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The Gibson Les Paul guitar

The sweet sounding Mahogany, the tone sustaining Humbuckers – the Gibson Les Paul has been the guitar of choice for many rock stars. Here are a few of the big name artists that have preferred the Les Paul guitar.

1. Jimmy Page. One of the greatest guitarists of all time, Page played for The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and even a solo gig. He uses a 1958 Les Paul Standard, a 1959 Les Paul Standard, a 1973 Les Paul Standard, a Goldtop Premium Les Paul and a 1991 Custom Shop Les Paul. Page also owned a modified 1960 Les Paul Custom named “Black Beauty” with a Bigsby tailpiece and a 3-pickup configuration.

2. Zakk Wylde. Guitarist for Ozzy Osborne and Black Label Society, Wylde uses a signature Les Paul “Bulls Eye” model, a signature Les Paul “Buzzsaw” model and signature “Camo” model with a camouflage finish.

3. Duane Allman. Both guitarists from the Allman Brothers Band used Les Paul guitars.

4. Buckethead. The mechanical metal maniac uses a custom Gibson Les Paul with a baritone neck, pearl hardware, and killswitch.

5. Billie Joe Armstrong. You know, the guy from Green Day, the 90s rock group turned millenial emo? Armstrong uses several differen Les Paul Junior models, except for recordings in which he uses a Standard Les Paul.

6. Eric Clapton. While Clapton did become a Fender convert later in his career, his early work with Cream was all done on a Gibson.

7. Sheryl Crow. The popular 60’s country singer/songwriter uses a variety of Gibson Les Paul guitars.

8. Allen Collins. While the Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist mainly used a Firebird and an Explorer, he also started using a double-cutaway Les Paul Junior in 1977.

9. Buck Dharma. The Blue Öyster Cult guitarist used a 1974 Les Paul Deluxe along with his 1969 SG.

10. Don Felder. Don Felder of the Eagles uses a Les Paul guitar.

11. Ace Frehley. This guitarist from Kiss was known for his Les Paul Custom with three pickups.

12. Billy Gibbons. This beardy guitarist from ZZ Top has used Goldtop Les Pauls along with Les Paul Juniors. His main guitar, however, is a 1959 Les Paul Standard named “Pearly Gates.”

13. David Gilmour. While Gilmour, the lead guitarist for Pink Floyd, was always known for Playing Fenders, he did start using a 1956 Les Paul Goldtop with a Bigsby tailpiece in his later work.

14. Dave Grohl. The Nirvana guitarist that went off to start the Foo Fighers uses many different Gibson guitars including Les Pauls.

15. Kirk Hammett. Metallica’s right hand man used Les Paul guitars on top of the occasional Flying V.

16. George Harrison. The Beatles’ George Harrison used Les Pauls along with many other guitar models. John Lennon and Paul McCartney also used Les Pauls, the latter of which owns a rare left-handed 1957 Les Paul Goldtop.

17. Steve Jones. The Sex Pistols’ guitarist used Les Paul Customs as well as a Gibson Les Paul Double Cut. Gibson now makes a signature guitar based on Jones’ Custom.

18. Alex Lifeson. Lifeson of Rush was a Gibson loyalist, using many of their different models including Les Pauls.

19. Bob Marley. Marley used a Les Paul Custom which is now buried with him in his mausoleum.

20. Ted Nugent. In Nugent’s most recent work he used a 1959 sunburst Les Paul and an American-flag-motif Les Paul.

21. Joe Perry. The Aerosmith guitarist has used a variety of different Les Pauls. He also has signature Gibson and Epiphone Les Paul models named “Boneyard.”

25. Randy Rhoads. The shredder via Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne, Rhoads used an off white Les Paul Custom.

26. Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones guitarist is practically a Gibson fashion model. He was one of the first people to bring Gibson into the spotlight in Britian. Brian Jones and Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones also Les Paul guitars.

27. Carlos Santana. Santana has used a sunburst Les Paul Custom.

28. Slash. In my opinion, Slash the first players to fully utilize a Les Paul. The ex-Guns N’ Roses, now Velvet Revolver guitarist has used too many Les Pauls to count. For the most part, he has prefferred a Gibson Custom.

29. Pete Townshend. The Who’s guitarist used various customized Les Paul models from 1973-1979.

30. Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen has used a Les Paul throughout his career.

31. Muddy Waters. Used a Les Paul Goldtop in his early career.

32. Neil Young. Uses several Gibson acoustic and electric models. Young’s main guitar, “Old Black”, is a 1953 Goldtop Les Paul (painted black) with a Bigsby tailpiece. Young also has two other 1953 Goldtops, one which has modifications similar to “Old Black”, the other a stock original.

Also be sure to check out part 1 in this series, who played Fender Stratocasters.