Gibson: What first turned you on about Les Pauls? Tom: They sound great―period. The first time I saw somebody play one was Jimmy Page and then I heard Jeff Beck use one on Truth. Then, I heard someone play a Goldtop in a bar and I thought it was the sweetest sounding thing. "Where do you find a guitar like that?" A couple years later that guy had to sell his equipment and offered me that very guitar for 300 bucks. It's the same one I use today. Now it has a Mighty Mouse on it. That was a bumper sticker I cut out and stuck on, then buried under 14 layers of lacquer. It's been there for 22 years now so it's not going anywhere.

Gibson: You're famous for having gigantic tone. How much of that comes from your Les Pauls? Tom: They do have a huge sound. It's tough to quantify that. I've compared them in great depth to lots of other guitars, and I couldn't even put that into technical terms. But the sound is big with lots of character, and if you want a chunky sound it's there or if you want a pure, crystal clear tone it does that. I just don't get that range from other guitars. - Read the full interview here

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