The new Les Paul Supreme takes the most famous feature of the Les Paul to the ultimate level, with dramatic tiger-stripe maple on the back of the guitar as well as the top. But the concept of an all-out Les Paul goes back to the 1970s - March 26, 1976, to be exact - when Gibson registered the first of the models called The Les Paul.

Dennis Chandler, a former Gibson sales rep, owns The Les Paul #1, and his guitar makes a striking first impression. Even more impressive than the tiger-stripe maple is the all-rosewood trim. The knobs, the binding, even the switch washer and pickup mounting rings, are made of wood. The parts that have to be made of metal - the pickup covers, bridge, fine-tune tailpiece and tuners - are gold-plated.

At the time this guitar was built, Chandler was an emerging guitarist whose mentors included Lonnie Mack, Bo Diddley and B.B. King. According to his research, Gibson employees Richard Schneider, Abe Wechter and Gary Aumaugher began work on a fancy new model in the spring of 1975, and Gibson actually showed an early version at the NAMM trade show that summer. Dick Sodja, the owner of Sodja Music in Cleveland where Chandler was based, saw the guitar and placed an order for one on June 23, 1975.

The design of the model wasn't finished at that point, and when it was finally ready in early 1976, #1 was shipped to Les Paul himself, who played it in a live performance on the Grammy Awards show. (Les won a Grammy that year for his Chester and Lester album with Chet Atkins.) Les then sent the new guitar back to Gibson for more "tweaking," but somehow it was shipped to Sodja Music instead of back to Les. When Gibson finally did send a The Les Paul to Les, it was #25.

"I guess when he (Sodja) got it he couldn't believe it," Chandler said. "He just put it away and took it up in the storage office. He didn't have it on display."

Chandler found out about the guitar by accident in October 1977 when he was in Sodja's store and saw it on a price list: The Les Paul, $3,000. "I said, 'You've got to be out of your mind! There's no Les Paul worth $3,000,'" he recalled. "So he went and got it. I looked at it and said, 'That's nice,' but it didn't really blow me away - until I saw the number.

"I said, 'Is this for sale?' He said, Yeah, I'll sell it. I want to buy a horse for my daughter. I said, 'Give me your best price.' He said, If you want it, 2,000 bucks. I didn't have $2,000 bucks. I said to my wife Liz, 'What do you think we should do?' She said, When are you going to get a #1? Get a loan and we'll buy it. "

Just over a year later, Chandler landed his dream job and joined the Gibson sales force. Production of The Les Paul ended a year later, in 1979. Chandler only lasted a few years longer. He became Salesman of the Year and he successfully lobbied Gibson president Bob McRann on B.B. King's behalf to create the B.B. King "Lucille" model. In the meantime, though, Gibson quality had eroded to a critical point, and by 1983 Chandler found himself unable to interest dealers in the new Gibsons, so he quit.

"I was there during a couple of the glory years and a couple of the gory years," Chandler laughed. He still lives in Cleveland, where he plays guitar and piano and bills himself "Cleveland's Musical Chameleon."

Gibson made only 77 The Les Pauls, according to shipping records (although registration numbers may go as high as #81) - 59 in natural finish and 18 in wine red. It is one of the only models from the 1970s that has any appeal to vintage collectors. The new Les Paul Supreme has taken some of the ideas from The Les Paul a step farther, with a carved back as well as a carved top, and elaborate inlay on the headstock, but the foundation of its appeal is the same as The Les Paul's - you can never have too much tiger-stripe maple on a guitar.