| Gibson Les Paul Jr. | |
|---|---|
Gibson Les Paul Junior |
|
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1954 — 1963, 2001, 2008- |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Scale | 24.75" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Mahogany |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Rosewood, Ebony |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Wraparound |
| Pickup(s) | 1 P-90 |
| Colors available | |
| Sunburst, Ebony, TV Yellow, White, Red | |
The Gibson Les Paul Jr. is a solid body electric guitar introduced in 1954 as an affordable, entry level Les Paul. It was first released with a single cut body style however models with a double cut body style were later introduced in 1958.
Contents |
The goal for the Les Paul Jr. was to have a high-quality guitar that was still affordable. For this to happen, the Jr. was stripped down to the basics; one pickup, one volume knob and tone knob. It was equipped with one P-90 dog ear pickup in the bridge. It was originally released in sunburst, but Gibson introduced the TV version, because of the Junior's unforeseen popularity among professional musicians, who would be featured playing the guitar on television, and therefore a color that would look good on black and white television was introduced. Today this is known as TV Yellow.
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 P-90 pickup gave the guitar a distinct crunch that was desired by rock and blues players of the time, including Leslie West of Mountain, Luther Grosvenor (a.k.a. Ariel Bender) of Spooky Tooth and Mott the Hoople, and Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers. A Les Paul Junior also became John Lennon's guitar of main choice during his post-Beatles years.
The Les Paul Junior was originally introduced in 1954 as a single cutaway model, with its double cutaway counter-part arriving to the market in early 1958.[1] Color schemes most commonly placed on Juniors were vintage sunburst, cherry red, and of course the famed "TV yellow". In 1961, the body style of the Junior was shifted, and after conflict between Gibson and Les Paul, these models were later renamed the SG Junior.
The Les Paul Junior is still offered today in several different variations. Gibson offers U.S.A. made Les Paul Juniors which has been given modern touches including a more slim-tapered neck. These particular Juniors have been seen in several different incarnations since the mid-1980s in both single and double cut. The Gibson Custom shop has also offered a period correct Junior over the years through both its Historic and VOS branches. These models feature the more notorious large neck or "baseball bat" neck as it is often referred to among players.
Several artists have had Juniors produced in the Gibson product line including John Lennon, Mick Jones, Peter Frampton, and often included is the Bob Marley Les Paul Special. The Lennon model is unique for the single-coil, hexagon-shaped "Charlie Christian" pickup in the neck, a modification Lennon himself accepted when he had his actual Junior serviced in the 1970s, upon acquring the guitar. (The name derives from the pickup installed on Christian's L-5 acoustic guitar.) Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and Gibson have also recently released a signature Les Paul Junior. This series of Juniors is offered in three custom colors including Vintage Sunburst, Classic White, and Ebony, which were based upon the actual '54-'57 Juniors Armstrong tours and records with. The Juniors feature some modern features per-request of Armstrong, which include a slim tapered neck, as well as a special designed "H-90" Pickup which is said to be hum canceling and it is overwound to handle more distortion.[2]
The Les Paul Special has a similar body shape, but is equipped with two P-90 pickups and Gibson's standard four-knob, three-way switch electronics.
Ace Frehley and Gibson created a unique model of this guitar: The Gibson Les Paul Jr. Lighter. It is a variation of a Les Paul Jr. with a Dimarzio Superdistortion pickup added by Ace. It contained light bulbs incorporated into sequences that turned on as a marquee, but at first there were so many lamps that gave off so much energy and heat that affected Ace, they decided to reduce them. They installed 20 cells for rechargeable batteries "C", circuits and new lamps.
Leslie West has been quoted as saying he was offered a Les Paul Junior signature model at one time but turned the idea down, because he didn't want a signature guitar based on an already-existing instrument, even though the Les Paul Junior was his signature instrument during his heyday in Mountain.
Epiphone, a major guitar company purchased by Gibson in 1957, offers cost effective introductory Juniors which feature a bolt-on neck configuration as well as being outfitted with a single humbucking pickup rather than the traditional P-90. Epiphone has released limited edition models including the Collegiate Edition and the Epiphone Limited Edition '57 Les Paul Jr. Reissue with P-100, which features a set neck, all-solid mahogany construction, and a P-100 humbucker. Epiphone Japan has also released Juniors (with the Gibson headstock) including the LPJ-70 and the Ltd edition Lacquer Series Jr (both in vintage sunburst and cherry). These Juniors were pretty much dead-on regarding the original 1954 Gibson specifications but they were manufactured for the Japanese market only and not for export.
Epiphone, manufactured the Invader as part of a starter pack which was marketed mostly in mainland Europe. In essence, the Invader is an identical guitar to the Epiphone Junior, with a single generic humbucker and single volume and tone pots. Invaders were manufactured by the Samick organisation in Indonesia but have now been discontinued in light of the success and production of the Junior.
Invaders are strictly budget-end instruments and do tend to suffer from the not-unusual weakness of occasionally having poor tuning stability, but these instruments can still be regarded as very useful and playable instruments. They are light, versatile (well, as versatile as a single pickup guitar can be) and comfortable.
As with the Junior, the Invader is the Epiphone version of the Gibson Junior and can also be seen as having links with the Gibson Melody Maker.
Gibson recently released their series of limited edition Robot Guitars. Their first was a Les Paul Standard. They later released Les Paul Studio, SG Standard, SG Special and Les Paul Junior robot guitars. These guitars had a distinct feature which made it possible for the guitar to tune itself, using its own pickups and a master control knob.
|
|||||