We could write you a novel about why you would love to own a Les Paul, but don’t take our word for it! We combed the archives for hours to find 10 of the most highly regarded, hardest-rockin’ guitarists in the business on record about why the Gibson Les Paul is what they reach for first. Listen in:
Les Paul, on the prototype for what would become the world’s most famous guitar
“[I thought] now I need to take a piece of wood and make it sound like the railroad track, but I also had to make it beautiful and lovable so that a person playing it would think of it in terms of his mistress, a bartender, his wife, a good psychiatrist, whatever.”
Check out Gibson’s full line of Les Pauls.
Slash, on his ’59 Les Paul Standard
“I keep the guitar in my bedroom, and also on tour, just in my hotel room. There’s never been a morning where I haven’t woken up and gone, ‘God that’s awesome to look at.’ … Anytime I saw anybody with one of those guitars, they were instantly cool to me.”
Check out Gibson’s Signature Slash Les Pauls.
Zakk Wylde, told to Gibson.com in ’07
“The thing about a Les Paul: [It’s] bigger than the artist. Whether they have a bullseye on them or not, they’re still the greatest guitars out there."
Check out the Zakk Wylde Les Paul Bullseye from Gibson Custom.
Jeff Beck, told to Gibson.com in ’09
“[I started playing Les Pauls] in the ’60s when most of the guys I was playing with were playing Les Pauls. In a small band they had a voice — a big, powerful, thick sound through Marshalls that no other guitar had.”
Check out the new Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood from Gibson Custom.
Paul McCartney, told to Guitar Player magazine in July ’90
“On-stage I wanted something that I knew was great. And I know Les Pauls are great. I wanted something reliable. And I know you can get subtle tones and subtle combinations of sounds [with Les Pauls].”
Jimmy Page, on his ’59 Les Paul, told to Guitar Player in July ’77
“Joe Walsh got it for me … The [Les Paul’s] got a stereotyped sound maybe. I don't know. But it has a beautiful sustain to it, and I like sustain because it relates to bowed instruments and everything. This whole area that everyone’s been pushing and experimenting in, when you think about it, it’s mainly sustain.”
Billy Gibbons, in a recent video interview
“The Les Paul has really shaped what [ZZ Top] have come to be known for. And I think it’s really important that we give all the credit to this fabulous instrument … it’s a real piece of machinery.”
Take a sneak peek at the Billy Gibbons 1959 ‘Pearly Gates,’ coming soon from Gibson Custom.
Leslie West, told to LivingLegendsMusic.com
“Everywhere I went, I went to every friggin’ pawnshop and kept buying [Les Paul] Juniors. The guys in the stores didn’t know what they had; I did! To me, a Les Paul Junior is a tree with a microphone.”
Mark Knopfler, told to Guitar Player in June ’92
“My Les Paul has a little alteration. You can pull a pot up and get a slightly out-of-phase sound. Then you just back one of the levels down a little bit to where it becomes this voice. I always liked that sound; with a Les Paul it’s a beautiful thing.”
Alex Lifeson, when asked about using Les Pauls more often, told to Premier Guitar in April ’09
“I wanted to go back to a more classic sound and a classic feel on-stage. I wanted to go back to Les Pauls.”