Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, which made the sound of rock and roll possible. Paul taught himself how to play guitar and while he is mainly known for rock music, he had an early career in country music. He is credited with many recording innovations. Although he was not the first to use the technique, his early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound),delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.

His innovative talents extended into his playing style, including licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques and timing, which set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day. He recorded with his wife Mary Ford in the 1950s, and they sold millions of records.

Epiphone Les Paul

The Epiphone Les Paul is a line of solid body electric guitars produced by Epiphone as a more modestly priced version of the famous Gibson Les Paul. Epiphone is a subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar Corporation and manufactures the Les Paul and other budget models at a lower cost in Asia. Visually and ergonomically, it is almost identical to a Gibson Les Paul.

Les Paul Standard

Very similar to a Gibson Les Paul Standard, it has a solid Nato wood or alder body, Set-neck nato neck (most models) with a rosewood fretboard, Alnico Classic Humbuckers, Grover Machine heads and a Tune-o-matic bridge. Is considered by some to be the flagship Les Paul model made by Epiphone. There is a "Plain-Top" model that features a plain maple top and a "Plus-Top" model that features a flame maple top.

Les Paul Standard PlusTop and Quilt Top PRO

The Les Paul Standard PlusTop PRO is a version of the Epiphone Les Paul Standard. It has ProBucker-2 and ProBucker-3 pickups with coil-tapping, which distinguishes it from the regular Standard PlusTop. PAF humbuckers were the original humbuckers from 1957, which were not perfect, since the coils were not wound perfectly, which created an out-of-phase sound that is associated with the era. The ProBucker is designed to replicate that out-of-phase 1950s sound. However, the coil-tapping feature allows one to turn this sound on or off. Like the Standard PlusTop, this guitar features a flame maple veneer top. There are multiple available color finishes including Honeyburst (inspired by late '50s vintage Les Pauls), Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Trans Blue, Vintage Sunburst and Wine Red. The body is nato (with the maple veneer top), the neck is hand-set nato, with a rosewood fingerboard. The scale is 24.75". The Les Paul Standard Quilt Top PRO is identical but has a quilted top maple veneer finish and is only available in Trans Blue and Faded Cherry Sunburst colors.

Gibson Les Paul

The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The Les Paul was designed by Gibson president Ted McCarty, factory manager John Huis and their team with minimal input from guitarist/inventor Les Paul.

The Les Paul was originally offered with a gold finish and two P-90 pickups. In 1957, humbucking pickups were added, along with sunburst finishes in 1958. The sunburst 1958–1960 Les Paul – today one of the best-known electric guitar types in the world – was considered a failure, with low production and sales. For 1961, the Les Paul was redesigned into what is now known as the Gibson SG. This design continued until 1963 but continued as a separate guitar, when the traditional single cutaway, carved top bodystyle was reintroduced. The Les Paul has been continually produced in countless versions and editions since. Along with Fender's Telecaster and Stratocaster, it was one of the first mass-produced electric solid-body guitars. Les Pauls have been used in many genres, including rock, Country, pop, soul, rhythm and blues, blues, jazz, reggae, punk, and heavy metal.

Gibson Les Paul Junior

The Gibson Les Paul Jr. is a solid body electric guitar introduced in 1954 as an affordable, entry-level Les Paul. It was first released with a single cut body style; models with a double cut body style were later introduced in 1958. The Jr. continued through the first three years of the Les Paul/SG body redesign. It was discontinued in 1963, and was not re-released until 2001.

History

The goal for the Les Paul Jr. was to have a high-quality guitar that was still affordable. This was achieved by stripping the Gibson Les Paul down to the basics: one pickup, one volume knob and tone knob. It was equipped with one P-90 dog ear pickup in the bridge. It was originally released in sunburst, but Gibson also introduced the TV version (a kind of yellow, also known as TV Yellow) for professional musicians, who would be featured playing the guitar on television; the yellow would look white on black and white television, without the glare of an actual white finish.

In the 1960s and 1970s the Les Paul Jr. became very popular because of its simplicity and distinguishable tone when played through a high gain amplifier. The P-90 pickup gave the guitar a distinct crunch that was desired by rock and blues players of the time, including Leslie West of Mountain, Luther Grosvenor (a.k.a. Ariel Bender) of Spooky Tooth and Mott the Hoople, and Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers. A Les Paul Junior also became John Lennon's main guitar during his post-Beatles years.