range of car-like finish colors.
Models and variations
The Les Paul guitar was originally conceived to have two models, the regular model (that earned the nickname "Goldtop") and the Custom model, which had upgraded hardware and a more formal black finish. However, by advancing pickup, body, and more hardware designs, the Les Paul soon became a series of models that targeted every price point except that for the total beginner. That point was covered by the Melody Maker. Although the Melody Maker did not bear the Les Paul name, its body design closely followed that of the true Les Pauls in each era.
Les Pauls have always had their strings mounted on the top of the guitar body, as on Gibson's hollowbody instruments, rather than through the body as in Fender's designs family of guitars; each with different pick-up options (in 1957 Gibson introduced the 'humbucking pickup' which revolutionized the sound of the electric guitar, along with eliminating the 60-cycle noise (hum) which had previously plagued amplified guitars) hardware options, finishes, and different decorative levels.
"Goldtop" (1952-1957)
The 1952 Les Paul featured two P-90 single-coil pickups and a one-piece, 'trapeze'-style bridge and tailpiece, in which the strings were fitted under, instead of over, a steel stop-bar. It was a very heavy instrument (around 9 pounds), and an expensive one, yet it had phenomenal sustain and a smooth, rich tone for the time. Both the tonal characteristics and weight owe largely to the Les Paul's construction of mahogany and maple, both quite heavy woods. The 1952 model also had no serial number(s) and are considered by some as LP model "prototypes" as some were made with 'black'covered P90 pickups as opposed to the current 'creme' plastic covers associated with the guitar we know today. Named the "Gold Top," these early models are beginning to gain more collector interest and associated pricing along with the more desirable (and usable) later versions which already bring a hefty price.
The guitar had some problems to be worked out concerning intonation (correct tuning), neck angle, and pitch. Subsequent models saw the trapeze tailpiece evolve into a 'wrap-around' tailpiece (1953), and then into the current Gibson-designed Tune-o-matic bridge system (1954).
In 1957, the P-90 pickups were replaced by Gibson's new humbucker pickups, which were designed to cancel out the influence of magnetic disturbances caused by AC electricity.
Custom (1954-1960)
The second issue of the Les Paul came into being in 1954 and was called the "Custom" which featured the all-black, highly decorated work of art, dubbed the "Black Beauty." This version featured a mahogany top which differed from the Gold Top's maple top. It also featured the new tunamatic bridge design and a new pickup with an alnico-5 magnet in the neck position.
From 1957 onward, the Custom used Gibson's new humbucker pickups. It became available with three pickups instead of the more usual two.
Junior (1954-1960) and TV (1955-1960)
In a mode designed to widen the market still further for solidbody electrics, Gibson issued the Les Paul Junior in 1954. It was designed for and aimed at beginners, although over time it has proved itself well enough suited to professional use.
Although the outline of the Junior's body was clearly reminiscent of the original Les Paul, the most obvious difference from upmarket Les Paul guitars was its flat-top "slab" mahogany body, finished in traditional Gibson sunburst. It did not pretend to be other than a cheaper guitar: it had a single P-90 pickup, simple volume and tone controls, and the unbound rosewood fingerboard bore plain dot-shape position markers. It featured the stud bridge/tailpiece as used on the second incarnation on the gold-top.
In 1955, Gibson launched the Les Paul TV model, essentially a Junior in what Gibson called a "natural" finish - actually more of a mustard yellow in which the grain could be seen through the transluscent finish, not unlike the finish that Fender called "butterscotch" yellow. The idea behind this "TV Yellow" was that white guitars would glare too much on early black and white television broadcasts, whereas TV Yellow guitars would not.
In 1958, Gibson made a radical design change to their Junior and TV models, as well as a cosmetic reaction to another that would later take on enormous importance. They were revamped with a completely new double-cutaway body shape, apparently as a players' requests for more access to the top frets than the previous designs allowed. The Junior's fresh look was enhanced with a new cherry red finish. The TV adopted the new double-cutaway design as well, along with a rather more yellow-tinged finish.
Special (1955-1960)
The original line-up of Les Paul models was completed with the addition of the Special, effectively a two-pickup version of the Junior finished in the TV Yellow colour (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, in applying the new design to the two-pickup Special, it was found that the cavity for the neck pickup overlapped with the neck-to-body joint. This weakened the joint to the point where the neck joint could break under moderate handling. The problem was soon solved when Gibson's designers moved the neck pickup further down the body, resulting in a stronger joint.
This version of the Special is offered in cherry or TV yellow.
"Standard" (1958-1960)
In 1958, Gibson changed the top finish on the regular Les Paul model from the "gold" colour used since 1952 to the "sunburst" finish used on Gibson's archtop acoustic and hollow electric guitars. These guitars were later referred to as the Les Paul Standard, to differentiate them from the earlier "Goldtop". The hardware specification was the same as that of the '57 "Goldtop", which featured the new humbucker pickups.
1961 Les Paul SG
In 1960, in response to declining sales in part due to the high price and strong competition from the popular and much lighter double cutaway design of the Fender Stratocaster, the Les Paul model was completely redesigned. The 1961 Les Paul was thinner and much lighter than the earlier models. The new model had two pointy cut-aways and a vibrato system. The redesign was done without Les Paul's knowledge, and when he saw the guitar, he asked Gibson to remove his name from the instrument and parted ways with the company. Although this occurred in 1960, Gibson still had a large quantity of "Les Paul" logos and truss rod covers and continued to use them until 1963 when the name was finally changed to "SG" which stood simply for "Spanish Guitar." Gibson continued its less expensive Jr's and Specials with the newer body style (and of course, the Melody Makers). This would remain so until the reintroduction of the Les Paul Standard Gold Top and the Les Paul Custom in 1968.
Renewed interest in the Les Paul models
In the 1960s, artists such as Mike Bloomfield, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton realized the potential of the late '50s Les Paul guitars (particularly the 1958-1960 Standard sunburst model) and gave them wide exposure. These guitars featured the thicker, more sustaining tone of Gibson's "humbucking" pickups (the original units are also known as "PAF" — "Patent Applied For" — pickups). The PAFs were designed by Seth Lover while working for Gibson in 1955, and debuted on Les Pauls in 1957. This became a standard design for Gibson and many other companies followed with their own versions of the humbucking pickup. After Clapton and Bloomfield, other guitarists quickly jumped on the bandwagon, and over the years 1950s Les Pauls have become some of the most desirable and expensive electric guitars in the world. A 1959 Les Paul in good condition can now easily bring prices between $100,000 and $500,000. With increased pressure from the public, Gibson reintroduced the Les Paul in 1968.
Les Paul models in the Norlin era
Subsequent years and new company ownership (Norlin) meant a lot of changes on the Les Paul. Gibson body designs changed enormously during the "Norlin" era, most notable would be the neck volute. The volute strengthened the neck where it joined the headstock which previously had the reputation of breaking. The neck woods were also changed from mahogany to a three-piece maple design also for strength. The LP body was changed from being one piece mahogany with a maple top into multiple slabs of mahogany with multiple pieced maple tops (also called a 'sandwich body'). Alas Gibson began experimenting with models such as the 'Les Paul Recording' which featured low impedance pickups, many switches and buttons, and finally the highly specialized cable for impedance matching for the amplifier. Less noticeable changes include but were not limited to maple fingerboards (1976), pickup cavity shielding, and the crossover of the ABR1 tunamatic into the modern day "Nashville" tunamatic. The Les Paul body shape also gave way to many other Gibson models during the 1970s such as the S-1, the Sonex, the L6-S, and many other experimental models.
Deluxe
The Deluxe was among the "new" 1968 Les Pauls. It featured "mini-humbuckers" (also known as "New York" humbuckers) which did not initially prove popular, causing its demise in the mid 1970's though later reintroduced in 2005). The mini-humbucker pickup fit into the pre-carved P-90 pickup cavity which helped to standardize production.
Custom Shop models
Due to the popularity of the Les Paul guitar, hundreds of copy versions were made in both the U.S. and overseas. This caused many problems for Gibson and other guitar makers due to cheaper prices and a lack of importing/patent laws restricting such practices. Though troublesome, some copy companies did enlighten Gibson and others. For example, during the 1970s and early 1980s Japanese companies, such as Tokai, made superb high quality replicas of the 1957-59 vintage Les Pauls and are still highly regarded guitars. Tokai's accuracy in reproducing Gibson and Fender classics from the 1950s and '60s spawned "custom shop" guitars. Thus in the 1980s Gibson began to offer its own accurate reproductions of its highly sought after early Les Paul Models made in its own "custom shop" as a result of the high demand for the vintage models.
Modern Les Pauls
In the 1980s Gibson again changed direction and ownership and made Les Pauls that resemble our modern ones today. The 1980s also saw the end of the valute and maple neck.
The Les Paul is available today in an array of past and present variants, and has been played by a good portion of the most important guitarists of the past half-century.
Les Paul's guitar
At 90 years old, Les Paul himself still plays his personal Les Paul (which, as an inveterate tinkerer, he has heavily modified over the years) onstage, weekly, in New York City (as of September 2005, Mondays at the Iridium Jazz Club at 51st Street and Broadway). Paul prefers his 1972 Gibson 'Recording' model guitar, with different electronics and a one-piece mahogany body.
Notable Les Paul users
Les Paul imitations
Although most imitations fall well short of the mark, some companies such have come close to perfecting copies. Tokai for one in the early 1980s made an imitation Les Paul that featured such a perfect reproduction of the neck that Gibson sued them. The end result was that the necks had to be replaced on US market models. Ibanez in the late seventies also made very high quality Gibson imitations. Hondo II copies of the same era were close approximations, although of slighly lesser quality. This was at a point in time when Japanese manufacturers were both painstakingly precise and affordable, but lacked the reputation of their US forebears.