Articles about vintage guitars

Following are articles which I have written that concern vintage guitars.  Please do not reproduce these in any manner unless you obtain my my written consent to do so.

From Cremona to Kalamazoo, A Matter of Tone

                                                     1959 Gibson Les Paul Model

From Cremona to Kalamazoo, A Matter of Tone

 The Timbre of 1958-’60 Gibson Les Paul Models

By Bernard Ayling

                                Early in the 18th century Antonio Stradivari redefined modern violin making and produced what have become the ultimate examples of that art.   With continuing speculation as to the reasons for the tonal signature and countless attempts at imitation, no one has so far been able to accurately duplicate the sound of a Stradivarius.  In 1957 the Sputnik launch changed the world and in the rock and roll era that followed, the guitar became the solo voice of the band, much as the violin had been during the heyday of European orchestral music.  Sunburst Les Pauls have become the Strads of our time and now, as then, imitations and theories abound, claiming to have unlocked the sonic secret.  The incomparable tone these guitars generate when played through tube amps at higher gain levels is the original reason these guitars became so desirable.  Although we can debate about who the first, best or most influential player was to plug in a sunburst and turn up the volume, inarguable is the fact that these guitars have an inimitable timbre which has so completely captivated us.

                                Although much has been made about the midrange crunch of the sunburst, many other guitars share this characteristic.  What makes the sunburst so special? Is it the patent applied for pickups? Is it the slightly steeper neck angle that sunbursts seem to have compared to earlier Les Pauls, or the lightweight Honduran mahogany?  Is it the lacquer finish?  All these play a role, yet it was just an accident that all these elements were thrust together to produce the sunburst’s sound.  An aficionado will pick up an electric guitar and play it acoustically the first time, feeling the degree of resonance flowing through the neck and assessing the true character of the instrument uncolored by amplification.  A sunburst Les Paul played in this manner has a fat midrange with an added upper harmonic envelope ringing and hovering just above the main body of sound, as if the guitar were generating two simultaneous signals and running them to separate amps in our brain.  Is this due to the maple cap over the mahogany body or the still plentiful supply of air dried old growth timber during those postwar years?   Will we ever find out?  Timing is everything, and we can indeed ask, would the sunburst have become the icon it is without the advent of high energy lead guitar playing in the mid to late sixties?  If some other instrument had eclipsed the violin as the popular solo instrument of the times, would we know who Stradivari was?  So many questions, yet the answers pour forth only through the speakers.  For it is really when the volume is turned up that the sunburst really shines.  As the saturation in a tube amp increases, the signal is compressed, giving most guitars an even narrower midrange.  One can usually recognize a sunburst being played on a recording, since even as the amp is pushed to the edge the notes still have that upper harmonic component lending definition to the sound.  It is fat and sustains beautifully, but unlike most other guitars the high end does not immediately decay. Those upper harmonics stay aloft maintaining that tone even when the amp has taken over, sometimes taking on a life of their own as they shimmer eerily above the “mother” note.  With the amplifier clean or overdriven, on the rhythm or lead pickup, it is this characteristic more than any other which lends the sunburst that magical timbre.

                                We all have our favorite recorded moments when the sunburst majestically asserts itself with that elegant sonic signature.  Whereas Stradiveri was surely in search of the ultimate violin as a craftsman in Cremona, the Gibson sunburst Les Paul Model came into being rather haphazardly by corporate committee in Kalamazoo.   It is our good fortune that this wonderful accident of tone occurred during the golden age of mass production, when more than 1500 of these instruments were produced over a two year period.  Contrast this with the several hundred remaining Stradiveris produced over a twenty-five year period and we can really feel lucky at being given so many opportunities to experience this fantastic sound!