NEW YORK (WKZO) — Some referred to it as the “Holy Grail”, and while the Gibson Les Paul prototype that sold at Auction this weekend was not the first electric guitar, the solid body they called “Black Beauty” was the first of its kind.
Inventor and guitarist Les Paul, and other guitarists like him had a problem.
If you put an acoustic guitar in the middle of a big band, no one could hear it over the volume produced by the wind instruments and the drums.
They needed a loud guitar that could compete.
He gave Gibson his specs and they delivered this guitar from the Kalamazoo plant in 1954. For the next 20-years, Paul would work with Gibson craftsman to refine the instrument, using the prototype as their model for the first truly electric guitar.
Many of its features became standards for the industry
No one could have anticipated that the electric guitar would spark a musical revolution.
Record companies and entertainment venues no longer need a bus full of musicians to fill a hall with sound. Three guys with guitars cranked up to 10 and a fourth with a drum kit could do the same job, and Rock and Roll was born.
A quartet with acoustical instruments is a folk group. A quartet with amplifiers became a rock band.
Soon the cornets and saxophones couldn’t compete. Famous young rock stars would visit Kalamazoo to pick out their electrics, and most of the greats have a Les Paul in their collection.
Paul hung on to the “Black Beauty” until 1976 when he gave it to his guitar tech, soundman and good friend Tom Doyle. It was Doyle who put it up for auction.
The lead up to the auction sparked a controversy when some questioned calling this guitar “The Grail”.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay paid $335,500 for the guitar, saying despite the controversy, it’s history made it extremely valuable. He has a collection of guitars.
It will join instruments formerly owned by George Harrison, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Jerry Garcia and others in the Irsay collection.
