Page 15 - Guitar Classics Magazine - The Les Paul Bible 2019

THE ORAL HISTORY OF THE LES PAUL

SOLID

THE ORAL HISTORY OF THE LES PAUL Gibson’s Les Paul signature model
eventually came to deine the sound of
rock music – a role it still delights in to
this day. Yet its design was a protracted
process, with many twists and turns. Here,
we present its story irst-hand, both from
its creators and its most famous players…
WORDS TONY BACON

T
his is the insider’s story of the early days of the
Gibson Les Paul, the company’s irst solidbody
electric guitar. Following Fender’s introduction
of the Broadcaster and Telecaster in 1950
and 1951, Gibson decided to compete, signing up
America’s most famous guitarist of the time, Les Paul,
to endorse its new instrument.
Through the years that followed, Gibson’s Les
Paul Goldtop (introduced in 1952), Les Paul Custom
(1954) and Les Paul Standard or ‘Burst’ (which
replaced the Goldtop in 1958) formed a strong basis
for the company’s solidbody line, which also featured
a couple of budget models: the Les Paul Junior (1954)
and the Les Paul Special (1955).
This oral history of the early Les Paul and its famous
players comes from the archive of interviews I’ve done
over the years for my books about Gibson. The people
you’ll hear from are: Billy Gibbons, who was in his
pre-ZZ Top band Moving Sidewalks in 1968 when he

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