The Gibson Les Paul guitar has always been a personal favorite of mine. It’s classic, looks like a piece of furniture, and has a deep, mellow tone that sustains forever. It’s no secret why I chose to start playing a Les Paul - my guitar hero Slash played Les Pauls exclusively, so when I was learning how to play the guitar I knew I would have to play one too. Silly, right? Well, not really, because Slash is extremely cool and his playing is amazing. That’s all that matters.

I’ve owned a few Les Paul guitars over the years - my first one being a Les Paul Studio. I purchased it at Sam Ash Music in Carle Place, NY in 1994. Back then I couldn’t afford the more expensive Standard model I wanted, but that didn’t matter to me - the ebony Les Paul Studio with gold hardware was light years ahead of the guitar I started with, and it had that Les Paul sound I was after. Several years (and many live performances) later, I sold the Studio, sans pickups, which live today in my friend Maureen’s B.C. Rich.

:: Gibson Les Paul Classic - click on image to enlarge ::

Today I received a new Les Paul Classic in ebony with nickel hardware. The Classic is essentially a Standard model with hotter ceramic pickups and a slimmer “faster” neck profile. I especially like the creme-colored trim and binding and top hat knobs - even the trapezoid inlays have a more aged look to them. I love this guitar and it will stay with me for a long time, and now that my cousin John and I are planning on a recording session next year, the new Classic will certainly come in handy. Now all I need to do is get the Marshall half-stack out and slam that A-chord with the gain set at 10.