Gibson Les Paul Junior Faded, Satin Walnut, Exclusive

No frills, all thrills

The Gibson Les Paul™ Junior was first introduced in 1954 as an affordable, high-quality solidbody electric guitar designed for students. Compared to the standard Les Paul models of the early and mid-1950s, the Les Paul Junior was stripped down to the essentials, with the carved maple top, fretboard and body top binding, second pickup and its controls, and the more ornate decorative features of the Les Paul Standard removed, leaving a slab mahogany body and single pickup-equipped model that could be priced more attractively for beginners. However, it didn’t take long for the model’s charms to be discovered by professional musicians, including Leslie West of Mountain, Martin Barre of Jethro Tull, Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, Johnny Thunders, John Lennon, and Steve Howe, among others. The attraction? The Les Paul Junior’s outward simplicity disguises the wealth of tonal options available from the single pickup, volume control, and tone control; by varying where you place the picking hand, as well as the settings on the master volume and tone knobs, you can coax a surprisingly wide range of different, and very cool, tones out of a Junior.

Now, Gibson is proud to introduce the Les Paul Junior Faded, a guitar designed for today’s players that embraces the spirit of those no-nonsense vintage Juniors. The Les Paul Junior Faded features all of the essential elements that have made the Les Paul Junior a favorite of students and professionals for over 70 years, including a single Dogear P-90 pickup, a single cutaway slab mahogany body, a mahogany neck with a satisfyingly hand-filling 50s Vintage profile, and a rosewood fretboard with simple acrylic dot position marker inlays. The headstock is equipped with smooth-turning Vintage Deluxe tuners and a Graph Tech nut, ensuring stable tuning. The strings are anchored at the other end with a wraparound bridge that is bolted directly into the mahogany body, delivering the exceptional sustain and knockout tone that the Les Paul Junior is renowned for. The Les Paul Junior Faded is finished in satin nitrocellulose lacquer. While it lacks the frills of some of the more ornate Les Paul models, it comes with a Gibson Premium Softcase and is packed with thrills, just waiting for you to create your own musical magic with it.