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The Latest Breaking News from Les Paul

“It was my first cover. I knew Slash would use a great vintage Les Paul, so Ihad to up my game”: Gilby Clarke on the story behind his modded ’69 Fender Telecaster, immortalized on the cover of Guitar World

It was the Nov 1992 issue. Guns N' Roses were officially and unofficially the biggest – and still most dangerous – band in the world, and its guitarists, Slash and Gilby Clarke was on the cover. Slash had done this before. Clarke? It was all new...

Guitar World

“It really is a special set”: Joe Bonamassa’s newest signature pickups are inspired by his Bolin ’Burst – the infamous Les Paul he acquired under extraordinary circumstances

The original pickups found in the famed Gibson that was once played by Tommy Bolin have been recreated in great detail

Guitar World

“Even today, that instrument is fascinating. I’ve passed it around and players of all sorts have all come to the same conclusion – there is something magic in that instrument”: Billy Gibbons on why Pearly Gates is one of the greatest Les Pauls of all time

All Gibson Les Paul Standards from 1959 are special but what is it about the ZZ Top frontman's Pearly Gates that makes it so unique? As Gibbons says, it might be something entirely supernatural

MusicRadar

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“Reshaping the nut to look more like a Gibson from the ’50s is too tempting not to do”: How I made the Epiphone Jeff Beck Oxblood 1954 Les Paul a little more Jeff Beck

After quite a few playing hours under its belt, Dave Burrluck gets the Epiphone Oxblood Les Paul back into the garage for a bit of a tinker and a tune-up

Guitar World

"A well-judged entry point to owning a ‘real’ Les Paul Custom": Gibson Les Paul Custom 70s review

The Les Paul Custom is back in the USA line-up offering a gutsy, evocative slice of 70s tone at a fair – but not cheap – price

Guitar World

“Some of the best guitars I’ve owned have been free, but the truly special one is the one I’m working on…”: Phil X’s highly anticipated signature Gibson is almost here – and it’s set to be a best-of-both-worlds Les Paul/SG hybrid

The third prototype of Phil X’s forthcoming signature looks to be the winner – and it’s got some unexpected specs

Guitar World

“There’s something deeply emotional about your first guitar”: Gibson drops three-string Les Paul and SG Juniors as it launches new kid-sized guitars with Loog

The three-stringed guitars are designed to encourage youngsters to pick up a guitar and start their journey with fun, interactive learning

Guitar World

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“I confess I pushed him more towards the Les Paul sound. I felt a resistance early on. But I persevered”: Why Mark Knopfler’s guitar tech convinced him to play Les Pauls – and how they impacted his tone and playing

Knopfler is forever linked to the Fender Strat – however, to successfully convey the emotional weight required on Brothers in Arms, his tech pushed him towards Gibsons

Guitar World

“Making its long-awaited return to the lineup”: For the first time in 20 years, Gibson is offering the Custom Les Paul ’70s as a standard run USA model

The hugely sought-after design, previously available only as a Custom Shop model, arrives as part of the regular line with period-correct touches and throwback finishes

Guitar World

“This guy comes up and I’m thinking, ‘He wants me to sign his guitar.’ He said, ‘I bought your Les Paul years ago. Would you like to buy it back?’” Bryan Adams sold his Summer of ’69 guitar in the ’80s – but it found its way back to him

Adams had a 1980s Gibson Les Paul during his career-defining Reckless era, which he managed to reunite with decades later

Guitar World

“This collaboration felt incredibly necessary in this moment”: Gibson rarely does collaborative brand Les Pauls – but it’s just unveiled 4 new models designed in partnership with a US fashion giant

A custom guitar strap and pick tins also feature in the capsule, which is set to star in pop-up stores across the globe

Guitar World

“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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Guitar World

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?

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Guitar World

“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

MusicRadar

“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

Guitar World

“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

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