Ironically, in light of Gibson’s phenomenal success with Les Paul’s endorsement, Les Paul himself had very little input into the design of his classic 1950s models. That changed in the late 1960s when Gibson revived the solidbodies and brought Paul back into the fold. This time around, Paul’s ideas were implemented in every style of electric guitar, including a solidbody, an electrified flat-top acoustic, and an oddly shaped semi-hollow model – the Les Paul Signature.

Paul had intended for the Signature to have neck-thru-body construction – essentially a continuation of the ideas he had introduced in 1941 with his homemade guitar, The Log. However, when it went into production, Gibson gave it a conventional set neck and a T-shaped center support block. The Signature also sported the low-impedance humbucking pickups perferred by Paul but, unfortunately, not by most other guitarists.

The bass version gained a cult following, but the Les Paul Signature guitar barely lasted five years in production.