The Les Paul is the classic model of Gibson and is known to be the mother of rock guitars. Jimmy Page, Slash, Gary Moore and countless musicians have immortalized it in their legendary recordings; they are part of the history of rock. Here come a few things you did not know about Les Paul.

The first Gibson guitar of "Solid Body."

The Gibson Les Paul was the first solid-body guitar made by Gibson. It begins to be commercialized in 1952, and by then it came equipped with a simple coil pickup (P90). But a few years before, in 1946, a well-known guitarist of the time, Les Paul, presented a guitar project at the Gibson house, but all he got was a smile. Until Fender began to triumph, the Les Paul did not start manufacturing.

The size of the body

The body of a Les Paul did not have the predefined size as we know it now. It was supposed to be in the form of semi-acoustic models, but after a first prototype, it was evident that the guitar weighed too much. The only solution was to use a smaller body to adapt to this project.

Starting price

The 1952 Les Paul Goldtop began selling at a price of $ 210. In comparison with the rates that we found in second-hand markets, the amount was very moderate. Even so, the base salary at that time was around $ 265, with which a Les Paul practically snatched salaries completely.

PAF pads

The double-coil pickups allow us to suppress buzzing (hum in English, hence the name, humbucker). They were developed by Seth Lover in the mid-1950s and bore the "Patent Applied For" label. These pads were introduced under the abbreviation PAF and still, today are manufactured by Gibson and other manufacturers, the most faithful to the originals.

The golden age: from 1958 to 1960

The Gibson Les Paul custom with double Humbucker ended up becoming the standard of Les Paul and would end up being launched on the market in 1958. They could be purchased for $ 247.50, and from 1958 to 1960, 1712 instruments were manufactured by a small team of luthiers in Kalamazoo. These instruments are still known as the Holy Grail of Les Paul. Gibson has been building these guitars in his Custom Shop for years under the original indications.

Les Paul - SG

The model that replaced the Standard of Les Paul was the SG model known for the two lateral cuts in the body. During the first two years, it was called Les Paul - SG, but Les Paul did not like that his name was related to that model. The design with pointed horns did not convince him, and he did not want his name to appear on it. Finally, it was finished "re-baptizing" this guitar as SG, to dry.

Placement of the strings above the cordial

A little trick to improve the feeling when playing, specifically with the thicker strings, is the Top-Wrap technique, passing the strings above the cordial.

To use this technique, they must be placed in the opposite direction of the usual sense inside the cordial so that the blocking wheel is next to the pads. Pass the rope below the cordial and guide it to the mechanism. Thus, you reduce the angle of the strings with respect to the bridge, which provides greater sustain and better feeling when playing.