Guitar Gear

There’s a certain mystique about the Les Paul that seems to pervade the market that intimidates people. I look back on the time before I purchased a Les Paul and I was definitely intimidated; having these “I’m-not-worthy” moments when thinking about getting one. But I know I’m not alone in this.

This morning, I was searching the Internet for a Les Paul Supreme. It’s no longer made, but if I’m going to get another Les Paul, that one is going to be it. I played a few back when Gibson was still producing them, and I want that guitar (visions of Wayne’s World…)

I had actually amassed 10 electric guitars before I finally got my Les Paul, so intimidated by the whole Gibson brand. I even got a couple of Les Paul knockoffs and even an ES-335 before I finally got my true-blue 1958 Gibson Les Paul Historic Re-Issue.

And when I finally plugged it in and started playing, the skies opened, a bright light pierced the heavens, and a loud voice proclaimed….

I’ve been trying to tell you all this time… It’s just a guitar…

Well, not just a guitar. For me, the Les Paul represented and still represents the archetype of electric guitar sound. It’s the sound I’ve always heard in my head. Nowadays, if I consider something to be an archetype, I just get it – or at least save up until I can get it. But frankly, it took me getting over my intimidation of the Les Paul to get to that point.

Which brings me to the question I posed in the title…

At least for me, one of the intimidating factors was that everyone whom I considered to be my guitar heroes growing up either currently or at some point in their careers, played a Les Paul. This included artists such as Peter Frampton, Davey Johnstone, Peter Green, Eric Clapton, and Pete Townshend. And being that I hadn’t adopted the electric guitar until later in life, my internal comparison to those guitar greats gave me quite a bit of pause.

Another reason was that the admission price to a Les Paul Standard was pretty steep; and like many, because of that, I spent a lot of time getting other, more affordable guitars. I know… If I had been patient, I could have foregone two or three of those other guitars and gotten my LP. That inability to just be able to buy a Les Paul outright also got me into the camp of “Hey! The LTD Les Paul, Epiphone Les Paul (and others) are just as good as a Gibson Les Paul.”

“Good” is subjective, and while I played some very good (in my opinion) non-Gibson Les Pauls, the plain fact of the matter is there is some inexplicable “mojo” about a real Gibson Les Paul. Maybe it’s me falling for the marketing; who knows? But from my perspective, there’s just nothing like a real Les Paul that gives it a bit of an exclusivity factor. It was admittedly a bit intimidating.

Finally, at the time I was really contemplating getting a Les Paul, there was this craze in the collector’s market for ’59 Les Pauls, with some

But once I got my Les Paul and played it for several hours, I called my good buddy and amp builder Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps who is a Les Paul aficionado and collector, and said, “Damn! Why did I wait so long to get a Les Paul?!! All that time being intimidated by this guitar and now, finally playing it, this is the sound I’ve been wanting! Shit!”

Jeff just laughed. He knew then as I know now that despite all the hype that the Les Paul is still just a guitar.

So… if you want a Les Paul, and it has a sound that you like, just get it. Don’t be intimidated; don’t think that you have to be at a certain level to play it. In the end, it’s a guitar.