In 1952, the world was stunned by the making of the electric guitar. The Gibson les Paul guitar solid body has revolutionized the music industry with its sleep design and other features it brings to the music industry. For over five decades the electric guitar has been just about everywhere and has done just about everything in the music industry. Many famous guitar players made a name for themselves by using the Gibson les Paul guitar base.
If you know your guitars and know a bit about the history behind them, then you know about what went into the making of the Gibson les Paul solid base guitar. It was developed by les Paul for the use during his era when he played jazz. With the cooperation of many other people in the jazz community, they made and designed the solid base to better suit the jazz musicians that played. He wanted to make sure that the body of the guitar better fit the jazz musicians that played because they would have to be on stage long time when compared to other musicians of the same era. If you are going to be on stage and have to play for a long time, you better have a guitar that is comfortable for you to hold.
When you are playing jazz, you want the feedback resistance at a minimum so that it does not carry out when you’re playing. The arch top guitars had that feature and were constantly used during this period of time. Basically, every musician used these guitars. These guitars were the common type that were used in all different genres of this time because they were the really only good guitar at the time. When les Paul created the P-90 pickups, they were quickly used by many different artists such as John Lee Hooker, who played with the blue men, and Freddie King. Many artists started using these pickups because you can get a better sound and a better quality out of the guitar and that is why they got so popular in the music industry. This made it easier to transition the jazz sounds over to the country sounds you are hearing today. This revolution is one thing that made the music industry what it is today.
If you think back to the 50′s and the earlier days when the guitars first came out, they were made out of a simple solid base that had a good sound at the time. The guitar in the 50′s was made for a simple purpose and a simple design because they didn’t know about all the different sounds at the time. The guitars had a sleek design that served its purpose and had many great designs with stylish artwork that many musicians made themselves. Another guitar hit the market but it was not there until the 19th century when Orville Gibson introduced a new design to the mandolin. This quickly became the centrepiece of the Gibson collection and separated him from the rest of the manufacturers of guitars.
Les Paul’s design has a top made out of solid mahogany that was trimmed around the body with maple. Most of these guitars had the humbucker pickups but it depended on the model you bought. nowadays, this model has changed a bit from its original design but many musicians think that it is for the better. The humbucker pickups have been modified and brought up to date but other than that, not much else has changed from its introduction in the 50′s. This guitar is still known for the music it made famous and many other musicians are using this model today in other genres of the music industry.
If you think about how and what music is being played on today, you will find many genres of music using this guitar because of the great sound it can produce. There are bands that use this guitar in country, alternative, and rock and roll genres that refuse to use any other guitar. That has to be a statement about the design and the sound quality that this guitar can produce.
If you know anything about the history of the electric guitar, then you know that Les Paul was not the first to design one. About 60 years before Les Paul came around, there was a man named Orville Gibson that had a hand in making the electric guitar. The year was 1936 when the first electric guitar was made and sold by this man and it took the music world by storm because no one ever heard a sound like that. He made the ES 150 model and this guitar was the first guitar to sell on the market. He had made the arch top guitar before Les Paul came to him with his design ideas.
Now that they have met and had some time to throw around some ideas, the P-90 pickups were added to the already great design of the Gibson guitar. This made the model a gold top which later became the Les Paul design for Gibson. This is also where he added the mahogany body with a punch in the neck of guitar so that you can adjust the tones you are playing. Adding all of that to this already great guitar, they had to add one more thing to the neck. They added a fret board and used a raised pick guard in order to get a better sound quality out of this new design.
With all of the fame that came with this guitar, it does not mean it didn’t have its competition or problems. Seth Lover had designed a device that can limit the amount of noise that was being produced by just having the guitar plugged into the amplifier. He had the patent office patent his design so he put them into his guitars. This device had the power to almost quiet the amount of noise that the guitar was making when no one was playing it. This means that he could make millions because this simple machine can make the sound coming out of the guitar even better for people who are playing it. By placing two tightly wound coils side by side, you were able to get a warmer sound and eliminate the buzzing sound that came out of the guitar. This little device made the Gibson Les Paul even more desirable to many other musicians.
Now in 1952, the sound problems that have been occurring have almost stopped and the guitar can go back on the market but Gibson had to make a few more changes to the original design of the Les Paul. The great thing about these changes are that they were only on the surface. They changed the surface from mahogany to a maple top that was covered in a semi-transparent cherry finish to give the guitar a more glowing look when they are on stage playing. Now that this guitar was more desirable and looked better, it was one of the most advanced electric guitars on the market at that time.
Even though they made some changes to the guitar to make it better, it was still having a few problems with the transformation into the market. The Les Paul original had to go through some more changes and that happened around 1963. The new design was called the SG and that’s the name it is known by today. The original model is very well know for the musicians in the jazz and pop genres but in the 60′s this guitar found its rightful place. This guitar is more well known for the artists who played it on the stage. Many of the artists that played this guitar are very well known in the music industry, you might even say they are icons in their field. Some of the names that helped this guitar reach stardom are people like Jimmy Page, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor just to name a few.
Even though the Les Paul took some time to be recognized in the music industry, the popularity will and never get old. Its reputation now is so far in the stars that there is nothing that can tarnish the legendary status of this guitar. There are some things that get old but this guitar is regarded as the best guitar that was ever made any many artists will stand by that statement today. If you are lucky to have one or able to find one cheap, hang on to it because it is worth some money.
If you are looking to determine if you have an original Les Paul guitar, then you need to know some of the special features that this guitar brings with it because it is not like any other guitar you might have encountered before. The Les Paul is specifically designed for the production of the unique sound that it products when it is played. This guitar was made for the rock genre with its classic British blues-rock shape. If your band needs a sound that is rich, that what this guitar is designed for. The design of this guitar is used for much more than just the rock genre but that is what many people feel like it was made for because of way it was designed. It does not matter if you are just starting out of if you are a seasoned pro, this guitar will interest you beyond any other guitar on the market today.
Here are some of the things why people are so after this guitar. There are not many in circulation today because many people are collecting them and once they have one, they are not going to give it up very easily. Here are just a few reasons why that people like playing this guitar and maybe why people don’t want to give them up when they have them in their hands.
One thing about the Les Paul guitar that makes this guitar so easy to play is that you are able to reach the higher notes with comfort instead of having to reach a mile to get the strings. This guitar also has moveable bridges to make it more easier to play.
It has the ability to receive a note due to the two humbucker pickups that is has in the guitar.
Tune-o-matic bridge makes it easier to play because you don’t have to keep tuning the guitar before every song that you play.
Another thing that makes this guitar a thing to play and so wanted is that you can use it in every genre of music from country to rock. There are not many guitars that can do that and still look great just the way it is.