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The Latest Breaking News from Les Paul

“Originally retailed for around $250, they can now fetch up to 2,500 times that”: 1959 Gibson 'Burst Les Pauls sell for a king's ransom, and have been played and cherished by everyone from Jimmy Page to Billy Gibbons – but what exactly makes them special?

Widely considered to be the Holy Grail for guitar enthusiasts and collectors, 'Bursts feature on many of the most important rock albums ever made. So what exactly went into the secret sauce?

Guitar World

“Most of the tone came from how much timber had taken off the neck, almost to Ibanez levels of thinness”: Bare Knuckle supremo Tim Mills reveals the tone secrets of Jimmy Page’s legendary ‘Number One’ Les Paul Standard

Mills was living the dream when he was asked to give Page's 1959 Les Paul an MOT before the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion gig

MusicRadar

“I was gonna look like I was trying to be Randy. It was meant to look like the poster for Vertigo”: Zakk Wylde on how his iconic “Grail” Les Paul Custom got its bullseye finish – and gave him his signature style

Wylde says it was love at first sight with the Grail, but worried that people might see him as a Randy Rhoads clone, it needed a new look

Guitar World

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art claims to have solved the mystery of the Rolling Stones' 1959 Gibson Les Paul – which Mick Taylor alleges has been missing for decades

The guitar, which was famously played by Keith Richards on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, was thought to have been stolen in 1971 – a rock 'n' roll legend which the Met refutes

Guitar World

“Being called a guitar hero was just awkward. Whether I’ve written a good song or not, that’s what counts to me”: Mark Knopfler on 40 years of Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms – the guitars, the riffs… the pressure of learning to play in time

From his lucky ’83 Les Paul and Fleetwood Mac-inspired soloing to “getting away with murder” at the sessions, the Dire Straits legend opens up in his most revealing interview in years

Guitar World

Met Museum refutes that former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor ever owned the ’59 Les Paul he claims was stolen from him – and now appears in a new exhibit

Taylor's representatives are requesting that the museum make the guitar available for inspection – while the museum asserts that it was Keith Richards who held onto the guitar until 1971

Guitar World

“I can't help but question why Gibson decided to label this model as a Les Paul”: Gibson Les Paul Music City Special 50th Anniversary review

Has Gibson gone in too deep with its Marauder-esque take on the Les Paul?

Guitar World

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“Every other Strat I picked up at the time didn’t have the same feeling to me”: Warren Haynes on why the theft of a Custom Shop Strat convinced him to change to Gibson Les Pauls

The loss of the guitar broke his heart, so Haynes decided to venture into new realms

Guitar World

“A real journeyman instrument that channels the Gibson classics yet ends up very much its own thing”: Knaggs Kenai Hollowbody Genie review

With a nod to Bowie style, this latest Knaggs Hollowbody creates one of the finest Kenais we’ve played over the past 15 years. TheGenie is truly out of the bottle!

Guitar World

“I sold it to Bob Rock for the same amount I paid for it. Just after that, the ‘Slasheffect’ happened… he sold it for 15times what he paid”: Billy Duffy on the Les Paul ’Burst he sold on the cheap – and why player-grade beats all-original every time

Think of Billy Duffy and it’s Gretsch White Falcons, Les Paul Customs or maybe an LP Junior. Here he explains why these three iconic six-strings have been the tools of his trade for over 40 years

Guitar World

“If these ‘Inspired By Gibson Custom’ Epiphones aren’t on your radar yet, they should be”: Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1957 Les Paul Goldtop review

With a raft of recent high-spec reissue launches, is Epiphone now the home of affordable ‘vintage’ Gibsons? On paper, yes. But what about in the flesh?

MusicRadar

“It has been reimagined as a straightforward, yet versatile and functional instrument relevant for today’s working musician”: Gibson celebrates 50 years in Nashville with limited edition twist on an cult electric played by Adam Jones and Paul Stanley

The Les Paul Music City Special 50th Anniversary is like a Marauder only with set neck and dual '70s Tribute humbuckers.... And different hardware – and they're only making 650 in each finish

MusicRadar

“That one’s a ’62. It’s also been shot. There’s a mark on the bottom where the bullet went in”: From his legendary Franken-Les Paul, Old Black, to his Hank Williams-owned Martin, and a pedalboard “ugly button,” Neil Young's rig is like no other

“When it comes to equipment, the idea with Neil is that you don’t change anything,” Young's guitar tech, Larry Cragg, told GW in 2009. “You don’t even think about it”

Guitar World

“My first reaction was, ‘There’s only one Les Paul.’ I prolonged the conversation”: Gibson spent years trying to convince Warren Haynes to work on a signature guitar – this is what changed his mind

His signature Les Paul steps away from his usual spec choices, and with good reason

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“It was under a staircase for 50 years. The owner’s family thought it could be worth £5,000. They were told, ’It’s worth more than that…’” The curious tale of Joe Bonamassa’s ‘Royal Albert’ Les Paul – and its mysterious mod

Bonamassa tells the story of the salvaged 1960 Les Paul and its bizarre mod, which was theorized to be inspired by Peter Green

Guitar World

“PRS' most daring signature guitar to date? Without a shadow of a doubt”: Here is all the new gear that has caught my eye this week – including an affordable replica of a $1 million Les Paul

PRS ushers in a new era of shred with its Herman Li signature model and Epiphone honors a great

Guitar World

“I don’t know how he got my address. He sent me a videotape of him jamming his head off. I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’” Buckethead gives rare ‘interview’ to Bootsy Collins – but speaks through his Les Paul

Collins talks and Buckethead riffs in the strangest guitar interview of 2025

Guitar World

“You can do anything with a Stratocaster”: Joe Bonamassa explains how to make any Fender Strat the “Swiss army knife of guitars” – and unlock Gibson-like Angus Young tones in the process

The guitarist has detailed how to mimic infamous Les Paul and SG tones from the instrument, believing its versatility is unmatched

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Guitar World

“It’s very weird and the only song we ever did that on”: Warren Haynes picks his favorite Gov’t Mule guitar riffs and shows you how to play them – properly

The blues rock giant sits down with Guitar World to go through his back catalog of riffs, picking out a few favorites along the way

MusicRadar

“Don’t miss this rare opportunity to own an accessible tribute to one of the world’s most famous, cherished, and valuable electric guitars”: Epiphone unveils Inspired By Gibson Custom version of Jeff Beck’s iconic 1954 Oxblood Les Paul

This limited edition replica of the late Jeff Beck's most-famous Les Paul arrives on the great man's birthday, and is strapped with Gibson USA Custombucker pickups

Guitar World

Gibson brings back its wild Les Paul acoustic hybrid for the first time in more than 20 years – and it’s unlike any other version that came before it

The firm’s third attempt at converting its iconic single-cut shape into a campfire companion settles on a parlor design reminiscent of a scaled-down SJ-200

Guitar World

“That’s one of the first things Phil said to me, ‘You’re in, but we gotta change that guitar’”: Scott Gorham may have passed his Thin Lizzy audition – but his budget Les Paul copy certainly didn’t

The Irish rockers finally found their man after auditioning 24 hopefuls when Gorham turned up for his turn – but Phil Lynott was left underwhelmed by his choice of instrument

MusicRadar

“Looks, feels and sounds far more expensive than it actually is”: Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1960 Les Paul Special Double Cut Reissue TV Yellow review

The most affordable of the new Inspired by Gibson Custom models – but it could be a highlight of the range

Guitar World

"It’s certainly worth considering against the start-point of the Gibson USA Les Paul range. The lines are getting blurred.": Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue review

Epiphone chases the flame of the world’s most coveted electric guitar

MusicRadar

“Whole Lotta Love was clearly the track that everybody would go to. That riff was so fresh — and it still is”: A classic interview with Jimmy Page

The Zeppelin legend spoke to Total Guitar's Chris Bird in 2020

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