The Gibson Les Paul guitar went into production in 1952 and was the first solid body electric that Gibson had made. Leo Fender, although not the first person to design or build a solid body electric, had proved that there was a market for such instruments with the commercial success of his Fender Telecaster, which had first been introduced a couple of years beforehand (albeit under a different name). Now Gibson, under the presidency of Ted McCarty, wanted to make sure they didn't get left out of the market - so they approached player and guitar designer Les Paul with a view to collaborating on aGibson/Les Paul branded electric solid body.
This must have been rather gratifying forLes Paul, as he had previously presented his ideas for a solid body electric to Gibson in 1945/46 and been promptly shown the door. As Les himself has said, "They called it the broom-stick with a pickup on it."
There are many different rumours and stories about exactly who designed what in respect of the Gibson Les Paul guitar - Ted McCarty, Les Paul & others have differing recollections as to who provided the design input for various aspects of the instrument.
Ted's version is that he and various Gibsonstaff had already finished designing the guitar that became the 1952 Les Paul even before they approached Les about an endorsement deal. In this account there were only two aspects of the production line 1952 Les Paul that derived from Les himself; the trapeze bridge/tailpiece and the name 'Les Paul'. In other words, the only reason thatGibson approached Les was to give the new guitar they had already designed and built added credibility by having it associated with a famous player.
Les Paul himself has said that when Ted approached him he,