The Gibson Les Paul Standard: Origins of a True Rock n’ Roll Icon

You’ve seen legends play it, from hard-hitting rockers like Slash, Jimmy Page and Randy Rhoads, to smooth-sailing virtuosos like Duane Allman and laid-back souls like Bob Marley. True blue rock n’ roll fans and guitarists alike will always recognize Gibson’s iconic guitars like the renowned Gibson Les Paul Standard—when they see one flashing across the stage.

According to About.com contributor and guitar expert Dan Cross, the Les Paul lineage has been with us since 1952, and has been a fixture in the worldwide music scene ever since. To understand its rise to prominence, however, delving into its rich past is a good place to start.

The story begins with American musical pioneer Lester William Polsfuss, also known as “Red Hot Red” and by his renowned stage name “Les Paul”. He was a country music guitarist who released his first two records in 1936, using guitars which were apparently not up to his expectations.

As a result, Paul started to experiment on several of his own designs in order to craft a guitar better suited to his preferences. Paul’s first creation “The Log,” which was built in 1941, was considered to be the world’s first-ever solid-body electric guitar, and it got the attention of American guitar company Gibson and its president Ted McCarthy. On the heels of the popularity of Fender’s solid-bodied Telecaster guitar, Gibson sought Paul’s help in designing their own solid-bodied offering to compete with the Telecaster.

The collaboration worked and the Les Paul guitar as it is known today was born. The first model released in 1952 was known as the Gold Top, so-named for the gold-coloured maple top, which Les insisted on so that it "looked expensive".

Electronically, it featured two P90 pickups and strings fitted under (instead of over) the stop bar. Over the years, various changes to original design ensued, churning out models like the ’54 custom (known as the “Black Beauty” for its all-black construction), the ’54 Junior (intended for beginners), and a roster of Standards from 1958 up to 2012, like the famous Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus.

Arguably the biggest change to Gibson’s Les Pauls, however, was the shift from the original P90 pickups to the Humbucker pickups beginning in 1957. Humbuckers were known for their fuller tone and higher sound output (while reducing treble), which was a useful side effect of their primary design objective... to kill once and for all the annoyance of mains hum spoiling the sound of electric guitars. These worked beautifully and were fitted into every single Les Paul guitar ever since.

For people who’d like a genuine piece of music and rock n’ roll history at their fingertips, stores like Rainbow Music Ltd are the places to be to experience this marvel of an instrument which has made musical legends out of the most unlikely ordinary folks.

Here's Bernie Marsden explaining his love for "The Beast", a Standard of 1959 vintage!

(Source: History of the Les Paul Standard, About.com)