Gibson Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009) aka. Les Paul was in a way the man behind the Les Paul made by Gibson.

To quote Wikipedia:

Largely independently of Paul, Gibson president Ted McCarty and his team of engineers designed a solid body guitar to compete with Fender’s Telecaster. Realizing that having a famous artist endorse the new guitar could increase sales, McCarty approached Paul with an endorsement opportunity. He was impressed enough to sign a endorsement contract for what became the Gibson “Les Paul” model, originally only in a “gold-top” version (official name: “Les Paul Standard”), and agreed never to be seen playing in public, or be photographed, with anything other than a Gibson guitar

From here the Les Paul has become a blossoming beauty, ranging in styles but nearly always keeping the high quality that such a guitar demands.

Les Paul Standard

Clearly identified by the lack of a fret marker on the first fret.

Les Paul Custom

This can also come with the three pickup design, but clearly identified by the fret marker on the first fret, and also they typically have a pick guard, and square fret markers.

Les Paul Classic

This model can be seen with both the pick guard and the missing first fret marker. Not also the shape of the fret markers, they are trapezoidal, rather than square. similar to the standard.