The Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar Blog

In 1945, jazz guitarist and inventor Les Paul took his concept for a solid-body electric guitar to the Gibson guitar company. They turned him down and called the prototype a “broom-stick with a pickup on it”.

However, seven years later, the growing popularity of the Fender Telecaster prompted Gibson to introduce the Les Paul as it’s first solid-body guitar.

There are different stories about who designed what when it comes to the first models. However, once the dust settled, the result was a guitar that proved to be what the market was looking for.

In 1954, Gibson released the Les Paul Custom which sold for $325.00 and the Les Paul Junior that went for $99.50. Today, these guitars go for thousands of dollars.

The humbucker (aka PDF) pickup came into use in 1957. Engineer Seth Lover designed them to eliminate the hum and interference caused by single coil pickups.

In 1958, the cherry red sunburst Les Paul replaced the Les Paul Gold Top. The ‘bursts’ have become the most sought after and expensive Les Pauls of all time.

There have been many different models of the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar since it’s release in 1952 including the 2008 Robot model which tunes itself. In December 2008, Gibson took the Les Paul one step further with the introduction of the Dark Fire Les Paul-style digital guitar. The latest Les Pal digital guitar is the Dusk Tiger.  What 2010 will bring remains to be seen with eagar anticipation.

However, no mater the changes and inovations, the one thing that remains constant is the Les Paul’s position as guitar of choice for some of the world’s greatest guitarists.

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Every guitar player that has ever been born lives for the day when he/she can pick up a Gibson Les Paul or other vintage guitar. Vintage guitars are available in all major manufacturers and brands. But it’s not only musicians and guitar enthusiasts that are attracted to these masterpieces. Vintage guitars can also be viewed as an investment.

You’re probably saying to yourself right now “How can a guitar be an investment?”, “Is buying a vintage guitar really a good investment?” Allow me to enlighten you a little. To the untrained eye, a guitar is a guitar. Now we aren’t talking about the walls of instruments you see at Guitar Center or Sam Ash. We are talking about those special few extraordinary guitars that just scream to be torn into.

Guitars are a great investment for a few reasons. First, they are beautiful and command a room where they are displayed. Second, vintage guitars don’t depreciate or lose value with time. On the contrary, these babies appreciate and gain value as they age, especially if they are kept up nicely. Third, they have superior tonality and action when played due to the quality workmanship that went into their construction.

Undoubtedly, the most popular is the Les Paul by Gibson. This guitar carries the name of the man who invented the solid body electric guitar. In the 1960’s, the Les Paul was just about THE choice of instrument. These are still made today, but the older ones were made of superior materials like mahogany and oak. Some even had gold frets and mother of pearl inlays on the fret board.

Fender also has a stranglehold on a couple of highly sought after guitars, especially the Stratocaster, the Telecaster and the Thunderbird. These were favorites among blues and rock players alike. Again, the ones everybody wants were made in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Certainly among the reigning Kings of vintage guitars are those made by the CF Martin company. Martin emigrated here from Europe in the late 19th century and set up shop in New York. The craftsmanship he imparted is not only extraordinary. It is absolutely earth shattering. Martin pioneered the X-bracing system for acoustic guitars adding years to the longevity of the instruments he made. Many Martin’s are still in use at nearly 100 years old!

Guild is another vintage guitar that is vastly overlooked these days. Guild was only in operation for about 25 years and was bought by Fender in the 1990’s. Some of the older Guild guitars are extremely rare and sought after as they exhibited the same quality as the Martin instruments of the same time period.

Every one of these guitar manufacturers has made an exceptional line of guitars. Players like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, Chet Atkins, Roy Clark and Les Paul have chosen them time and time again as their guitar of choice.

When bought as an investment, the vintage ones hold the possibility of giving a fantastic ROI (return on investment).

To see a collection of vintage guitars that are available right now, get on over to http://www.vintageguitarzone.com and see what you can get your fingers around for a great price.

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Mike McFar
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/vintage-guitars-as-an-investment-479352.html

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You can learn all about the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar and even find your next guitar at this unique blog dedicated to the guitar and its inventor, Les Paul. Videos and articles explore the past present and future of the iconic guitar that is played by many of yesterday’s and today’s top guitarists - The Gibson Les Paul.

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This excellent video is an appraisal of a 1952 Gibson Les Paul electric guitar on the Antiques Road Show. The appraisal was done by expert Gary Sohmers. The owner of the guitar had it sitting under his bed for 25 years! He paid $120.00 for the Les Paul and a Fender amp. Watch it now to see how much it was appraised for!

Duration : 0:3:12

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Here’s a great video of a guitarist with his brand new Gibson Les Paul Darkfire. He goes over the features and demos this new, unique Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Watch it to get the details.

Duration : 0:5:39

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1952 marked the beginning of the guitar revolution in many respects. It was in this year that Les Paul and Gibson teamed up to create the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.  Learn about it here.

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One of the most famous guitar players of all time has got to be Les Paul. But he wasn’t just a guitarist, nor was he just a jazz musician. In fact, he was a good deal more than just these two things. He was also quite influential and innovative in the design of electric guitars. Learn about the man and the guitar here.

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Slash, famous lead guitar player for the band Guns ‘N Roses, is responsible for some of the best lead guitar tone in history. He has accomplished this feat using none other than one of the most monumental electric guitars ever made; the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.  Slash has many guitars and this article talks about some of them.  Learn more here.

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