Vintage Les Paul Guitar
Les Paul was responsible for introducing the modern day solid bodied electric guitar way back in 1952 manufactured by Gibson and becoming one of the most respected and famous guitars in history. Throughout the history of the vintage Les Paul guitar, modifications and refinements have always been overseen by the great man himself.
The Man
Les Paul was born in 1916 in Wisconsin USA and apart from being an accomplished musician at the tender age of 13 he also started to take a strong interest in the new technology of the day- radio. At a very young age Les Paul became known as an accomplished country and jazz musician recording two number one hits with his wife Mary Ford on vocals. Les Paul’s career almost came to a halt when his right arm was severely damaged in a car crash but his resilience was such that he insisted the damaged arm be set in such a way that he could still play his guitar.
The history of the vintage Les Paul guitar shows that he approached Gibson early in the ‘40’s with his ideas for a solid electric guitar but initially got rejected as they saw no market for it. However by 1952 a musically established Les Paul saw Gibson change their mind as they could see that it was now viably commercial to produce such an instrument and agreed to manufacture it. Not only that, they broke one of their house rules and aligned themselves with an artist for the first time – the Gibson Les Paul was born.
The History
The Les Paul was by no means the first solid body electric guitar as 60 years earlier, In 1936, Gibson made the ES 150, but with no great success, hence their reluctance to try again. When it came to designing the Les Paul, the company combined decades of craftsmanship with Paul’s expertise to produce the vintage Les Paul that was to become a work of art .
Vintage (early) Les Paul
The early Goldtop used the highly acclaimed P-90 pickups and had an intricate arched top placed on a solid mahogany body. It also had a glued in neck with an adjustable truss rod and a pitched headstock. This model introduced such innovations as a bound fret board and raised pick guard – the true vintage Les Paul guitar.
In 1957 two developments turned the Les Paul into a classic. Along with other manufacturers, Gibson was seeking to find a solution to the noisy buzzing that was endemic with all electric guitars at that time. The humbucking pickup was the solution to this invented and patented buy Seth Lover and like most great designs it was simple. The existing single electrical coil was prone to interference and by simply placing another coil along side the existing one, the interference was minimised, in fact practically inaudible.
Sonically the by-product of this was a noise free deeper, richer sound, retaining the full, warm tone that defines the vintage Les Paul guitar.
The second change was purely cosmetic. The wood being used had been changed from mahogany to maple some time back and now the maple tops were coated with a lush, cherry sunburst finish which was stunning and became known as the Burst. These two developments turned the Les Paul into the most stylish and advanced guitar available.
Even with these significant developments, sales were nowhere near as spectacular as the instrument itself. In 1963, the Les Paul Standard was changed to a flat topped design known today as the Gibson SG model. This became very popular with a number of pop and jazz artists including Les Paul himself and also B.B King who throughout his career has stuck with the SG , faithfully calling each one Lucille.
Sales really took though in the rock era of the late 60s and the 70s with endorsements by such people as Jimmy Page(Led Zeppelin), Peter Green(Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall) and Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones)
The popularity of the guitar whether in standard form or as the actual vintage Les Paul guitar has never really subsided and now forms part of the big three, the other two being the Fender Stratocaster and the Fender Telecaster.