The double-coil humbucking pickup, invented by Gibson engineer Seth Lover, debuted
in 1957 on the Standard and Custom, introducing the sound that would shape ro c k
and roll music in the 1960s.
In 1958, Gibson introduced more important design innovations than in any other
year in the company’s history. Gibson president Ted McCarty combined the look of an
ƒ-hole archtop with the perf o rmance of a solidbody and came up with a completely
new type of guitar – the semi-hollowbody ES-335. McCarty also designed two radical-
ly modern solidbody shapes: the Flying V and Explore r.
The body of the Les Paul Jr. received a pair of rounded horns to become Gibson’s first
double-cutaway solidbody. And the finish color on the Les Paul Model was changed to
C h e rry Sunburst, which let the grain of the maple top show through. The model name
was changed to Les Paul Standard, and the sunburst Standards from 1958-60 would
become some of the most valuable collectibles in the guitar world. All of this happened
in 1958.
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