This 1952 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, once owned and modified by Frank Zappa, has a history as fascinating as Zappa’s own music.
It began as one of the first Les Pauls ever made by Gibson. By the time it became part of Zappa’s story, it had been completely transformed: a heavily modified Goldtop with additional pickups, a new bridge and tremolo, six rotary controls, extra switches, and very little regard for period accuracy.
It features a P-90, a Telecaster-style single-coil pickup and a PAF humbucker, with a toggle switch, a pickup selector and a control layout far removed from a standard early 1950s Les Paul. It wasn’t a collector’s item kept in a glass case. It was a functional guitar that had been modified in search of new sounds.
This makes sense in Zappa’s world. He was never the type of guitarist to treat a guitar as untouchable. If an instrument could be modified to give it more control, more tones, or more possibilities for exploring an arrangement, that was precisely the goal. A standard Goldtop granted you a certain kind of authority. This one seemed to have been rebuilt to be subjected to interrogation.
Its strongest musical connection is with the Hot Rats era, as the guitar was acquired in 1968. The tuning pegs were replaced with Schaller ones, and its original wraparound bridge with an ABR-1 and a Bigsby tremolo.
This guitar is treasured in La Roca Power Studio.
