Les Paul

In 1974, Paul Kossoff’s drug problem was spiralling out of control. He sold a number of guitars, including the iconic ‘stripped’ Les Paul. The guitar hasn’t seen the light of day since the mid-1990s, but we were recently granted a world-exclusive audience with one of the most mysterious Bursts of them all.

This played-in and wonderfully maintained Les Paul Special challenges some of the conventional wisdom on Gibson’s student rebels.

The guitar on the right is Minnesota, one of the most beautiful Les Pauls to leave Kalamazoo in 1959. The guitar on the left is a Custom Shop replica. We follow the process as a holy grail is recreated and compare Gibson’s Collector’s Choice production model to the original…

We recently put the Gibson Custom Minnesota Burst through its paces using a custom Rift Amps PR18 and an Analog Man King Of Tone. Watch the video below.

A close encounter with the First Burst – the first known 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard in sunburst – at Nashville's Carter Vintage Guitars.

The TV Model was Gibson’s response to Fender’s Telecaster – a simplified classic. We take a look at a near-mint ’56 example…

Gibson’s Nashville Custom Shop produces some of the most desirable electric guitars on the planet. We venture inside to find out why the company thinks its new True Historic series guitars are the best Les Paul reissues it has ever produced…

Epiphone has just announced the release of the limited edition Les Paul Custom 100th Anniversary Outfit. This release celebrates the 100th birthday of Les Paul.

Forget the flames and blingy ’Bursts, we check out two gold Les Pauls from the mid 1950s. 

Though Paul Kossoff died in 1976, aged just 25, his blues-rock playing and distinctive vibrato continue to influence guitarists across the globe. Steve Clarke analyses his ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard in unprecedented detail…