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A 1952 ad for Les Paul's answer to Fender's Telecaster.
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In the early '50s, Gibson made an effort to woo jazz players away from its competitor Fender by hiring Les Paul to develop a solid-body electric. They promoted their new instrument with full-page ads in various jazz magazines, touting its "wonderful tone" and featuring inventor Lester (and occasionally the long-suffering Mary Ford) along with the instrument. Jazz string players were not impressed (with the single exception of Jim Hall, as far as I can determine), and Gibson soon switched its promotion to the emerging rock 'n' roll field. If you were prescient enough in 1953 to pick up a "Goldtop" for its asking-price of $250, you could pull down a cool $25K for it in today's collectors's market. Now that's a sensation!
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