With its rich sustain, distinctive tone and finger-friendly fretboard, it’s hardly surprising that many of rock’s greatest solos have been played on Les Pauls. Through the years, thousands of unforgettable solos have been unleashed on the instrument, often within the context of classic songs.

It reads like a rock star fairytale: Guy lands a gig as 3 Doors Down’s guitar tech. Said guy spends years on the road, learning the ins-and-outs of the band. A few years later, he’s in the band!

Jimi Hendrix truly flew like a butterfly and stang like a bee. And the qualities that made him a vision of art incarnate extended well beyond his technique as a guitarist into the realms of imagination and creative scope and to the core of his identity as he reshaped himself from a troubled Seattle kid into one of the most vital creative forces in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.

When Led Zeppelin reunited in 2007 to play London’s 02 Arena, it was one of the most in-demand shows ever – 20 million people reportedly applied for tickets. Five years on, the show is out on DVD, Blu-ray and CD as Celebration Day. Gibson asked visuals director Dick Carruthers about capturing a legendary event.

There’s no formal guide to jam etiquette, but like the Boy Scouts, a good jammer’s motto is “be prepared.” That, good citizenship and serviceable chops go a long way in the world of jamming.

In recent years, movie soundtracks seem little more than a ragbag of songs underpinned by a big-name hit that appears to have little relation to the movie.

Overdubbing is an art form with compositional options as complex as the act of songwriting itself. And the electric guitar is the perfect instrument for creative overdubs thanks to its melodic reach and huge sonic palette.

The 1970s boasted many famed live albums, but one of the ones was Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton. It made the Englishman – a pop pin-up, yet also a mercurial guitarist – a huge star, selling 17 million copies.

The Black Keys have come from recording entire albums in single sessions and crossing the States in their “Gray Ghost" van to reaching main stream success with their past couple of albums.

Aged guitars have been around for long enough now that they're simply a part of the guitar vernacular. There was a time when the very idea of intentionally dinging a guitar seemed like absolute madness. For a while I agreed: I babied my guitars to the point that 15 years after I got my first good electric guitar, it still looked virtually brand new (aside from a lot of fret wear).