Where is the original Les Paul’s The log?
^ Original "The Log" was exhibited at Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville. A replica of "The Log" ( loaned from Les Paul Foundation Archived September 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine) have been exhibited on " Les Paul Experience Archived February 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine " permanent exhibition at Waukesha County Museum.
When was the first Les Paul made?
Goldtops, the first Les Paul model, were produced from 1952–1957. Early 1952 Les Pauls were not issued serial numbers, did not have bound fingerboards, and are considered by some as "LP Model prototypes".
What year did Les Pauls come out with Gold pickups?
The Les Paul was originally offered with a gold finish and two P-90 pickups. In 1957, humbucking pickups were added, along with sunburst finishes in 1958. The sunburst 1958–1960 Les Paul – today one of the best-known electric guitar types in the world – was considered a failure, with low production and sales.
When did the Gibson Les Paul become popular?
The original Gibson Les Paul design regained popularity when popular guitarists such as Mike Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jerry Garcia, and Peter Green began playing the instrument in 1966-67, although Clapton also played an SG and a ES-335, and Garcia also played an SG.
When was the Log guitar model introduced?
THE CREATION OF THE LOG, THE FIRST SOLID BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR. Something terribly important developed in 1941 as I continued my efforts to create and electrically amplified guitar who is acoustical properties didn't cause feedback.
What was the Log Les Paul?
Guitar builder In 1940, Les Paul revisited his experiments with the train rail. This time he created a similar prototype instrument, a one-off solid-body electric guitar known as "The Log", which was a length of a 4x4 piece of lumber with a bridge, neck, strings, and hand-wound pickup.
What makes the Les Paul Log unique?
The humbuckers produced a bass-heavy, “dark” tone which combined with Les Paul's heavy mahogany and maple body wood and traditional dovetail neck joint to create a distinctly rich tone that would come to be identifiable as “the Gibson sound.”
Who manufactured Les Paul log?
Gibson Les PaulManufacturerGibsonPeriod1952–1960 1961–1963 (in SG form) 1968–presentConstructionBody typeSolid, Semi – hollow, Chambered12 more rows
Where is the original log guitar?
And the guitar that started it all—the Log—has been housed at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian, but the artifact currently resides in the Country Music Hall of Fame's Cool and Unusual: Treasures From the Archive exhibit.
Who owns 59 Les Pauls?
Three years later, he traded a Gibson SG and $25 for a '59 Les Paul, which he turned around and sold to fellow guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck for $350. “It's worth a little bit more now,” Nielsen says dryly. Nielsen still has the receipt for the 1959 Les Paul sold to Jeff Beck.
What does the switch on an Esquire do?
Although the Esquire had only a single pickup, it retained the three-way switch of the two-pickup guitars. This switch modified the tone of the pickup by making it bassier in the forward position, while enabling use of the tone control knob in the middle position.
What does Gibson R8 mean?
R8 = Reissue of the 1958 Sunburst (figured top up until '02, then Plaintop in '03) R9 = Reissue of the 1959 Sunburst Flamed/Figured Top. R0 = Reissue of the 1960 Sunburst Flamed/Figured Top.
What does the name of the Log guitar refer to?
The Les Paul "Log" was introduced in 1941, and was not manufactured commercially. The name refers to the shape of the guitar, and was made from pine wood, electronic pick ups, and two solid body pieces of wood.
Does Gibson own Epiphone?
Fierce competitors in the archtop guitar market throughout the '30s and '40s, Epiphone was later acquired by Gibson in 1957. Essentially becoming Gibson's “budget brand”, Epiphone remains the only company in the world that can produce officially-licensed Gibson designs.
What guitar did Jimi Hendrix play?
Fender StratocastersJimi Hendrix was known for many things, including his love for Fender Stratocasters. He did play other guitars, but after 1966 his arsenal mostly consisted of Strats, the two most famous being the Woodstock Stratocaster, and his personal favorite, Black Beauty.
What type of Les Paul does Slash play?
Gibson ES-335 Gibson released quite a few models for Slash, and he plays most of them, but prefers the AFD Les Paul, which is the replica of the replica used on the recording of Guns N' Roses' first album. Nearly all of the Les Pauls he currently plays feature Alnico Pro II pickups.
When did Gibson start using Les Paul?
Following Fender ’s introduction of the Broadcaster and Telecaster in 1950 and 1951, Gibson decided to compete, signing up America’s most famous guitarist of the time, Les Paul, to endorse its new instrument. Through the years that followed, Gibson’s Les Paul Goldtop (introduced in 1952), Les Paul Custom (1954) and Les Paul Standard or ‘Burst’ ...
What is a 1956 Les Paul Custom?
This 1956 Les Paul Custom has a ‘staple’ single coil in the neck position. The Custom was introduced in 1954 to fulfil Les Paul’s wish for a more luxurious-looking guitar that looked “like a tuxedo”. “There’s no guarantee that I would have played the….
Where was Les Les's hunting lodge?
“Les and his group were at a hunting lodge in Delaware Water Gap, which is up in the mountains in Pennsylvania. I had been talking to Les by phone, and I talked to Phil Braunstein, his financial manager, a New York accountant. So I made a date with Phil, flew into New York, had breakfast, got in his car, and I had this [prototype] guitar with me.
Where were trade shows in the late 40s?
“Trade shows in the late 40s were in Chicago in June and in New York in January or so. We would take prototypes to the show, show them, they’d get a reaction from the dealers – because this was a dealer show, you had to be a dealer to get in – and according to the reaction, we’d go back to the factory and the salesmen would say this is a good seller, this is a good seller, but I couldn’t do much with this one. Okay, you’ve got it. That’s how we chose the line, you might say.
Who was Les Paul's wife?
Les Paul and his wife Mary Ford at a press reception at the Savoy Hotel in London, for the 1952 unveiling of the Les Paul signature model. Note the DeArmond Dynasonics under the neck P-90 pickup covers. “We had always carved the tops of our fine guitars, and we had real fine carving machines.
Who saw what I was doing and started to make one?
“Leo Fender saw what I was doing and he started to make one. And when Gibson heard about it, they said find that guy with the broomstick with the pickup on it! They came round right away, soon as they heard what Leo was doing. They came over to me, and I says: ‘Well, you guys are a little bit behind the times. But okay, let’s go.’”
Who made the Les Paul guitar?
Gibson's Ted McCarty was the chief designer of the guitar, which was based on Paul's drawings and later dubbed the Gibson Les Paul. Gibson entered into a promotional and financial arrangement with Les Paul, paying him a royalty on sales. The guitar went on sale in 1952. Paul continued to make design suggestions.
What was Les Paul's first guitar?
He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul. Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music.
What is the Les Paul Foundation?
The Les Paul Foundation inspires innovative and creative thinking by sharing the legacy of Les Paul through support of music education, recording , innovation and medical research related to hearing (Mission statement.) The Foundation established the Les Paul Innovation Award in 1991 Les Paul Spirit Award in 2016.
What was the Gibson 58 Les Paul guitar called?
This time he created a similar prototype instrument, a one-off solid-body electric guitar known as "The Log", which was a length of 4x4 piece of lumber with a bridge, neck, strings, and hand-wound pickup.
What did Les Paul learn?
While in Chicago, Paul learned jazz from the great performers on Chicago's Southside. During the day, he played country music as Rhubarb Red on the radio. At night, he was Les Paul, playing jazz . He met pianist Art Tatum, whose playing influenced him to continue with the guitar rather than play jazz on the piano.
What band did Paul play with?
As a teen Paul experimented with sustain by using a 2-foot piece of rail from a nearby train line. At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys, and soon after he dropped out of high school to team up with Sunny Joe Wolverton's Radio Band in St. Louis, Missouri, on KMOX .
How many children did Les Paul have?
They had two children, Les Paul Jr. (Rusty) (1941–2015), and Gene (1944), who was named after actor-songwriter Gene Lockhart . After getting divorced in 1949, he married Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers). The best man and matron of honor were the parents of guitarist Steve Miller, whose family was from Milwaukee.
What year was the Les Paul Custom made?
Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece. A second Les Paul model was introduced in 1953. Called the Les Paul Custom, this black guitar with gold-plated hardware was dubbed the "Black Beauty". Various bridge and tailpiece designs were added in 1953 and 1954, including the popular Tune-o-matic bridge.
When did Gibson Les Paul Custom come out?
In 1954 , the Gibson Les Paul Custom was added to the model line. The Custom featured a solid black finish, gold-plated hardware, and other high-end appointments, including becoming one of the first Gibson models to have 3 pickups.
What year did Les Paul change their guitars?
In 1958, the Les Paul saw its first major design change. A new model, called the Standard, retained most features of the 1957 Goldtop. However, Standards featured a cherry-red sunburst finish. These guitars were priced higher than the Goldtop models, but lower than the Customs. At this time, Gibson instruments were marketed toward an older, jazz-oriented audience rather than young burgeoning guitarists. As a result, over the three-year period of production, only c. 1,700 Standards were made.
What pickups did the Les Paul have?
The Les Paul was originally offered with a gold finish and two P-90 pickups. In 1957, humbucking pickups were added, along with sunburst finishes in 1958. The 1958–1960 sunburst Les Paul, today one of the best-known electric guitar types in the world, was considered a commercial failure, with low production and sales.
How many Jimmy Page guitars are there?
Gibson has produced three Jimmy Page signature models. The first was issued in the mid-1990s. It is based on a stock sunburst Les Paul Standard. In 2005, the Gibson Custom Shop issued a limited run of Jimmy Page Signature guitars based on Page's 1959 "No. 1". Several years later, Gibson issued its third Jimmy Page Signature guitar, this one based on Page's #2, issued in a production run of 325 guitars.
What year did Les Paul Junior come out?
In 1954 , the Les Paul Junior debuted, targeted the beginning or student guitarist. As a cost-saving measure, many of the appointments of the Standard and Custom models are absent from the Junior. Ths Junior is characterized by its flat-top "slab" mahogany body (in contrast to the carved maple top on other models), finished in sunburst. It had a single P-90 pickup (in contrast to the two- and three-humbucker pickup configurations on the more expensive models), simple volume and tone controls, an unbound rosewood fingerboard with plain dot-shape position markers, and a combination bridge/tailpiece unit similar to the Goldtop.
What guitar was the first custom shop?
The first Custom Shop artist guitar was the 1996 Joe Perry Les Paul, and today, several artist models are offered.
What year did Gibson release 58 figured tops?
Also in late 1997 gibson released a small run of "pre-official run" '58 figuredtops, known to dealers as "50s figured lemonbursts" on the hotsheets. They differed from the 98 r8s only in the CS logo on the back of the head stock and a larger serial number. and of course only available in the lemonburst color.
When did the R8s become plaintops?
1,336. The R8s became plaintops in 2003; the 2003 R9s also had distinctly less flashy tops than they had in 2002. Coincidentally or not, Gibson reduced the list price on both R8s and R9s in Jan 2003, which is pretty funny considering they also added the BRW boards then and those guitars now trade for stupid money!

Early Life
Career
- Early career
Paul and Wolverton moved to Chicago in 1934, where they continued to perform country music on radio station WBBM and at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. While in Chicago, Paul learned jazz from the great performers on Chicago's Southside. During the day, he played country music as R… - Guitar builder
In 1940, Les Paul revisited his experiments with the train rail. This time he created a similar prototype instrument, a one-off solid-body electric guitar known as "The Log", which was a length of a 4x4 piece of lumber with a bridge, neck, strings, and hand-wound pickup. The Log was built …
Personal Life
- Les Paul married Virginia Webb in 1937. They had two children, Les Paul Jr. (Rusty) (1941–2015), and Gene (1944), who was named after actor-songwriter Gene Lockhart. After getting divorced in 1949, Paul married Mary Ford (born Iris Colleen Summers). The best man and matron of honor were the parents of guitarist Steve Miller, whose family was from Milwaukee. Paul was Miller's g…
Awards and Honors
- A few of Les Paul's many awards are listed below. In 2007, he was given the National Medal of Arts from U.S. President George W. Bush. Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2005) for his development of the solid-body electric guitar. In 1988, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by guitarist Jeff Beck, who said, "I've copied more licks from Les …
Discography
- Albums
1. The New Sound (Capitol, 78 rpm and 45 rpm EP, 1950; 33+1⁄3rpm LP, 1955) 2. Les Paul's New Sound, Vol. 2(Capitol, 1951) 3. Bye Bye Blues!(Capitol, 1952) 4. The Hit Makers!(Capitol, 1953) 5. Les and Mary(Capitol, 1955) 6. Songs of Today (Capitol, 45 rpm EP, 1956) 7. Time to Dream(Cap… - Hit singles
1. A peaked at No. 2 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songscharts
Compositions
- Paul was also a prolific composer. Some of the songs he wrote were "Song in Blue", "Cryin'", "Hip-Billy Boogie", "Suspicion", "Mandolino", "Magic Melody", "Don'cha Hear Them Bells", "The Kangaroo", "Big-Eyed Gal", "Deep in the Blues", "All I Need is You", "Take a Warning", "Mammy's Boogie", "Up And At 'Em", "Pacific Breeze", "Golden Sands", "Hawaiian Charms", "Mountain Railroad", "Move Along, B…
See Also
Bibliography
- Garrett, Charles, ed. "Paul Les [Polfuss, Lester Williams]" The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition. Oxford University Press. 2006. Print.[ISBN missing][page needed]
External Links