Guitarfreak4
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- Mar 21, 2009
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"Carved top, great neck, cool sound, wild look...this brand new Les Paul guitar really does have it all!" -Freddie King
We all look to the Les Paul (or any other guitar) now as a channel for happiness, sorrow, anger, frustration, confusion, blankness, or any other feelings we may hold/suppress, but do any of you guys remember when the Les Paul electric guitar wasn't even around? It took more than 50 years for the guitar to grow where it is today, and it wasn't easy.
In the years before the release of the first Gibson Les Paul, Lester Polfus, aka Les Paul, had worked his way up to become the most famous guitarist nationwide. In the 1940s, Les Paul decided he would change the world. Les Paul's first self-built electric guitar was built when he tried out ideas for a semi-solid body guitar. He put together what he called "The Log", made out of Gibson, Larson Brothers, and Epiphone parts. He also added his own crude vibrato, pickups, and a small body section. This would be the start of a new era.
In the early 1950s, Gibson signed a deal with Lester and in 1952, launched the first ever Les Paul model electric guitar. There was only one color, goldtop, and included P90 pickups, 3-way toggle selector switch, 4 gold knobs, and a trapeze tailpiece. Eventually, by the late 1950s, the Les Paul was offered in several different models, including the Custom, Junior, Special, TV, and of course, the Standard. By now many prominent artists like Keith Richards were using Les Paul guitars, and by the 1960s and 1970s, the Les Paul guitar had skyrocketed in popularity.
The 1980s spelled a different time for Gibson when they opened up their new Custom Shop, a facility specializing in custom models and reissues. In 1983, the first reissue was released, a reissue of the 1958-1960 Les Paul standard. At first, critics bombed the new reissue Les Pauls, but as time would pass, Gibson would get better at building better custom and reissue models.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the Custom took off with its production models and to this day it continues to build some of the finest guitars around the world.
Gibson. A name of quality. A name of trust. A name associated with the Les Paul electric guitar. But Gibson shouldn't get all the credit. After all, the man behind the curtain of all this was a simple man named Lester Polfus. So the next time you're idly jamming away on your Les Paul electric guitar, whatever model it may be, thank Mr. Polfus. Thank him for your freedom of expression. Thank him for that unmistakeable thick Les Paul sound. Thank him for the reason you still enjoy playing the guitar.
"Call it grunge, rock, punk, whatever - good music is good music, but a great guitar is sex." -Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam)
Les Paul's original "Log" guitar:
We all look to the Les Paul (or any other guitar) now as a channel for happiness, sorrow, anger, frustration, confusion, blankness, or any other feelings we may hold/suppress, but do any of you guys remember when the Les Paul electric guitar wasn't even around? It took more than 50 years for the guitar to grow where it is today, and it wasn't easy.
In the years before the release of the first Gibson Les Paul, Lester Polfus, aka Les Paul, had worked his way up to become the most famous guitarist nationwide. In the 1940s, Les Paul decided he would change the world. Les Paul's first self-built electric guitar was built when he tried out ideas for a semi-solid body guitar. He put together what he called "The Log", made out of Gibson, Larson Brothers, and Epiphone parts. He also added his own crude vibrato, pickups, and a small body section. This would be the start of a new era.
In the early 1950s, Gibson signed a deal with Lester and in 1952, launched the first ever Les Paul model electric guitar. There was only one color, goldtop, and included P90 pickups, 3-way toggle selector switch, 4 gold knobs, and a trapeze tailpiece. Eventually, by the late 1950s, the Les Paul was offered in several different models, including the Custom, Junior, Special, TV, and of course, the Standard. By now many prominent artists like Keith Richards were using Les Paul guitars, and by the 1960s and 1970s, the Les Paul guitar had skyrocketed in popularity.
The 1980s spelled a different time for Gibson when they opened up their new Custom Shop, a facility specializing in custom models and reissues. In 1983, the first reissue was released, a reissue of the 1958-1960 Les Paul standard. At first, critics bombed the new reissue Les Pauls, but as time would pass, Gibson would get better at building better custom and reissue models.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the Custom took off with its production models and to this day it continues to build some of the finest guitars around the world.
Gibson. A name of quality. A name of trust. A name associated with the Les Paul electric guitar. But Gibson shouldn't get all the credit. After all, the man behind the curtain of all this was a simple man named Lester Polfus. So the next time you're idly jamming away on your Les Paul electric guitar, whatever model it may be, thank Mr. Polfus. Thank him for your freedom of expression. Thank him for that unmistakeable thick Les Paul sound. Thank him for the reason you still enjoy playing the guitar.
"Call it grunge, rock, punk, whatever - good music is good music, but a great guitar is sex." -Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam)
Les Paul's original "Log" guitar:
