The Les Paul Story 1952-60
This article was researched and written by the webmaster of this site and is © 2001
In 1954 Gibson also launched two additional versions of the Les Paul - the Les Paul Custom ($325) and the Les Paul Junior ($99.50).
The Les Paul Custom had an ebony fretboard as opposed to the Gold Top's rosewood, more elaborate bindings on the guitar body and headstock, gold plated hardware and a black finish, acquiring it the name 'black beauty' amongst some players.
It was also actually the Custom that was first fitted with a tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece, these units only later being added to the Gold Top.
The Custom was also sometimes called the 'fretless wonder', due to the fact that the fret wire used was flatter and wider than on the Gold Top, which, combined with an ebony fretboard, made it seem easier to play.
The Custom was fitted with a standard P90 pickup in the bridge position but a newly designed single coil pickup in the neck position. The new pickup was visibly different from a P90 in that the polepieces were rectangular; it was also louder than a P90. Known as the Alnico pickup due to its use of aluminum/nickel/cobalt alloy, the unit was designed by Seth Lover.
The Les Paul Junior was more of a budget version of the Les Paul, having a flat, uncarved mahogany body with no binding, a single P90 pickup, plus the old wraparound combined bridge/tailpiece that would continue to be used on the Junior even after it had been dropped from the Gold Top.
Some Les Paul Juniors were made with a blonde/yellow finish instead of a sunburst, and these Juniors were referred to as the Les Paul 'TV' models - perhaps because they were supposed to look good on black and white television.
A further variant on the Les Paul Junior was introduced in 1955: the Les Paul Special ($182.50) - basically a two pickup version of the Junior, but otherwise identical.
In 1956 a smaller version of the Junior was manufactured - the Les Paul Junior 3/4. This guitar had a scale length (distance from bridge to nut) 2 inches shorter than that of a standard Les Paul (24 3/4 inches)
Forward to Part Four: 1957-1958
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This article is © 2001, first published in the UK 2003. It was licensed for use on the UKGuitarShop.com website in 2004 and also appeared on earlier versions of this site previously hosted at vintage-gibson-les-pauls.ukartists.com and freeserve.co.uk. Permission has not been given for it to be reproduced anywhere else. All rights reserved.
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