A beautiful sounding guitar invented by a man of the same name. The Les Paul Standard model features a rounded C-neck made of mahogany, rosewood fingerboard, maple top, mahogany body, twin humbuckers, and is indeed quite heavy. However if it is too heavy for you, try getting a decent strap which some people apparently fail to do. I have a Les Paul Vintage Mahogany and the thing doesn't have the maple top, neck and body SOLID MAHOGANY, one of the HEAVIEST woods used in making guitars as you well know, and with a strap this thing is light as a feather. Even without one, I'd be able to play easily if I didn't have to struggle to keep hold of the guitar with my right hand. And for all you who say these guitars sound muddy-try actually messing around with your settings for awhile and/or get a decent amp. Let me give you an example of my setup.
Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany -> MXR ZW-44 Overdrive (Gain-10, Tone-8.5, Output matched to clean channel volume) -> Boss BF-3 Flanger (Manual at 12:00, Resonance 2:00, Depth 3:00, Rate 9:00, Standard or Ultra mode) -> Boss DD-6 Digital Delay (Effect Level 6:00, Feedback 1:30, Delay Time 8:00, 300ms mode, or just matched to tempo) -> Fender Princeton Chorus non-DSP (Treble 8.5, Mids 5.5, Bass 10, Gain 7.5, Limiter 0, Prescence +5, and my chorus settings are Rate 2, Depth 5)
Trust me, tweak a Gibson Les Paul and you're gonna get a good sound out of it. These guitars are crystal clear, not muddy, and get an INCREDIBLE distortion and overdrive. If you want a warm, thick-as-hell, creamy overdrive or clean sound, the Captain Crunch of classic rock sounds, an incredible metal (new or old) distortion, or screaming leads from hell, the Les Paul is gonna work out FANTASTIC. If you want a brighter, thinner, tighter sound, get a Fender Strat.
Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany -> MXR ZW-44 Overdrive (Gain-10, Tone-8.5, Output matched to clean channel volume) -> Boss BF-3 Flanger (Manual at 12:00, Resonance 2:00, Depth 3:00, Rate 9:00, Standard or Ultra mode) -> Boss DD-6 Digital Delay (Effect Level 6:00, Feedback 1:30, Delay Time 8:00, 300ms mode, or just matched to tempo) -> Fender Princeton Chorus non-DSP (Treble 8.5, Mids 5.5, Bass 10, Gain 7.5, Limiter 0, Prescence +5, and my chorus settings are Rate 2, Depth 5)
Trust me, tweak a Gibson Les Paul and you're gonna get a good sound out of it. These guitars are crystal clear, not muddy, and get an INCREDIBLE distortion and overdrive. If you want a warm, thick-as-hell, creamy overdrive or clean sound, the Captain Crunch of classic rock sounds, an incredible metal (new or old) distortion, or screaming leads from hell, the Les Paul is gonna work out FANTASTIC. If you want a brighter, thinner, tighter sound, get a Fender Strat.
Some Les Paul players are Ace Frehley, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton (Cream era), Duane Allman, the list goes on...
by Ian Davis January 6, 2006
The inventor of the solid body electric guitar, and multi-track recording among other things. He used a fence post for his first electric. His signature model guitar is the Gibson Les Paul. It's design hasn't been changed for over 50 years. Some guitarists which have used this guitar model are: Slash, Pete Townshend, Zakk Wylde, Kirk Hammett. Apart from pioneering the electric guitar, and multi-track recording, he was also an awesome guitarist.
by Chobzillare November 6, 2006
Easily one of the most popular electric guitars ever made. Really came into its own in 1957 with the invention of the dual-coil hum-cancelling pickup. However, since over 90% of Les Pauls made have this particular genre of pickup on them, many of them sound alike, except for the different effects or amps one uses. There are exceptions to the humbucker models so commonly seen. One variation was the Les Paul Classic, which was fitted with P-90 pickups, which were the predecessor to the humbucker pickups. The other variation of the Les Paul is the Les Paul Deluxe (my personal guitar). The Deluxe was fit with a smaller version of the dual-coil pickup found on many of the Les Pauls. Pete Townshend of The Who made the Les Paul famous by adding a third pickup to the guitar, and by numbering his guitars.
I can get a very powerful, unique and unique sound out of my Les Paul Deluxe by using a tube driver, a Hendrix-style fuzz box, and a Vox wah-wah pedal, which is all plugged into my Vox AC-30 amp with a Marshall Half-stack speaker setup.
by Mikey February 22, 2006
by imurgod May 4, 2005
the greatest electric guitar ever invented. this guitar is not the greatest because it is over complicated but because it is simple and pleasing to the eye, no matter what music your into.
its shape is much like an acoustic shape except alot smaller with a cutaway for easy access to the lower frets for soloing. i personaly love this guitar because it really does play anything on it if you give it the right amp and set effects
its shape is much like an acoustic shape except alot smaller with a cutaway for easy access to the lower frets for soloing. i personaly love this guitar because it really does play anything on it if you give it the right amp and set effects
some popular les paul players:
slash
zakk wylde
les paul(of course :))
you cant go wrong with a les paul, it sounds good with anything; jazz, blues, rock, metal you name it, the les paul will be play it well!
slash
zakk wylde
les paul(of course :))
you cant go wrong with a les paul, it sounds good with anything; jazz, blues, rock, metal you name it, the les paul will be play it well!
by babarabarumirama January 3, 2008
The guitar by which all others are judged. The definitive growling sound of Rock and Roll owes it's exisitence to Mr. Paul, whether equipped with humbuckers or P-90's. Les Paul is just another way of spelling Rock and Roll.
by 1992Mustang January 24, 2008
the Gibson Les Paul guitar went into production in 1952 and was the first solid body electric that Gibson had made. And they still make kick ass guitars like the 2 Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers which cost like £75 each slapped into a Gibson Les Paul Custom which Slash has. Gibsonmade a couple and were made from 1996 to 1998. There were a total of 73 made; 75 If you count the 2 Slash owns. Many people around the world admire the quality of the les paul from its crisp sound maximum quality body & neck. Many rockstars use or have used the les paul like; Slash, Joe perry, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Brian May, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Duffy, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Gibbons, Peter Green, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck and loads more. in my opinion and many other peoples the Les Paul is much more than a guitar its a treasure wether its a studio, standard or custom its still a les paul
Other Guy:what guitar do you have??
Rick: i have a Gibson Les Paul Custom with my own vintage Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers fitted in what about you
Other: oh i just have a fender strat
Crowd of people: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Rick: hahaha
Rick: i have a Gibson Les Paul Custom with my own vintage Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers fitted in what about you
Other: oh i just have a fender strat
Crowd of people: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Rick: hahaha
by Rick Nicol May 18, 2005