Les Paul Vintage Gibson Guitars

Les Paul vintage Gibson guitars were first produced in 1952. These guitars were the first solid body electric that Gibson had made. The 1952 version of the Les Paul vintage guitar has a gold top nitro-cellulose lacquer finish, and no serial number. This Gibson was designed by Les and included Kluson tuners, a pair of P90 pickups, and retailed for $210.

These Gibson vintage guitars were simply called 'Les Paul' models, and later became known as Gold Tops because of the finish. Most Les Paul Gibson vintage Gold Tops have a gold colored maple top with natural back, a few guitars were made that had the gold finished all over.

In 1954 Gibson launched the Les Paul Custom vintage guitar. The Les Paul Custom has an ebony fretboard, with elaborate bindings on the guitar body and headstock. Among some guitarists this Gibson vintage acquired the name 'black beauty' because of its gold plated hardware and black finish. The Custom was the first fitted with a tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece.

The Les Paul Junior has a flat, uncarved mahogany body with no binding. The Junior guitar is equipped with a single P90 pickup, along with an old wraparound combined bridge/tailpiece. Some Les Paul Juniors were referred to as Les Paul TV models because of their blond/yellow finish instead of a sunburst.

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Gibson Guitars: Explorations in Innovation

The tradition of quality associated with Gibson guitars dates as far back as the late 1800s when Orville Gibson started the company with his skill and interest in the guitar. Probably one of the keys to the success of the company then and now is its tangent for innovation. This innovation continued through economic hardship, which saw the introduction of the L-5, ES-150, electric guitar. While the company originated as a manufacturer of mandolins and guitars, it was the design of the ES-150, the company's first electric guitar that hailed them to the top of the list of guitar manufacturers. The innovation in the company originated with guitarists such as Lloyd Loar and Les Paul, whose ideas were used to create some of the company's most innovative designs.

Reviewing the Original Gibsons

The Les Paul Standard is by far the most popular of all Gibson guitars. It was way back in the early 1950s that it was introduced as the company's premier solid body electric guitar. Today the Les Paul Standard has several variations, including the Les Paul Standard Faded, Les Paul Standard Double Cut, Les Paul Standard Limited Edition, and Les Paul Standard Premium.

While many guitar manufacturers find ways to cut corners to assemble guitars as fast as they can, Gibson continues its tradition of hand making each guitar it produces. The Gibson acoustic is the classic tradition of guitars. Gibson continues to make the classic acoustic guitars in natural wood. It's probably the case that if you learned how to play the guitar in elementary school, that your music teacher had an inventory of Gibson guitars. The value of these guitars has not decreased, although many musicians probably wish the price would decrease! Classic Gibson acoustic guitars such as the SJ200 and the Hummingbird are still as popular as when they were first introduced, although most people purchase them as collector's items.

The Gibson Les Paul Guitar Story

In 1950, there was a big boom in the world of music when the Fender Telecaster (electric guitar) was introduced in the market. Another breed of guitars led the world of music after this with Gibson Les Paul. As the name suggests Gibson is the leading musical instrument manufacturer and Les Paul was one of the most respected guitarists in history. Les Paul has been known for his innovation in musical instruments and it was for this reason that the president of Gibson Company, Ted McCarthy, got Les Paul to be a consultant for Gibson.

Les Paul made a solid body prototype, which was known as The Log. Les Paul had approached Gibson in the year 1945 with this prototype but this idea was refused, but then again in 1951 Les Paul and Gibson worked together and Les Paul's innovative idea gave birth to a marvel that rocked the music world. The line of models for the Gibson hollow-body electric guitars provided ideas to create Gibson Les Paul, which differed from Fender in having a more curved body and a glued-in neck.

There are different controversies regarding the role of Les Paul in Gibson. One of the controversies is that the president of Gibson Corporation approached Les Paul and asked him for the right to print his name on the headstock of the guitar so that they could increase the sales of that specific model and name it Gibson Les Paul.

It was also claimed by McCarthy that they only had discussions with Les Paul regarding the tailpiece and fitting of a maple cap over the mahogany body for increased density and sustain. Les Paul also wanted the new model to have a gold finish but the Gibson gave flame and tiger maple finishes for it to compete with the Fender.

The Les Paul guitar started out with two models, the regular model, which was then nicknamed as the Goldtop and the other was the custom model in which up gradation of the hardware was offered with a black finish. There was a constant improvement seen in the pickup, body and hardware patterns that truly pulled lots of guitarists towards it.

There are different features that distinguish the Gibson Les Paul from the rest of the brands. Gibson Les Paul is known for mounting of its strings, which are always mounted on top of the guitar body and not through the guitar body as was seen in the Fender's models. Gibson Les Paul has offered a wide range of decorative models, customized hardware, and electric pickup options. The humbucking pickup completely eliminated the 60-cycle humming that previously beset the amplified guitars.

Gibson Les Paul has gone through an evolutionary process over the years and has brought on unique models to gear up with state of the art advanced technology and style. The line of Gibson Les Paul models are Goldtop (1952-1957), Custom (1954-1960), Gibson Les Paul Junior (1954-1960), Gibson Les Paul TV (1955-1960), Gibson Les Paul Special (1955-1960), Gibson Les Paul Standard (1958-1960), Gibson Les Paul SG 1961, Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 1968, Gibson Les Paul Studio 1983, as well as the modern Gibson Les Paul guitars.

It was in the 1960 that the icons in the world of guitarists such as Mike Bloomfield, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page as well as Eric Clapton acknowledged the professional capability of Gibson Les Paul's late 50s guitars because they had the thicker and more sustaining tone of Gibson's humbucking pickups. This innovation just gave Gibson Les Paul the unique standing in electric guitars and then there were a lot of companies that followed the lead of Gibson in making the humbucking pickups. Following these icons, a lot of other bands and artists made Gibson Les Paul their choice and now a 1959 Les Paul can cost in a range of about $100,000 to $500,000.