The Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar Blog

The Gibson Explorer is an electric guitar that was introduced to the world in 1958.  The Explorer was produced by the same company that developed the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. The Explorer was also marketed many years later as the Futura. The Explorer was produced during 1958 but production was halted in 1959, resuming again in 1975. The initial production of the Explorer was unsuccessful and production was discontinued until other companies began selling guitars with similar designs with great success.

The Explorer and the Les Paul were extremely popular among the heavy metal and hard rock musicians of the 70’s and 80’s. Eric Clapton has been known to play a wide variety of Gibson guitars throughout his long career. Clapton played a 1958 Explorer when making both his EC Was Here and 461 Ocean Boulevard albums.

While playing with Cream as well as John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Clapton played a 1960 Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Clapton owned a 1964 ES-335 that he played while a member of Cream, Blindfaith, The Yardbirds and while performing solo. He donated this guitar in 2004 to the Crossroads Center and it was auctioned for $750,000.

There are many other well known musicians that depend on Gibson quality. Don Felder of the Eagles uses a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar as well as an EDS-1275. The legendary Jimi Hendrix is widely known for playing a Stratocaster, but he used several Gibsons including a Flying V, SG Custom and a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. The list of musicians that have enjoyed the quality guitars that Gibson produced is long and varied. Not only are they popular among rockers, there a number of country and western musicians that depend on them as well.

There were very few Gibson Explorers produced during the initial run in 1958. It is unknown exactly how many of the original Korina models were produced since the production records are not clear, but it is estimated that less than fifty were produced. Due to the Explorers extreme rarity the value of this guitar has significantly increased. These originals Explorers that have a verifiable provenance have values in the hundreds of thousands since they are highly regarded among collectors.

A 50th anniversary edition of the vintage Gibson Explorer was released in 2008. This edition features the Korina neck and body, replicating the original 1958 Explorer. Production of this anniversary edition was limited to 100 guitars.

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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.

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Once in a very long while a guitar comes out that captures the heart and imagination of those that have come to relish it. That time has come again as that kind of guitar is being brought out again. The guitar I’m referring to is the Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood guitar and it has been considered by many to be the best Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. It’s going to be released as a limited run edition and will no doubt become a very valuable collector’s edition. The original guitar had such a rich distinct sound that will conjure up many good memories. A lot of people who are familiar with this guitar always tend to focus on the unique sound qualities this fine instrument has been able to produce through out the years. This is just one fine example of a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.

This will be a limited edition run of one hundred and fifty guitars. The first fifty are going to be very carefully aged to look like the original guitar played by Jeff Beck. Another outstanding feature of the first fifty of these guitars is that they are going to be personally signed by Jeff Beck. The other one hundred of these replicas will be given a special finish. All one hundred and fifty will come with a special Gibson case and a care kit to insure continued care. The guitar also comes with a certificate of authenticity. The cost of these guitars is rumored to be around $8,000.00 to $8,500.00. I’m sure once this limited run is complete that the value will go up as a collectors item.

One thing that a lot of musicians seem to think about is how many of these guitars will actually get played as opposed to merely collected. It’s hard to say as only time will be able to tell that outcome. One thing is for pretty sure… these guitars will sell like hotcakes. I’m sure that for most people, a quality Gibson Les Paul electric guitar is enough for them; however for a select few, this Jeff Beck guitar will be so so sweet.

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Q:  The 2008 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus which is $2,600 has the exact same pickups as the $800 Gibson Les Paul Studio Vintage Mahogany. They can’t sound much different, can they? What is the difference?
A:  Okay, so if the pickups are the exact same, what is different? C’mon, you should know that pickups don’t *make* sounds, the “pick it up” from the vibrations of the strings. When strings are vibrating, what else is vibrating? The guitar, which is made up of many things that aren’t strings or pickups. In terms of the quality of a guitar’s tone, the most important things to consider - the type and quality of the guitar’s wood, how the neck and body are joined, the quality of the hardware, the level of precision in how the fingerboard and frets are installed and levelled, and lastly how it is finished. The last is a cosmetic issue, surely, but the coating will affect the tone - take that thick poly coating off of your guitar and put a few layers of lacquer on it, and see how different your guitar sounds! I submit to you that the pickups are one of the least important factors to take into account when buying a guitar. You can always buy different pickups, but you can’t change a bolt-on to a neck-through, and while you *can* swap that basswood or agathis body out for a nice mahogany body, you’ll be paying one sweet premium to do so, and that’s if you know how to do it, what body to select, etc. As an aside, it’s best to think of a pickup as a filter - they selectively let more of this frequency through than that one. They are complex filters, with time-dependent characteristics, but they are filters nonetheless. Many of the Gibson bodies are made from very decent wood… that means they had to scrounge to find a good source, and had to pay a decent amount to get wood that was structurally sound, had good tone potential, etc. That is one reason why some Gibson guitars are more expensive than others. A lot of extra work went into getting the little things, the little details, just right. … Okay, with all that said, if you can’t *hear* the difference or the difference isn’t worth the extra money, get the cheaper one. Me, while I can appreciate the sound of many of the more expensive guitars (and appreciate their higher level of construction), I simply don’t have the funds available to buy a 1000$+ guitar. To me, an Epiphone that has been set up properly, with the right pickups, is a perfectly adequate replacement for a Gibson. Is an Epiphone as good as a Gibson? In general, no. Are they close enough that I don’t care? Yes. Sometimes that’s what matters. Saul

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This a great commercial for Coors beer. Les Paul and his buddies are in a bar as the band sets up. On stage, a would-be rocker tests his Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Les asks to see the guitar and…. Well, you’ll just have to watch the video and see. It’s terrific!

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I’m continually amazed at the amout of wonderful information there is on the internet about the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.  Here are some great reviews of the Gibson Les Paul Traditional Plus and the Les Paul Standard.  Another thing I’ve found interesting is the number of people who want to know how to build an electric guitar.  There’s a great link - ‘Building Les Paul’ - to guitar parts in one of the forum posts here..

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Here’s a complete step-by-step guide to building an electric guitar—from the initial design to assembly and wiring—with clear instructions, full-size plans, and more than 400 color photos.

Every guitarist dreams of owning a high-quality custom-made instrument, but the cost is often prohibitive. Building your own guitar is an extremely rewarding and satisfying means of realizing your ambition without making a huge financial outlay. In Build Your Own Electric Guitar, expert information on design, wood selection, hardware, tools, and techniques allows you to create your own personalized instrument, and full-size plans are included for ease of use. Written by a master luthier, this outstanding guide takes the mystery out of making a guitar. Click here now for more details.

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I’m currently building a guitar kit. The kit is a saga lc-10 which is a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar type instrument. So far the guitar is turning out really good. The next part will be on adding the black lacquers to the neck and the back of the guitar.

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Q:  I have an Epiphone Les Paul standard and I’ve lowered the bridge and backed up the saddles, both as far as possible and the octave notes on the 12th fret of each string are all still too sharp. Is there anything else I can do?

A:  If you’ve lowered your action and adjusted your saddles and your strings still go sharp, it could be something wrong with your truss rod. At this point, you should take your guitar in to have the truss rod adjusted. You could do it yourself, but you would risk breaking your truss rod, and replacing that is a very nasty and expensive process.

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