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Gibson Longneck Banjo Circa 1930 Kalamazoo, Michigan

Claims to fame: played in Hair at the Aquarius Theater on Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles in the late ’60s. Used to record with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

While my dad was recording in 1965 at TPG Studios his van was broken into and this instrument was stolen. Within a month the police tracked it down to a pawn shop, where my dad promptly bought it back for $25.00. 

Gibson PAF pickup

1956-1962

The very first humbucker and probably the most sought after pickup of all time, the PAF was invented by Seth Lover, then Gibson employee, as an answer to the problematic hum caused by single coils. Famously the de-facto pickup on Les Paul standards of that era, the PAF was the secret weapon to crush Fender.

PAF stands for “Patent Applied For”, as seen on the decal. Story goes that no PAF pickup sounds the same, but they all roar. This is probably due to the fact they were randomly stuffed with Alnico II, III, IV or V magnets. Modified patented versions were produced after 1962, marking the official end of the “Patent Applied For” era. Since then, countless reissues, clones and copies have been produced.

GuitarHQ has pulled a very comprehensive guide to the PAF

Photo by mmcquain

1967 Gibson EB-2D

1968 Gibson EB2-C

Gibson SG

1961-1980 Mahogany, Ebony

As everyone knows, the SG was originally a double cutaway version of the Les Paul model. Les Paul didn’t care so much for the new style and his name eventually got dropped to be replaced by the SG label(as in Solid Guitar) in 1963. So the 1961-63 transition model, sometimes referred to as a SG Les Paul. It is technically not a SG yet, even though it looks, smells and taste like one.

The SG custom is the top of the SG line. Until 1969, the only finish available was white. Three humbuckers that drool 60s heavy rock. No less than four tailpieces variations can be found on the SG Custom: Bigsby (61-63), Sideways Vibrola (61-62), Short Vibrola (62-63), Maestro ‘lyre’ Vibrola. Hear Phil X get High on it

Pictured is a 1965 model by Vintageguitarz. 

Gibson ES-137 Classic 2002 Maple, Mahogany, Rosewood

Gibson went into its cellar, picked some of its finest vintages, came back to the lab to create a new that looks very much like old. The ES-137 has a thinner but similar body to the ES-175 and supposedly sounds like a Les Paul Classic.

Gibson Les Paul Deluxe

1968-1985 Maple, Mahogany, Rosewood

Pushed out by the SG, the Les Paul Model which hadn’t said its last word came back for another round of production in 1968. Along with Standard and Custom, a new brat joined the family: The Les Paul Deluxe.

The brighter, snappier sound juiced out of its two “New York” mini-humbucker was favored by some well known guitarists, and was famed by Pete Townshed who played a few during his career with The Who.

Victim of the 70s Norlin era, the Deluxe model lived through many variations in construction. Early models even featured the heavy “pancake” body (layers of maple and mahogany)

[have a '73 goldtop...layered body - heavy as hell...]