Five things about ... the Gibson guitar

On the Gibson guitar news site, stories on rockers fill the space: Trent Reznor bashing Marilyn Manson, Pearl Jam's new song debut and another about a Jimi Hendrix roadie and ... um, where's the one about Kyle Busch, the goofy NASCAR driver whose only piece of rock-star cred are his oversized sunglasses?

Maybe the editors are busy posting the piece now, meanwhile fans of music and NASCAR alike are still buzzing about Busch's bashing of the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar trophy in Victory Lane this past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway (watch video).

The two passionate and convincing arguments for both sides prompted me to offer up more information on the guitars themselves, produced by a company based in Nashville, Tenn., which has been creating iconic instruments since the 1930s. And how exactly did the artist who painted the instrument feel that day in Victory Lane?

Here are five additional tidbits about Gibson and in particular that one that Busch won.

1. Sam Bass loves rock and roll but loves art more ...

While the artist, Sam Bass, who spent 150 hours designing and painting the now broken guitar was stunned and shocked to see it destroyed 30 seconds after handing it to Busch, he appreciated the show the driver put on and trusts Busch when he said he meant no disrespect.

Kyle Busch and Sam Bass

NASCAR Says ...

You really have to hand it to Kyle Busch. When Busch smashed his guitar on the NASCAR stage, the crowd went wild. In every sense of the word, it was smashing.

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"I have mixed emotions," Bass said. "There's been a lot of erroneous reporting whether I knew it was going to happen or not and how I felt about it, so I wanted to clear that up. I had no idea he was going to destroy the guitar. I can assure you that if he had come to me and asked if I thought it would be a good idea to destroy a one-of-kind piece of artwork, I would've said, 'No, I don't think that is a good idea.'"

Bass would've offered Busch a much less-expensive prop guitar.

"It was an amazing instrument. To see it 30 seconds later beat all to heck hurt," Bass said. "It's like a six- to eight-week process into building one of those guitars. ... It was a working guitar and if you bought one off the shelf it would've been at least $3,500, but [the trophy] one is not coming out of the Gibson custom shop and by the time you include my artwork and what it symbolizes it almost becomes of a priceless nature. I estimate it being worth $25,000 to $35,000. It's was a meaningful piece of art."

• Audio: Next one will cost more

Bass has been a NASCAR artist for 27 years and has painted dozens of guitar trophies for drivers who win in Nashville. Last weekend marked the 30th completed piece for Bass. Another guitar will be awarded when the Craftsman Truck Series races there in August.

2. Why Busch couldn't completely break it ...

The Gibson Les Paul guitar trophy is made of heavy mahogany and maple woods and is what manufacturers call solid body, as opposed to hallow inside.

"I just wanted to break it apart and spread it around with the crew. I didn't break according to plan so I guess we'll take it the shop and cut it up so all of the guys can have nice, smooth pieces and I'll order another one for myself and one for Jason [Ratcliff, crew chief]," Busch said.

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3. Who is (Lester William Polsfuss) Les Paul? ...

The Les Paul was originally designed by Ted McCarty and endorsed, named and used by jazz guitarist and pop star Les Paul.

Though he couldn't read music, Paul had a magnificent ear and innate sense of structure and went on to invent the solid-body guitar and countless hits. The now 94-year-old from Wisconsin is considered to have "made the sound of rock and roll possible" by his peers.

4. Some of the greatest left-handed six-stringers to use Gibson guitars ...

Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Paul McCartney and Otis Rush. But who are some of the greatest left-handed Cup Series drivers? Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Terry Labonte and Joey Logano.

5. America Idolizes Gibson ...

During the young man's final winning performance on American Idol, Kris Allen played a beautiful acoustic Gibson Hummingbird. Like the Les Paul, it, too, is made of mahogany with a cherry sunburst finish but has a decorative pickguard with a hummingbird design.