Description
The Les Paul Junior has remained a no-nonsense favorite of rock ’n’ rollers ever since its introduction way back in 1954. This single-cutaway, slab-bodied electric guitar always has had a simplicity and affordability that has appealed to punk, blues, grunge and garage rockers, along with an impressive tonal depth and purity that has landed it in the hands of players in plenty of other genres as well. The original Junior and Special models were distinguished by their single and dual P-90s, respectively. Gibson’s original fat single-coil pickups have been favorites of countless tone-conscious players since their arrival on great Gibson archtops way back in 1946. Now with the Les Paul Junior Special P-90, Gibson USA combines the attributes of these two affordable classics in a two-pickup guitar that is equipped to take you everywhere that the best dual-P-90-loaded guitars of the past six decades were able to go. The Les Paul Junior Special P-90 is loaded with classic hardware, and finished in your choice of eight great vintage and contemporary finishes—Satin Cherry, Satin Ebony, Satin Vintage Burst, Satin Yellow, Gloss Yellow, Gloss Ebony, Tobacco Burst and Heritage Cherry, all in hand-sprayed nitrocellulose lacquer—representing an outstanding value in an astoundingly versatile electric guitar.
The Les Paul Junior Special P-90 pays respect to Gibson heritage and tradition through and through, while offering a handful of well-calculated upgrades to benefit the modern player. Just like the first Les Paul Junior built in Kalamazoo 58 years ago, the Les Paul Junior Special P-90 is made from solid mahogany. An archetypal tonewood used in countless classic Gibson electric guitars, mahogany has a sonic depth and richness that pulses through every note, yet always remains clear and articulate. The guitar’s neck is made from quarter-sawn mahogany, carved to a fast yet comfortable profile that measures .800” at the 1st fret and .875” at the 12th. The fingerboard is made from rich brown baked maple, a heat-treated hardwood that offers outstanding tone and excellent durability, as well as a traditional appearance. Beyond the PLEK-cut Corian™ nut, the headstock is adorned with gold silkscreened “Gibson” and “Les Paul Model” logos, and a two-ply black/white plastic truss-rod cover engraved with “Special.” In an upgrade of the original Juniors, the fingerboard carries stylish white binding, while the guitar wears a five-ply plastic pickguard in the image of the original two-pickup Les Paul Specials.
Taking you straight to the vintage tone zone, the Les Paul Junior Special P-90 carries two of Gibson USA’s extremely accurate recreations of the acclaimed P-90 pickup as built in the 1950s. Both are made with genuine Alnico V magnets for smooth overdriven tones that are nevertheless punchy and articulate, and capture that characteristic P-90 edge and bite, with fat lows and silky highs, and a signature midrange kick that cuts through any mix. For hardware, the Les Paul Junior Special P-90 packs the traditional set of Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece for superb sustain and resonance, with vintage-style pearloid-button tuners.
ABOUT GIBSON:
Orville Gibson founded the company in 1902 as “The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd.” in Kalamazoo, Michigan to make mandolin-family instruments. Gibson invented archtop guitars by constructing the same type of carved, arched tops used on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian. www.gibson.com
