Origin of the LP/H150

[Guest mgoetting]

Les Paul wrote an overview of the history of these guitars in 2008.

 

He began experiments on solid body guitars in the late 1920's.

 

Prior to that he put a phonograph pickup on an acoustic guitar. This created much feedback. He stuffed it with rags, but ultimately filled the guitar with plaster of Paris.

 

He later worked with Epiphone in New York with experimental pickups on a 4x4 beam with an attached fretboard. No one took it seriously despite it functioning well. So he attached two guitar bouts to the log, making it look more like a guitar.

 

His friend Leo Fender created a successful solid body in 1950. Les began to pitch his design to Epiphone and Gibson. In 1951, Gibson began working on the final design with Les.

 

The first Les Paul was finished in 1952. By that time Fender was selling the Broadcaster, Telecaster and Esquire. The Strat came out in 1954.

 

In 1952, the Les Paul had the well known mahogany body with a maple cap, the latter being Gibson's idea. It cost $20 more than the Tele and was much heavier. Les advocated a full maple body but did not prevail.

 

The scale was reduced to 24.75" in order to allow easier string bending compared to the Fender.

 

The beauty of the Les Paul, Les himself claims. He wanted it to both sound good and "not look like a plank of wood with some gears on it". That sounds like a reference to the Tele.

 

Seth Lover helped put the PAF humbuckers on in 1957.

 

Les, Leo Fender and Paul Bigsby were lifelong friends. Can you imagine that?

 

There's so much more history out there, but that brings us up to the start of Marv at Gibson.

 

I can't promise everything I stated is correct, but it is in print in The Gibson Les Paul Handbook.

 

I'd love to learn more. Please add to this story.

 

 

 

The back access to the controls began with an Epiphone archtop. This allowed Les to change electronics more easily as he experimented with pups, pots, and caps.

[FredZepp]

Gibson built prototype solidbodies in 1951... this is the only known example still existing...(it's been refinished from it's original natural at times and had hardware changes) It reminds me of a first edition 140

[Guest HRB853370]

Everybody on this forum should own the book, The Gibson Les Paul Book, Paul Day and Tony Bacon. It has tons of references to Kalamazoo and has two accountings of how the LP originated, one accounting by Les Paul himself, and one accounting by Ted McCarty, whose version differs from Les Paul's. Kinda like there are varying accounts on how the Fender Strat was born and who was most responsible for it.

[NoNameBand]

Les Paul wrote an overview of the history of these guitars in 2008.

 

He began experiments on solid body guitars in the late 1920's.

 

Prior to that he put a phonograph pickup on an acoustic guitar. This created much feedback. He stuffed it with rags, but ultimately filled the guitar with plaster of Paris.

 

He later worked with Epiphone in New York with experimental pickups on a 4x4 beam with an attached fretboard. No one took it seriously despite it functioning well. So he attached two guitar bouts to the log, making it look more like a guitar.

 

His friend Leo Fender created a successful solid body in 1950. Les began to pitch his design to Epiphone and Gibson. In 1951, Gibson began working on the final design with Les.

 

The first Les Paul was finished in 1952. By that time Fender was selling the Broadcaster, Telecaster and Esquire. The Strat came out in 1954.

 

In 1952, the Les Paul had the well known mahogany body with a maple cap, the latter being Gibson's idea. It cost $20 more than the Tele and was much heavier. Les advocated a full maple body but did not prevail.

 

The scale was reduced to 24.75" in order to allow easier string bending compared to the Fender.

 

The beauty of the Les Paul, Les himself claims. He wanted it to both sound good and "not look like a plank of wood with some gears on it". That sounds like a reference to the Tele.

 

Seth Lover helped put the PAF humbuckers on in 1957.

 

Les, Leo Fender and Paul Bigsby were lifelong friends. Can you imagine that?

 

There's so much more history out there, but that brings us up to the start of Marv at Gibson.

 

I can't promise everything I stated is correct, but it is in print in The Gibson Les Paul Handbook.

 

I'd love to learn more. Please add to this story.

 

 

 

The back access to the controls began with an Epiphone archtop. This allowed Les to change electronics more easily as he experimented with pups, pots, and caps.

 

Great information Mark. So it did start with an Epiphone. I've seen pictures at Heritage of Les playing Heritage guitars and he looked real happy.

Thank you

[tulk1]

Great information Mark. So it did start with an Epiphone. I've seen pictures at Heritage of Les playing Heritage guitars and he looked real happy.

Thank you

Missed those!! You'll need to point those out next year so we can get our photographers to take pictures of the pictures ....... or something like that.

[GuitArtMan]

"The scale was reduced to 24.75" in order to allow easier string bending compared to the Fender."

Was much string bending going on in 1952?

Was Les a big string bender? If so, in 1952 or was it something he started doing later?

[MartyGrass]

"The scale was reduced to 24.75" in order to allow easier string bending compared to the Fender."

Was much string bending going on in 1952?

Was Les a big string bender? If so, in 1952 or was it something he started doing later?

 

 

Apparently someone was bending strings. Certainly twanging and blues were around. But that is a great question.

[rjsanders]

i love Les Pauls. got Bacon & Day ('93), Day ('02), & Hembree ('07), cuz i wanted to learn who did what in the original design and how my favorite came to be ('54 Custom).

 

reportedly no one agrees on the details of the original design. Les sez it was his idea & most of the design, Ted McCarty sez Les never saw the original design until the famous visit w/Les & Mary in the woods in '51 (or thereabouts). it seems Larry Allers got the assignment from Ted & worked on it w/the pattern shop guys. a proto was sent around to marketing & sales guys. Maurice Berlin talked Les into the carved ("violin") top. Les asked for the trapeze tailpiece.

 

Ted has also credited John Huis, Julius Bellson, & Wilbur Marked, & sundry unnamed others.

 

'course "the Log" was something Les dropped off in the late '40's that languished until Leo borrowed a solidbody from Bigsby & got the tele going.

 

et cetera

 

the neck pitch & tailpiece didn't work out, so those were major changes phased in through '53.

 

there's a patent w/illustrations in Hembree, filed '51, granted '55, showing "Theodore M. McCarty" as inventor.

 

the pickups, P-90s, were developed by Walt Fuller at Gibson & intro'd in '46. the 'buckers by Seth Lover (who was Walt's assistant in the '40's) in '55 and intro'd in '57.

 

all three books are worth having IMHO, if yer a Les Paul fan. Hembree is about the whole McCarty era '48-'66 w/inteviews of lotsa people who worked there, incl. some of our favorite Heritagians

 

 

[rjsanders]

btw, that patent illustration (Fig. 1) for the LP has a pretty H150-looking cutaway (IMHO)