THE FIRST Les Paul

The reason Gibson’s iconic Les Paul exists is because of its namesake. A star of the 1940s airwaves, Les Paul was also a gifted inventor who strived for 30 years to make his dream of a solidbody electric a reality. As his son Gene Paul says, “This is the reason music changed and rock ’n’ roll came to be… all because of this little guitar that sounded good.” Here is the story of how that very guitar – the first of the breed – was created

- Jamie Dickson

There are rare guitars and there are legends. Les Paul’s cherished ‘Number One’ gold top is the latter: truly a historic instrument, it is the first Gibson Les Paul electric that the man who gave it his name approved after two years of trial-and-error prototyping between 1950 and 1952, the year the guitar launched.

The fruit of nearly three decades of labor, it was Les’s most cherished possession – but for years after his death in 2009 it dropped off the radar. Now, this iconic instrument is coming up for auction at Christie’s in New York on 13 October. The guitarist was granted a rare opportunity to examine this unique – and uniquely historic guitar –in detail while it was in New York. We were also able to speak to those who knew Les best, including his son Gene, an award-winning producer who was in Les’s band for many years, and Tom Doyle, Les’s right-hand man and guitar tech for over 40 years, who gave us the inside story of the many, many mods that Les made to his ‘Number One’ over the years. We also spoke to Steely Dan guitarist Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter about his memories of “joyous” playing with Les Paul in the guitarist’s later years.

If you only ever think of an archtop electric when you hear the words ‘Les Paul’, we think the extraordinary story of the man who has been called ‘Father of the Electric Guitar’ may just change your perception of six-string history forever.

ELECTRIC DREAMS