The Gibson Les Paul (King)
The Gibson Les Paul (King)
The Gibson Les Paul
Is this the heavyweight humbucker champion of guitars? In my opinion, the answer is simply Yes! This is the guitar that all humbucking guitars are compared to. This is where it all started as far as I’m concerned and just never could be duplicated. There’s something special about playing a Les Paul that no other guitar has. The feel and the tone are like no other.
It took me many years to really recognize a Les Paul. When I was growing up it was players such as Peter Frampton and Jimmy Page that influenced me with the Les Paul and I can’t forget Ace Frehley. Unfortunately at that age, I didn’t know what brands of guitars really meant. If I saw a guitar in my local music store I just didn’t know anything about it. I would just play whatever my parents could afford at the time and that would be the $45-$100 dollar-priced guitars and most likely they would be used. Brands like Kay, Memphis, and Hondo were in my house. I really didn’t care since I didn’t have a clue anyway.
By the time I start to recognize what was happening the trend of guitars changed and the guitar to have would be the super strat style of guitars. Eddie really brought that style to the forefront. All the guitars I started playing also had to have the Floyd Rose system. I do remember saving my money and purchasing a Les Paul standard for $500 and returning it days later. I just didn’t get it. I’m not going to go into all the details on what I was using but I will say that the Les Paul just wasn’t happening in the 80s for me.
The Gibson Les Paul is undoubtedly the king. It’s one of the guitars that wrote the history of music and paved the way for so many other guitar manufacturers to copy. Yes, it has its flaws for sure but that’s not what this post is about. I’m not here to bash the king but to show my respect. The Gibson Les Paul might not be my #1 main guitar (it’s close) but lately, I’ve been finding a new passion to play it. It took me a long time to get comfortable with one and the more I play this guitar the more I understand what makes this such an icon in the guitar world.
Respect!
John Price
Below you can hear my Gibson Les Paul on a few songs from my records Somebody and Somebody's Evil Twin, plus a few others.
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Light Speed - Somebody
I used it on all the rhythm guitar parts for the song Over Mountains.
My Love from Demo's Only record.
JP Society - From Demo's Only.
What A Rush - Somebody's Evil Twin
The Truth - Somebody's Evil Twin
Les Paul's Rock!
