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Wednesday December 11th, 2002

Hand-painted 9/11 Les Paul up for eBay charity auction

Legendary guitarist and innovator Les Paul has donated one of his personal custom Gibson Les Paul model guitars to raise funds for the Uniformed Firefighters Association Widows and Children Fund. Peter Ortel, a retired New York City fireman from Rescue 3, painted a poignant September 11 scene on the guitar.

On April 5, musician Marc Anthony, Sony Music Chief and Gibson Guitar board member Tommy Mottola and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced the guitar to the media at a press conference that announced the return in 2003 of the 45th Annual Grammy Awards to New Yorks Madison Square Garden. The guitar was displayed in the rotunda of the Garden until last week when it was shipped to Gibsons national offices in Nashville for the charity auction. Beginning today, Wednesday, December. 11 through Saturday, December 21, this priceless guitar will be up for bid on eBay, the worlds online marketplaceTM. All proceeds will be donated to the FDNY fund. To bid, visit eBay.com here.

"This beautiful Gibson guitar features a tribute painting of the now historic photograph of the New York City Firefighters raising the American Flag at Ground Zero," commented Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman/CEO of Gibson Musical Instruments and Baldwin Pianos. "We are proud that we were able to help Les raise funds for the families of our fallen heroes."

"To date, non-profit organizations have raised more than $25 million through eBay charity auctions," said Matt Halprin, vice president of eBay electronics. "We are pleased that Gibson and Les Paul have chosen eBay as the host for this worthwhile event."

Les Paul, an American treasure, was a well-known guitarist by the 1940s, when he became the leading proponent of the solidbody electric guitar, playing a homemade instrument he nicknamed "The Log." His electronic innovations, such as the six guitar parts he played in his 1948 hit "Brazil," earned him recognition as the father of multi-track recording. His million-selling recordings with his wife Mary Ford, including "Mockin Bird Hill," and "How High The Moon," had already made him the most famous guitarist in the world by the time he and Gibson joined forces in 1952 to design Gibsons first solidbody electric guitar.

The Les Paul Model changed the image of the solidbody guitar, transforming it from a simple plank of wood into an elegant, stylish piece of art. Except for an updated bridge and humbucking pickups, the Les Paul Standard of today is still the same American-made guitar that Les and Gibson introduced 50 years ago. The Les Paul provides the signature sounds for every genre of rock, from alternative to metal, heard today.

Every Monday night, 87-year-old Les Paul and his trio perform at New Yorks Iridium Jazz Club.

	eBay is the world's online marketplaceTM. Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world.
To bid, visit eBay.com here.

Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, MI, and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.'s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Slingerland, Maestro, Trace Elliot and Baldwin, Chickering , Ellington and Wurlitzer. All instruments with the Gibson and Baldwin brands are made in the United States at facilities in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee, Truman and Conway, Arkansas, and Bozeman, Montana.