Gibson Les Paul Junior

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Gibson Les Paul Jr.

Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	1954 — 1961 - 1963, 2001
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Set
Woods
Body	Mahogany
Neck	Mahogany
Fretboard	Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	Wraparound
Pickup(s)	1 Single-coil
Colors available
Sunburst (pictured), Ebony

The Gibson Les Paul Jr. was initially released in 1954 as an affordable, entry level Les Paul electric guitar. It retailed for $49.50 USD and was a very successful guitar for Gibson. It was first released in a single cut body style but double cuts were released later in 1958.

1 History
2 Variations
3 Les Paul Junior players
4 External links

[edit] History

The goal for the Les Paul Jr. was to have a high quality guitar that was still affordable for students to buy. In order for this to happen, the Jr. was stripped down to the basics; one pickup, one volume knob. It was equipped with one P-90 dog ear pickup in the bridge. It was initially released in TV Yellow for a better appearance on televisions.

In the 1960s and 1970s the Les Paul Jr. became very popular because of its simplicity and distinguishable tone when played through a high gain amplifier. The single P-90 pickup gave the guitar a distinct crunch that was desired by rock and blues players of the time.

[edit] Variations

The Les Paul Junior was available in several different colors through its lifetime including TV Yellow, ebony, and vintage sunburst. It has been released in single cut and double cut shapes.

More recently, the guitar has been manufactured by Epiphone as a low end beginner's guitar, which retails for $149.99 USD. Gibson still sells their Les Paul Junior for $649.99, in the same design as it was in the 1950s. The original TV Yellow Les Paul Jr. is still made by the Gibson Custom Shop.

The reincarnated version of the Gibson Melody Maker is very similar to the Les Paul Junior specs, with a single P-90 pickup, but uses different body and neck woods and different finish style.