dave robinson wrote:tolo wrote:It's hardly surprising that a guitarist not known for using Gibson guitars doesn't appear in a list of guitarists on the Gibson site...
.....except that the #1 in this list is a dedicated Telecaster legend!?
Tony.
Precisely ! 
Well, yes and no . . .
I read somewhere that the Les Paul had been totally forgotten and was considered as old fashioned by most young guitarists in the late fifties and early sixties, when Fender was all the rage, from rock, to surf, to country. It was Keith Richards who brought the Les Paul to center stage as a rock guitar.
Here is an article about that in Wikipedia:
"Renewed interest in the Les Paul models
In 1964, The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards obtained a 1959 sunburst Les Paul. The guitar, outfitted with a Bigsby tailpiece, was the first "star-owned" Les Paul in Britain and served as one of the guitarist's prominent instruments through 1966. Because he switched guitars often enough in that period (using models ranging from the Epiphone semi-hollow to various other guitars made by Guild and Gibson), Richards is sometimes forgotten as an early post-1960 Les Paul player."Even though Richards does not have a signature model Gibson guitar, he has used a variety of Gibsons.
Here is more on that . . .
Keith Richards has used a variety of Gibsons throughout his career; he's favored Les Pauls and ES models, but has also occasionally been seen with assorted other models, including Firebirds, a Flying V, an SG, an L6S and a Melody Maker. In 1964 Richards got a 1959 sunburst Les Paul with a Bigsby tailpiece; the guitar was the first "star-owned" Les Paul in Britain and served as one of Richards' main instruments through 1966. He later sold the guitar to future Rolling Stones bandmate Mick Taylor. In the mid-60s Richards acquired a 1953 Les Paul Goldtop and the first of a series of 1957 Les Paul Customs. One of the latter, hand-painted with psychedelic patterns, would be one of his main stage and studio guitars from 1968 through the end of the Rolling Stones' 1970 European tour. Throughout the 1970s he continued to use various Gibson models on stage and in music videos. Among these were a second 1959 sunburst Les Paul, a 1954 Les Paul Custom "Black Beauty" and a cherry red 1958 Les Paul Junior, which he replaced in 1979 with a 1959 TV-yellow Les Paul Junior that he has used regularly on stage ever since. Since 1997 an ebony ES-355 has been among his favorite stage guitars, along with a white ES-345 that he unveiled in 2006. In rehearsal and studio photos and footage he's frequently seen with an ES-350 and ES-175D. Hummingbirds have been among his preferred acoustic models since 1965.