What guitar do you think of first when you hear the words 'Gibson Les Paul?' A beautiful '59 Sunburst? A Les Paul Jr. in TV Yellow finish? Maybe even the Les Paul Studio, a true workhorse of the Gibson line?

Playing a good show is sometimes about preparation.

Novelist William Burroughs may have coined the term “heavy metal,” but it was Black Sabbath who gave that phrase its musical signature. Rife with thunderous bass lines, sledgehammer percussion, and, most importantly, some of the most menacing guitar riffs ever committed to tape, Sabbath’s music remains the standard for any band intent on exploring the darker side of riff-driven rock.

Conventional wisdom dictates that hollow body guitars aren’t the best instruments for rocking out. Their tones are more associated with jazz, country and blues — although post-Delta blues is more the province of solid body and semi-hollow body six-strings, the latter ala B.B. King’s Lucille and the ES-335s and their kin used by Freddie King and others.

There’s no denying that from the ‘80s onwards, the guitar instrumental has ventured into hitherto unexplored territories, with virtuosos such as Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen and others setting new standards for the concept. For the purposes of the list below, however, virtuosity is less a consideration than pioneering impact. Feel free to chime in with great instrumentals we missed — especially those with longstanding impact — in the comments section.

Making an album – even a classic album – sometimes can be an exercise in overcoming adversity. Still, the monumental troubles that Paul McCartney and Wings had to surmount to record Band on the Run, easily McCartney’s best post-Beatles album, easily could have served as fodder for an epic Hollywood film.

The iconic Gibson Explorer was so far ahead of its time when it was first introduced in 1958. that Gibson produced only about 100 of the famed instruments—many of which are now highly prized collectibles selling for upwards of half a million dollars. Today, the same far-out, futuristic Gibson Explorer—reintroduced in the mid-1970s—is one of the most coveted powerhouses of screaming rock and roll.

2013 is already a landmark year for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Robert Levon Been. The co-singer/bassist/guitarist has reunited his late father’s band, The Call, and BRMC have just released a fine new album, Specter at the Feast.

Tone is the Holy Grail for most dedicated guitarists. It’s something we’re willing to seek and tweak our entire playing lives. And each of us has a different perspective on tone, which explains the proliferation of guitars, pickups and, of course, amplifiers available.

In the annals of Fleetwood Mac’s guitar history, Peter Green gets nearly all the black — in part because of his key role in making the Gibson Les Paul Sunburst an integral part of rock and blues history. But the Mac also featured another great Les Paul player who took lead of the band and helped the group reach its zenith of popularity: Lindsey Buckingham.