Les Paul, the man, the myth, the legend, had been trying to get Gibson to look at his electric guitars for years by the time his close friend Leo went ahead and made Fender. It wasn't until after Fender took off that Gibson realized (albeit very slowly) that solid body electrics were the way of the future.
Les Paul was a HUGE artist in the 40s. I’d say he was the Slash or Joe Bonamassa of his day, but that hardly does the man justice. In his prime, he made both those guys look like rank amateurs, not to mention they could never touch his level of fame back in the 40s and 50s. ANYWAY…in the 40s, I believe Les was playing a lot of Gibsons - to the point where he was the biggest name repping their product - but he wanted a quality solid-body electric guitar. He’d been trying to get Gibson to show interest in his designs, but they were very slow to change. Finally, his friend Leo Fender shows up with the Broadcaster (later the Telecaster), and Les thinks it’s great, though not without its drawbacks. He basically gave Gibson an ultimatum: make a solid-body electric guitar that could meet his exacting standards, or he would stop using Gibson products & instead work with Fender & play his guitars. Well, this sent Gibson into a frenzy. They weren’t about to lose their proverbial golden goose! So they enlisted one of their chief designers, Ted McCarty, to whip up a great solid-body guitar, working closely with Les to get it the way he wanted. As an added bonus, they even decided to name the guitar after him in exchange for a lucrative (but strict) non-compete contract. Les could not be seen playing any other guitar besides a Gibson in any official capacity until the contract expired. Gibson’s future seemed secured, and in 1952 the world got one of the most quintessential solid-body guitar designs in history: the Gibson Les Paul.
That’s true, same here, but she had been around since the 1940’s. There are stills of her playing arch tops, and there is a video of her with a gospel group playing one as well I think.
Same here. Until I started digging back into Sister Tharpe's early gospel work, where she is obviously pictured with some type of arch top. But the sounds she gets out of that Gibson SG are something else
Before the SG and goldtop Les Paul, she also played a Gretsch and after the SG she played a Barney Kessel double cutaway archtop before she passed away in 1972.
Ted played a Birdland because of Jim McCarty though so if you really want the inspiration there you go. Ted saw Jim playing a Birdland with Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
The electric archtop wasn't really a thing in early jazz. Even Charlie Christian added an electric pickup to an acoustic atchtop when he played with Benny Goodman. Les Paul's "log" guitar was a solid neck-through design with archtop body sections added on to make it look like a guitar and to make it easier to play. The first electric guitar was solid metal, made by Rickenbacher had a round body like a banjo and was nicknamed the frying pan.
Off and on I watch your videos, personally, I'd love to see move of these educational/ historical videos, I don't see mant guitarists doing this type of video. Maybe start something new? " 🎸Tuesdays Time Machine 🎸 "
For sure, I think they fit right in with the look of the rest of the strings section, in a string orchestra per se. The F-holes are so iconic I kinda wish more instruments used them
Jazz guitars to me are a little uncomfortable and not my style of playing but I have to own several because they are among the most Beautiful objects ever created
There's a generation of Jazz players between Christian and Montgomery. Rosetta Tharpe played a goldtop Les Paul pretty early on. You don't really seem to know very well what you're talking about
@gringogreen4719May I ask an opinion on the Artcores vs the Gretsch? I have a ton of Ibanez guitars and basses and wanna get an Artcore, but I also wouldn't be upset at a good deal on a good Gretsch. Any thoughts I'd appreciate!
@@griffingooch1722 Thanks. First off, buy whatever looks, feels and sounds the best for you. While that may sound obvious, it really matters here. I'm going to not really talk about super budget guitars like Firefly because I don't have a whole lot of experience with them and it's really going to vary from one guitar to another. Keep in mind with a hollow body that you really can't set it up like a Strat with 9s and have super low action, the guitar is closer to an acoustic so you will want heavier strings like 11s or more to get the most out of the guitar. Quality wise I think that an Ibanez Artcore tends to be better than Epiphones (I love Epiphones and own a few) but quality wise the Artcores typically have more care on them than a typical Epiphone. I have an Artcore AFS75T which is about the same thickness of a Epiphone Casino or a ES 335 and this guitar is totally hollow. It's probably the most comfortable guitar to play of the 20+ guitars and basses I own. The one I own is red and has the + inlays rather than the standard blocks. Mine is pretty stock but I did put on Dunlop strap locks and took the pickguard off. I also have an AK86 (which really should be an AK86T because I tracked down an Ibanez Vintage Vibrato and Roller Bridge to put on it) which is Ibanez's answer to a ES-175 guitar. It's a bit smaller than a 175 and the top is spruce instead of maple (assume ALL hollow bodies are made of maple unless said otherwise). I also put in my Gretschbuckers from my Electromatic on this guitar too. The AK 86 was also my first hollow body (not this one) and it really is a Jazz Box in stock format. If you pick up one a set of flatwound strings would be really sweet on here. I play more Americana, Punk, and Psychobilly than Jazz so this guitar is set up for that. Overall the Artcores tend to be closer with the Epiphone Joe Pass and Broadway in terms of quality but the attention to detail is usually better than most Epiphones. Again, I really like Epiphone too. I also took off all my pickguards from my hollow bodies because it was just in the way and useless. The way the guitars are made you have to really be trying to flail like an idiot and hit the top because otherwise the top of the guitar is nowhere near the strings. I have 12 gauged strings on all of my hollow bodies. The Gretsch Electromatic was the only "budget" version that was available at the time. I have TV Jones pickups in mine, I also replaced the nut with bone and added some Import Imperial style tuners to the headstock. I also pinned the bridge down on this guitar. Overall it really plays well and sounds great. The original Gretschbuckers sound better in the Ibanez than it did in the Gretsch and the TV Jones are just fantastic! As for other manufacturers it will depend. Eastman makes guitars that fit and feel are actually closer to Gibson than Epiphone. Most of the budget hollow bodies usually have issues that will cost hundreds of dollars to really get them set up to play and sound better. The old DeArmond guitars from the late 90s and early 2000s are cool but they usually have fit and finish issues. They were basically Fenders attempt (they owned DeArmond and Guild at the time) to do a Squier like "budget line" when they saw how well Ibanez was doing with their Artcore line and also Epiphone. They are alright but you really need to have a setup done on those to get the most out of them. For buying a hollow body I would really go with finding ones you like the look of and putting your hands on them. Because you can play them and then be put off by how it feels or sounds, since you have an acoustic element with these guitars, some just sound and play better than others. Hands on is really what you should do with these rather than buy online. I also suggest you really buy what you want and don't cheap out on yourself. If you want a Gretsch Electromatic then buy that, if you buy a Streamliner or an Artcore instead, you will always have that bit of disappointment since the guitar is not what you really want. If what you want is a real Gretsch 6120 or a Gibson, you really are not going to be happy with a budget guitar.
@@griffingooch1722 Artcores are more Gibson in feel since they have the 24.75 inch scale. Not the same as Gretsch. If you want a Gretsch you're going to have to get a Gretsch. It's like a Rickenbacker, there really isn't a substitute for a Gretsch or a Rick. Overall, the Artcores have a little more going on in terms of appointment than the Gretsch does but the Gretsch is a Gretsch so it does exactly what you want it to.
And Nuge, or Geordie from the Killing Joke if we talk about archtops. The Latter, the late great Geordie had one of the absolutely best rock guitar sounds ever, mostly riffs. Ever.
I got a Kay Student (stamped plywood fake L-5)... The pickup is an NBC Guitar Mike (fake DeArmond pressure rod). Its inherent sweetness on the single notes and growl on the chords covers a lot of sounds, folk acoustic, swing rhythm, my fave John Lee Hooker, and even clean chording 8th note background music like the new generation is doing. Only thing is with the bronze strings and the low output pickup, the only overdrive I can get thru a 6V6 combo is "butterscotch/honking" and you'd need a Bassman or British 1/2 stack to go full Hendrix or Eddie.
I think rockabilly guitar players of the modern day who think you can get a better tone from Hollow bodies than a telecaster or jazzmaster. Everyone I know would sound at least as good if they were to utilize a fender over most archtop guitars
I just inherited a 1938 National Sonora.. It was the very first electric guitar that had two pickups.. It sent me down a rabbit hole trying to figure out what it was and what it was originally used for.. I had always thought of the archtops as jazz guitars, but it turns out they were more of a blues guitar that the jazz musicians adopted..
The log wasn't made by Gibson! Also the man's name is les Paul not Gibson. The log the very first Les Paul prototype was actually made by Epiphone factory. It wasn't until Epiphone started to make more of them and that the fender took off that Gibson pulled the les Paul. Also Les Paul made his guitar because none of those others had what he wanted. If you look at a strat it's even different than the les Paul. Les Paul is a breed of its own.
50s Gibson archtops are something of a vintage bargain compared to say Les Pauls. They may not be as easy to handle if you want screaming distortion but if your sound is a bit more old school, there are some nice guitars out there.
Archtop guitars created the rhythm behind big bands. Their tops were designed to push air, to create loud trebly chords that cut through the mix. Putting humbuckers in them dulled their sound, and made no sense.
What you are holding in your hand is a Work of Art. Epiphone Regent is a masterpiece of beauty. I believe the original had a 17.5 inch wide bout , which allegedly was the widest bout ever made (?) Thanks for posting. I'd love to hear you play it .
I love these guitars. Whats even better is their versatility (at least in the modern music scene). Running it through certain pedals can turn it from jazz to rock. My favourite one rn is the strymon riverside.
