Gibson guitars
the standard for excellence!

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Gibson guitars to me, are some of the best guitars on the planet! The rich woods,gold plated hardware, and mother-of-pearl inlays. You really feel you're holding a quality product.

When I bought Alice Cooper's "Love it to Death" album, the group picture on back of the sleeve had Michael Bruce with a SG Standard and Glen Buxton holding a beautiful white SG Custom. Nice!

Gibson started out exploring electrifying guitars in the 1930's. They introduced their electric Spanish guitar model ES-150 in 1936. Gibson guitars stopped production during World War II and made wood parts for the war effort.

Gibson hired music veteran Ted McCarty in 1948 and he was promoted to president in 1950. At that time, Gibson decided to make a solid body guitar which later became known as the "Les Paul".

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People seem to think Les Paul had a lot of input into designing this model. The guitar was in the final design stages when Les Paul signed on with Gibson guitars. His only input was to change the tailpiece. Regardless, his name became synonymous with the brand. The Les Paul became a legend and some models from the late '50s command hundreds of thousands of dollars on the collectors market.

Other models soon followed. The Melody Maker, Flying V, Explorer, and other lesser known models filled out the solid body line.

One of my favorite solid bodies is the SG. I bought my 1968 SG Special before I even started lessons. I didn't want to start with a lousy acoustic (like my parents wanted). I wanted a Gibson guitar!

I still remember like it was yesterday the owner of the music store in town threw the case up on the counter, opened the lid and said,"200 dollars and it's yours". I said "Wow, it's just like the one Pete Townsend has".

I still have that guitar. It just needs refinished since over the years I have repainted it, put humbuckers in, and generally played the heck out of it. Thankfully, I saved the two P-90 soap bar pickups.

Gibson guitars have a good solid feel you just don't notice on lesser brands. Sort of like the difference between a Yugo and a Corvette. I know they have had their share of sub-par years due to ownership changes, but to hold a Gibson Les Paul Custom with Ox Blood finish and gold covered Tim Shaw pickups, well what else can I say?

50th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Guitar at MusiciansFriend.com

I still want to get the white SG Custom pictured on the back of Alice's album. Something sexy about it, the curves, the three pickups, the mother-of-pearl inlays in the neck and headstock.

When I plug my Les Paul into a 50 watt valve state Marshall, I know I made the right decision in that music store so many years ago.

This is my Gibson Les Paul Custom, 1982 model with Tim Shaw pick ups.

50th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Guitar at MusiciansFriend.com

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