The intention was not to avoid glare from old TV cameras, but to offer a modern look and a name to promote The Les Paul & Mary Ford Show then on television.

The P-90 pickup and simple bridge give the guitar a distinct sound that was desired by rock and blues players of the time, including Leslie West of Mountain, Luther Grosvenor (a.k.a.

Ariel Bender) of Spooky Tooth and Mott the Hoople, Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers, and Glenn Frey of The Eagles.

A Les Paul Junior (with a Charlie Christian pickup added in the neck position) also became John Lennon's main guitar during his post-Beatles years.

Martin Barre of Jethro Tull recorded the entire Aqualung album with a 1957 Les Paul Junior, including the extended guitar solo of the title track.

Several artists have had Juniors produced in the Gibson product line, including John Lennon, Mick Jones, Peter Frampton, and the Bob Marley Les Paul Special.

It also has some modern features requested by Armstrong, which include a slim tapered neck, as well as a specially designed "H-90" pickup which is said to be hum-canceling and it is overwound to handle more distortion.

The Les Paul Special has a generally similar body shape, but has a contoured top, , two P-90 pickups, and Gibson's standard four-knob, three-way switch electronics.

[14] They decided to release a newer version of the Gibson Les Paul Junior in 2018 with vintage specifications including a '50 neck profile.

[15] Epiphone, a major guitar company purchased by Gibson in 1957, sells lower-cost Juniors which feature a bolt-on neck configuration as well as being outfitted with a single humbucking pickup rather than the traditional P-90.

Epiphone Japan has also released Juniors (with the Gibson headstock) including the LPJ-70 and the Ltd edition Lacquer Series Jr (both in vintage sunburst and cherry).