The Les Paul Junior

This blog is most commonly searched for information about Bob Marley's Les Paul Jr.  Bob Marley is probably the most legendary guitarist and musician (along side with John Lennon) to ever play a Les Paul Junior.  People probably assume that the Les Paul Jr isn't a full-grown or real guitar by it's name and are surprised that Bob Marley and John Lennon amongst many other guitarists (you can view our post about other guitarists who played this guitar) favored this guitar.

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ATA Case fits FENDER STRAT TELE GIBSON LES PAUL

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1959 Gibson EBO Bass Les Paul Polaris White Finish Player

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US $999.99

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Super Condition Brown Gibson Les Paul Case

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2007 Gibson Les Paul Studio Ebony W Original Hardshell Case

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Here is some information about Bob Marley's guitar:

Bob Marley played a legendary mahogany Gibson Les Paul Special.

Although the guitar is known for it's raw and thick sound,  Marley was one of the first people to play it's clean tones.  He focused on the up strokes rather than the four on the floor rock sound that the guitar is best known for.  The difference between a Les Paul Junior and a Les Paul Special is very minimal.  They came out the same year.  Originally the Les Paul Junior was intended to give entry level guitarists an affordable but nice guitar.  Later that same year the Les Paul Special came out with a second pick-up and was a more versatile model (as far as tone is concerned) but was slightly more expensive.

Many variations of both the Les Paul Jr and the Les Paul Special have come out since then, including many signature series guitars like Billy Joe Armstrong's (from the band Green Day) Custom Les Paul Jr.

Junior Marvin was the lead guitarist for the legendary recordings on Exodus and many other albums recorded with Marley and the Wailers.  He is known for his heart throbbing leads and smooth tones as well.  He too played a Gibson Les Paul Special and recorded Exodus on a TV Yellow Les Paul Special.  TV Yellow was a fairly unique shade of yellow that was made to make guitars look better on black on white TV.  When color TV came out the TV Yellow guitars were still quite popular and almost building a legendary status to them.  Some of the vintage TV yellow guitars sold on Ebay are extremely expensive and sought after.

Junior Marvin and Bob Marley were best known for their smooth tones and upbeats rather than the thick distorted sounds that their Les Paul's are known for.  They are both iconic guitarist and without question the most influential reggae musicians of all time.  Their dedication to their sound and craft, show that the Gibson Les Paul sound is not only one of the thickest rock sounding guitars, but also one of the most versatile guitars ever.

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1960s vintage Gibson strap buttons for Les Paul special junior melody maker j45

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NICKEL BRIDGE WRAPAROUND TAILPIECE FOR VINTAGE GIBSON LES PAUL Jr Junior TV

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Vintage Gibson Les Paul Junior 1958 Guitar Strap

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Vintage 1964 Gibson Les Paul SG Junior rare white finish

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There are a lot of different things to keep in mind when you finally get your hands on a Les Paul Jr.  The first thing is obviously going to be the case.  If you are a regular gigging musician having a gig-bag with backpack straps might be the best option.  This is particularly useful when you have to carry a hard-case acoustic with you while also carrying an electric guitar because you can get your axes into the venue in one trip!  A hard case is definitely a better way to go, but you are going to have shill out a little more money.

The next thing to consider, is some kind of a kit to take care of your guitar when you restring it.  Let's face it, there is no value in having someone else restring and care for your Les Paul all of the time.  So it's best to invest in a small kit to take care of your equipment.  One of the best things to do is go online or to a local guitar shop and see if they have some kind of all inclusive kit to get this done.  You'll find things like a scraper tool for the grime under the strings, possibly a "spinner" for your tuner and some furniture polish like material that is intended for preserving the finish on the guitar.  Something that must be done in order to keep the smooth fretboard feeling on your guitar is to remove the strings completely and spray it down with furniture polish.  Next take a guitar pick or thing plastic material and scrape off the grime completely and clean any excess with a paper towel or moist towelette.

This is going to ensure that the fretboard is clean and it will actually make your strings last a bit longer, as they are not going to have any toxins or dirt in the wind.  It is best to change your strings at least once a month.  When you do this you are going to want to remove only half of the strings at a time.  This is not an entirely common method but it really helps to keep your truss rod in adjustment (for your action).  You do this to keep constant tension on the neck.  If you are always removing and adding tension you'll find that the guitar gets loose and the action becomes to far from the fretboard creating a poor playing guitar, especially for beginners and people with not so strong of hands.

One feature that can and possibly should be upgraded on a lot of Les Paul guitars is the tuners themselves.  They have a rather low-end ratio to them and seem to fall out of tune quite a bit when first putting on fresh strings.  You can get something like a "grover" tuner that has a much nicer ratio keeping the guitar in tune for longer, while giving you a lot of precision in the process.

Lastly, if you are not one to change your strings frequently or are someone who sweats a lot when they play, it is best to invest in some coated strings for your guitar.  The leading brand for coated strings are Elixirs.  There are many brands that would work, but Elixir was the first major coated string on the market.  They are known to last almost three times longer than a traditional string because they offer the metal wound strings a coating that keeps out sweat, which keeps out rust.  Coated strings are probably one of the best things a regular gigging guitarist can invest in.  They cost nearly twice as much as a regular string though, so you might see the obvious dilemma.  Elixir Polyweb strings are so bright when you first put them on, that they actually have a break-in period.  They will typically sound their best after several hours of play, due to the extra brightness that is added from the Polyweb coating.

Whatever you do, take care of your Les Paul guitar.  There are many guitar shops that will buy them back for the price you bought it for, as well as a huge online community of people who will buy, sell and trade their guitars.  You will want to keep your guitar in pristine shape, so one day you can get some of your investment back and perhaps invest it in another guitar or Les Paul Jr. of your liking.