Slash: Guns N’ Roses’ former guitarist
Slash
is probably best known for three things: his messy mop of black hair,
signature top hat and sunburst Gibson Les Pauls. In fact his
Les-Paul-through-a-Marshall-stack sound is responsible for some of the
most popular guitar riffs of all-time: “Welcome To The Jungle” and
“Sweet Child O’ Mine,” anyone? Oh and speaking of the latter riff, if
you really want to nail the tone be sure your pickup selector is in the
rhythm position — and despite Slash’s own preferences we don’t recommend
downing a fifth of Jack Daniel’s prior to plugging in. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Jimmy Page: Led Zeppelin’s Page
has penned so many classic rock riffs that it’s hard to even know where
to start with the guitarist’s list of accomplishments. However he
couldn’t have done it alone and the chunky sound of his Les Paul was
intrinsic to tracks like “Whole Lotta Love” and “Black Dog” and helped
add a welcome dose of heaviness to the classic rock formula. Regardless
of what you think of
rumors of the upcoming Robert Plant-less Zep reunion, you can bet that Mr. Page and his Les Paul will both be present. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Randy Rhoads: As the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne,
virtuoso Rhoads
was the first guitarist to meld classical guitar chops with a heavy
metal sensibility to create a unique hybrid of music that still sounds
groundbreaking today. In order to accomplish this impressive feat, when
he wasn’t playing on nylon strings he was finger-tapping and
sweep-picking on his white Les Paul. Sadly Rhoads died in 1982 at the
age of 25, but tracks like “Crazy Train” continue to be karaoke staples
and inspire future generations of guitarists to strap on their own Les
Pauls. _______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Zakk Wylde: Ozzy Osbourne has been blessed with a
plethora of amazing guitarists, but next to Rhoads he’s probably best
known for enlisting
the bearded shredder Wylde.
Although Wylde started out playing tracks like “No More Tears” with
Ozzy, armed with his bull’s-eye-painted Les Paul Wylde has further
established himself via his metal outfit Black Label Society and his
solo work. While it’d admittedly be tough for any guitar to endure
Wylde’s hard-partying lifestyle and playing, the Les Paul is the only
axe that’s been able to rise to the challenge thus far. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ace Frehley: Frehley
could have picked any kind of guitar to install a smoke bomb inside,
but he picked — you guessed it — a Gibson Les Paul. In fact his arsenal
of Les Pauls is almost as closely associated to the guitarist as the
make-up he rocked every night during KISS’ '70s heyday. Not only was
Frehley’s Les Paul-fueled sound responsible for riffs like “Cold Gin”
and “Shock Me,” it also helped make KISS one of the most recognizable
bands (or as bassist Gene Simmons describes it, “brands”) in rock
history._______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Duane Allman: Allman
was best known for donning Gibson SGs and other axes from time to time,
but the most famous era of his playing featured him rocking sunburst
and Goldtop Les Pauls. Allman’s Southern-fueled brand of rock was
partially due to the Les Paul’s unique tone and his most famous solos,
such as “Whipping Post” from
At Fillmore East, proved that
Allman had a special symbiotic relationship with his guitar. Sadly,
Allman passed away when he was only 24, but that only makes his
accomplishments with the Allman Brothers Band and Derek And The Dominos
even more impressive. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Eric Clapton: Although Clapton experimented with different styles of guitars throughout his four-decade-long career, his time with
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
and the Yardbirds were both defined by his use of the Les Paul. In fact
it’s remarkable how many versatile tones the British guitarist was able
to coax of his favorite axe as he channeled the ghosts of classic delta
Blues acts and recontextualized them into a rock context. While you can
debate all day what your favorite era of Clapton’s career was, we’ll
always have a soft spot for the sonic discovery of his Les Paul years. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Joe Perry: Perry
is known for a lot of things — including avoiding the aging process —
but his most recognizable trait is the Les Paul that you can find
hanging around his neck when he performs with Aerosmith. In fact, Perry
is such a Les Paul enthusiast that in addition to playing nearly every
variation of the axe for the past 30 years he also has his own Custom
model. Perry reportedly has a collection of over 600 guitars and we’re
betting that his Les Paul arsenal alone could give any Guitar Center in
America a run for its money. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Pete Townshend: Townshend
is another guitarist who's experimented with different axes, but his
'70s output is largely defined by his Gibson Les Paul Deluxes. It’s safe
to say that Townsend’s legendary windmill guitar strums wouldn’t look
nearly as impressive if he wasn’t rocking out on a giant slab of
mahogany. If you want a great example of Townshend and his Les Paul
obsession in action we recommend checking out the classic Who
documentary
The Kids Are Alright.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Paul Kossoff: Paul Kossoff
may not be a household name, but as the guitarist for Free, Kossoff was
able to take soul, blues and rock and merge them into a unique amalgam
of music with a little help from his Les Paul. In fact you can hear some
of his extended guitar solos on Free’s early output such as
Tons Of Sobs and
Free.
Although Kossoff passed away at the age of 25, his playing has been
immortalized in several posthumous selections such as Koss. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Gary Moore: Moore
is another terminally underrated Les Paul player who has played with
Thin Lizzy, Colosseum II and Greg Lake among others. For a sizable chunk
of his career his axe of choice was a 1959 Les Paul Sunburst, which
used to belong to British Blues legend — and Moore’s close personal
friend — Peter Green. While it’s impossible to know whether the warm
tone of the Les Paul influenced Moore’s sound or vice versa, it’s hard
to argue with the fact that Moore left an indelible mark on the music
world with his playing. _______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Peter Green: When you have a musical superstar like
B.B. King saying things like “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he
was the only one who gave me the cold sweats,” you know you’re doing
something right. King was talking about Fleetwood Mac guitarist
Green
whose axe of choice was incidentally a 1959 Les Paul. The secret to
Green’s tone was the fact that a magnet of his neck pickup was reversed,
creating a unique effect. However, if Green wasn’t such an inventive
and original player we highly doubt he would be as celebrated as he is
today.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Bob Marley: Marley
is unquestionably the most influential reggae player ever and it’s no
secret that he often utilized the Gibson Les Paul to help craft his
sound. While most of the other guitarists in this list used walls of
distortion to bring out Les Paul’s inner beast, Marley utilized clean
tones and upstrokes to develop his own signature sound and proved that
the Les Paul isn’t just one of the heaviest-sounding guitars in
existence but it’s also one of the most versatile.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Billie Joe Armstrong: Although Green Day’s
Armstrong
didn’t start out on a Les Paul, these days you can see him sporting his
own signature edition of the Les Paul Junior. However don’t let the
diminutive nature of Armstrong’s axe convince you that his tone is any
less aggressive than his peers, because listening to the band’s opus
American Idiot,
it’s clear that the exact opposite is true. Green Day’s next album will
reportedly be out next summer and we can’t wait to see what Armstrong
is able to pull off with a little help from his Les Paul Jr.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Steve Jones: As guitarist for the Sex Pistols,
Jones is responsible for arguably the greatest punk album of all-time, 1977’s
Never Mind The Bollocks.
His aggressive guitar sound ushered in a whole new era of music — and
out of all the guitars in the world, Jones decided that the Gibson Les
Paul would be the best conduit for this pioneering new sound. These days
this former iconoclast is just one of many influential guitar players
to have his own signature version of the Les Paul, which will hopefully
motivate today’s neophytes to craft their own musical sea change.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Who did we miss? Give us an earful; leave a comment below and we'll consider your suggestions for Part 2!
_______________________________________________________________________________
