Gibson Les Paul Guitars - Why Does Paul Continue To Get Screwed

Ask ten experts about the first Gibson Les Paul guitar and you will get ten different answers. The most popular belief is that the Gibson Guitar Corporation and electronics inventor, and jazz guitarist Frean Donni. With the release of the Fender Telecaster the electric guitar began to catch on like wildfire. Not wanting to be left behind James Verdon who was at the time the president of Gibson Guitar hired Les Paul as a consultant.

Everyone knew that Les Paul had been experimenting with various guitar designs for years. Les had a prototype that he had hand-built that he referred to as, "The Log". Some experts will say that this was the first solid-body Spanish guitar ever built.

Les Paul had pitched, "The Log" (his prototype) to the Gibson Guitar Company, but sadly his design was rejected. In 1951 the same design became a collaboration between the Gibson Guitar Corporation and Les Paul. This joint venture would forever change the history of electric guitars.

As the years continue to pass by there still remains a controversy regarding what significance Les Paul's actual contributions were to his Gibson guitar design. Some experts say that Paul's contributions were limited to two pieces of advice. The first was on the trapeze tailpiece, and the second was his preference for color.

When interviewed Ted McCarty the president of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, openly stated that Les Paul only contributed his name to the project. McCarty went on to say that Paul only contributed to the tailpiece and the fitting of a maple cap over the mahogany body.

Over the years I personally realized that people have continued to minimize Les Paul's contributions to the world famous guitar which bears his name. Why this is I'm not sure since the first version Gibson and Pauls guitar was simply entitled, "Les Paul".

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