Here's a detailed timeline of the key events that led to the invention of the Gibson Les Paul:
1. 1941: Les Paul, already a renowned guitarist, approached Gibson with a prototype for a solid-body electric guitar. His design featured a solid mahogany body, two single-coil pickups, and a trapeze tailpiece. However, Gibson rejected his design, considering it too radical for the time.
2. 1946: Les Paul continued experimenting with his solid-body guitar concept and developed a new prototype with a more traditional archtop design, which he named "The Log." It had a solid mahogany body with a carved top and back, two P-90 pickups, and a wraparound bridge.
3. 1948: Les Paul met with Ted McCarty, who had recently become president of Gibson Guitars. McCarty was impressed with Les Paul's guitar design and agreed to collaborate with him to develop a production model.
4. 1950: Gibson released the first production model of the Les Paul guitar, known as the Les Paul Model. It featured a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top, two P-90 pickups, a tune-o-matic bridge, and a stopbar tailpiece.
5. 1952: Gibson introduced the Les Paul Custom model, which featured a more luxurious design with a gold-plated hardware, binding around the body and neck, and a trapeze tailpiece. It also had two humbucking pickups, which provided a warmer and more powerful sound compared to the P-90s.
6. 1957: Gibson introduced the Les Paul Standard model, which combined the features of the Les Paul Model and the Les Paul Custom. It had a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top, two humbucking pickups, a tune-o-matic bridge, a stopbar tailpiece, and gold-plated hardware.
7. 1960: Gibson discontinued the production of the Les Paul Standard due to declining sales. Les Paul himself became discouraged and sold his remaining Les Paul guitars.
8. 1968: The popularity of the Les Paul guitar began to resurface, driven in part by the British rock scene, where guitarists such as Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page were using Les Pauls.
9. 1968: Gibson reissued the Les Paul Standard model, which was met with great enthusiasm by guitarists and became a staple of rock and blues music.
Since then, the Gibson Les Paul has undergone various modifications and improvements, but it remains one of the most iconic and influential electric guitars in the world, and it continues to be a favorite choice of guitarists across various genres of music.