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Gibson Les Paul Special
Gibson Les Paul Special
	Gibson Les Paul Special Singlecut in Spearmint (1998)
Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	1955–1959; 1959–1961 (as SG Special); 1972/1974/1976; 1977/1978–2013; 2015–present;
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Set
Scale	24.75"
Woods
Body	Mahogany
Neck	Mahogany
Fretboard	Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge	Wraparound / Tune-o-matic (reissue)
Pickup(s)	2 Single-coil, P-90
Colors available
	TV yellow, white, cherry red

The Gibson Les Paul Special is a variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was introduced in 1955.^[1] It is designed to be an intermediate level instrument, at a price point and trim level between the low-cost Les Paul Junior and the standard Les Paul.

Overview

Like most of Gibson's other budget models,^{[clarification needed]} the Les Paul Special was produced in a TV Yellow finish,^[7] which was made by Gibson as a finish that would look good on black and white television.^{[citation needed]} In 1958, the model received a major change when it was introduced as a doublecut model instead of the traditional singlecut.

In 1961, the Les Paul received a drastic change when it was redesigned into what would become known as the Gibson SG. Les Paul's contract had expired by 1963, bringing a change to the submodels. When the contract was renewed in 1968, the original models were rebooted.^[7]

Models

The list of Special models manufactured since 1955.^[6]^{[verification needed]}

Single Cutaway

1955–1958: Les Paul Special (Single Cutaway)
1974:^[3]^[4] Les Paul '55 Special limited edition
1974^[6]/1977^[3]/(1978^[5])–1981: Les Paul '55 (Special Single Cutaway Reissue)
1989–1998: Les Paul Junior II (Les Paul Special Single Cutaway Reissue)^[8]
2019–present: Les Paul Special (reissue with wrap tailpiece; vintage cherry and TV yellow finishes)

variations

1996–1999: Les Paul Special SL
1999–2003: Les Paul Junior Special
2001–2005: Les Paul Junior Special Plus
2001–2002: Les Paul Junior Special With Humbucker
2003–(2005): Les Paul Special Faded With Humbucker^[9]^[10]
2003–2006: Les Paul Junior Special Faded With Humbucker
2006–2008: Les Paul Special New Century
2009–2011: Les Paul Junior Special Robot
2011: Les Paul Special Humbucker
2012–2013: Les Paul Junior Special Humbucker
2012–2013: Les Paul Junior Special P-90
2014: Les Paul Special AAA Flame Top Semi-Hollowbody

Double Cutaway

1958–^[1]/1959^[6] Les Paul Special (Double Cutaway)
1959: Les Paul Special 3/4 (Double Cutaway)
1959–1961: SG Special (Les Paul Special Double Cutaway)
1976^[5]–1989: Les Paul Special Double Cutaway (1st Reissue)
1993–1995: Les Paul Special Double Cutaway (2nd Reissue)
2015: Les Paul Special Double Cutaway 2015

variations

1994: Centennial Les Paul Special Double Cutaway
1999–2002: Les Paul Junior Lite
2003–2008: Les Paul Faded Double Cutaway^[9]^[11]

Timeline

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Duchossoir 1998, pp. 211
^ "The Gibson Les Paul Special". Vintage Guitar (June 2007). February 25, 2010. When the Les Pae back in the 1970s, the Special ed more popular than the Junior. In fact, the Junior was nowhere to be seen until 1987, while the Special reappeared as early as 1972 in a single-cutaway version, one of which became the main axe of reggae legend Bob Marley. The double-cutaway version became a separate model when it was reintroduced in '76 as the Les Paul Special Double Cutaway.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Achard 1996, p. 121
^ ^a ^b Bishop 1990, p. 8
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Carter 2007^{[page needed]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "GIBSON Les Paul: Special Series", Blue Book of Electric Guitar Values, Blue Book Publications, Inc, archived from the original on April 8, 2016, retrieved March 28, 2016
^ ^a ^b Carter 1994, p. 196–197
^ "Les Paul Junior II/Les Paul Special Single Cutaway Reissue (LPJ2)", Blue Book of Electric Guitar Values, Blue Book Publications, Inc, archived from the original on April 10, 2016, retrieved March 28, 2016
^ ^a ^b "2003 Faded Series from Gibson USA". Gibson USA (Gibson.com). Archived from the original on June 5, 2003. "Fadeds: Les Paul Special Faded / Les Paul Faded Double Cut / SG Special Faded / V-Factor Faded"
^ "Les Paul Special [FADED] - Humbuckers". Gibson USA (Gibson.com). Archived from the original on June 5, 2003.^{[non-primary source needed]}
^ "Les Paul Faded DC". Gibson USA (Gibson.com). Archived from the original on June 5, 2003.^{[non-primary source needed]}

Bibliography

Achard, Ken (August 1996). "The Seventies". The History and Development of the American Guitar. Bold Strummer (published 1996). ISBN 978-0-933224-18-6. The success of the reintroduced Les Paul series ... One of the first of these limited editions appeared in 1970, and was the original Black Beauty Les Paul Custom. ... Other limited edition Les Paul models have been the single cutaway Les Paul Special design of 1955 offered in 1974 as a limited series, and again in 1977 to the range as the "Les Paul '55", plus the Sunburst Les Paul Standard in 1974.

Bishop, Ian C. (1990). The Gibson Guitar from 1950. Bold Strummer guitar series. Bold Strummer. ISBN 978-0-933224-46-9. The only other limited edition Les Paul not so far described, is the 1974 edition of the 1955 sunburst flat top Les Paul Special, with the two black covered single coil pickups.

Carter, Walter (1994). Gibson guitars: 100 years of an American icon (1st ed.). General Pub. Group. ISBN 1881649393.

Carter, Walter (2007). The Gibson Electric Guitar Book: Seventy Years of Classic Guitars. Music Series. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-895-7. Les Paul Special Double Cutaway (1976, 1978-85, 1993-94): Double cutaway, tune-o-matic bridge (wraparound 1993-94), selector switch on treble side near bridge, chrome-plated hardware (nickel-plated 1993-94) metal tuner buttons, ...

Duchossoir, A. R. (1998). "Les Paul Special & SG Special". Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years: An Illustrated History of the Electric Guitars Produced by Gibson Up to the Mid-1960s. Musical Instruments Series (revised ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-79359210-4. The Les Paul Special was introduced in 1955 as an intermediate model between the regular Les Paul guitar and the lower-priced Junior and TV instruments. Like the latter, the Special underwent two successive body redesigns in 1958 and 1961 while the Les Paul affiliation was discontinued in late 1959. The model was then renamed SG Special without any apparent changes in the specification other than the removal of Les Paul marking. Overall four variants of the Special can be distinguished between 1955 and 1965.", "Les Paul Special (1955-1958) ...", "Les Paul Special (1959) ...", "SG Special (1959-1961) ...", "SG Special (1961-...