Gibson The Paul

The Paul is an electric guitar made by Gibson, manufactured from 1978 to the 1980s.

History and design
The model was developed by Whitey Morrison, the Gibson plant manager in Nashville. It was designed to be the lower-cost Les Paul-style variant in a new series of instruments.

The Paul Standard had a single sharp cutaway Les Paul-style walnut body, set walnut neck, 22-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl dot inlays, walnut headstock with gold Gibson logo (1978–1981), three-per-side tuners, Tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece, two exposed humbucker pickups, some models had "T" top pickups, four knobs (two volume, two tone), three-way pickup switch, chrome hardware, available in Natural Walnut finish. It had a 24.75 in scale, and 1.6875 in nut width. It was manufactured between 1978 and 1982. The guitar included such high end items as the Grover tuning keys.

The Paul Deluxe (Firebrand) is similar to The Paul Standard, except it has a mahogany body and three-piece mahogany neck. It was manufactured between 1980 and 1986 and was available in Antique Natural, Ebony (1985–86), Natural Mahogany, or Wine Red (1985–86) finish. A standard Gibson logo was branded into the headstock in the deluxe model.

In 1996, the model was resurrected with The Paul II, with a mahogany body and carved top like a Les Paul Studio instead of the flat top of prior models of The Paul The body is 2/3 as thick as a normal Les Paul and features a rear belly cut as well. In 1998 The Paul II was replaced by The Paul SL, itself discontinued in 1999.

In 2018, Gibson reissued The Paul, as it was first introduced 40 years earlier under its 2019 lineup.