Chicago Music Exchange | 5 years ago

We’re over the moon to have another stunning Goldtop in the store! Featuring the infamous trapeze wrap-under bridge, two perfect P90 pickups, and just enough green patina on the top, this 1952, all-original piece of rock n roll history absolutely soars in the hands of Nathaniel Murphy.

Les Paul was a respected innovator who had been experimenting with guitar design for years. He had hand-built a solid-body prototype nicknamed "The Log", often suggested as the first solid-body Spanish guitar ever built. "The Log" was given its name from the pine block running through the middle of the guitar whose width and depth are a little more than the width of the fretboard; conventional hollow guitar sides or "wings" were added for shape. In 1945 or 1946, Paul had approached Gibson with "The Log" prototype, but his design was rejected.

In 1951, McCarty and his team at Gibson began work on what would eventually become the Les Paul Model. Early prototypes are very similar to the final version. The new Les Paul guitar was to be an expensive, well-made instrument in accordance with Gibson's reputation at the time, and distinct from growing rival guitar manufacturer Fender's models.

McCarty approached Les Paul for the right to imprint the musician's name on the headstock with the intention of increasing sales; in 1951, Gibson presented Paul a nearly finished instrument for approval. McCarty stated that design discussions with Les Paul were limited to the tailpiece and the fitting of a maple cap over the mahogany body for increased density and sustain, which Les Paul had requested reversed. However, this reversal would have caused the guitar to become too heavy, and Paul's request was refused. Paul states that the original Custom should have had the maple cap and the Goldtop was to be all mahogany. The Custom did not appear on the market for another two years following the introduction of the Goldtop; it is possible that Gibson had planned a full model range of guitars (with a roll-out over the course of several years) at the time when initial specifications were being set. Les Paul's contributions to the guitar line bearing his name were more than cosmetic; for example, Paul specified that the guitar be offered in a gold finish, not only for flashiness, but to emphasize the high quality of the Gibson Les Paul instrument. Later Les Paul models included flame maple (tiger stripe) and "quilted" maple tops, again in contrast to the competing Fender line's range of car-like custom color finishes.

The 1952 Les Paul featured a mahogany body with a one-inch-thick maple cap, a mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, two P-90 single coil pickups, and a one-piece, 'trapeze'-style bridge/tailpiece with strings fitted under (instead of over) a steel stop-bar. The guitar made its public debut when Paul used it onstage in June 1952 at the Paramount theatre in New York. On July 24, 1952, at a special musicians clinic at the Waldorf-Astoria hoteL

Check it out here: http://bit.ly/31qDOEL

Gear used in this video:
- 1952 Goldtop Gibson Les Paul
- Fulltone Tube Tape Echo
- Gibson GA-30RVS 2x12 Combo
- Fulltone OCD CME Exclusive Black
- Divine Noise Cables

Songs played in this video:
0:00 - 01:22: How High The Moon by Les Paul
05:13 - 05:52: What a Wonderful World by Louie Armstrong

More Chicago Music Exchange:
Instagram - https://bit.ly/3gdPSSV
Twiter - https://bit.ly/2RuYOci
Facebook - https://bit.ly/3e4FI4C
Pinterest - https://bit.ly/3ea3BHZ

Check out our Giveaways page to win gear! - https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/pages/giveaways

#1952GibsonLesPaul #VintageGuitarDemo #ChicagoMusicExchange #Gibson #Guitar