Guitar, Studio Wizard Les Paul Dies At 94

beeshman noted that Les Paul has died. Paul was quite the hardware hacker of his day, innovating with guitar hardware, and later multi track recording. The Gibson Les Paul is one of the single most iconic instruments associated with Rock 'n Roll, and was of course played by Pete Townshend. Someday I'm going to get me one.

Comments

A true innovator

[SoupGuru]

He left his mark upon the music world for sure. I'm sure our world would be a different place if he hadn't been inspired to monkey around with the status quo.

Re:A true innovator

[mcgrew]

"The Log"
Paul was dissatisfied with the acoustic guitars that were sold in the mid 1930s and began experimenting with a few designs for an electric model on his own. Famously, he created "The Log," which was nothing more than a length of common 4" x 4" lumber with bridge, guitar neck, and pickup attached. For the sake of appearance, he attached the body of an Epiphone hollow-body guitar, sawn lengthwise with The Log in the middle. This solved his two main problems: feedback, as the acoustic body no longer resonated with the amplified sound, and sustain, as the energy of the strings was not dissipated in generating sound through the guitar body.

Les Paul actually invented the first true electric guitar. All the ones before it were simply acoustic guitars with mocrophones. If it weren't for Les Paul, rock and roll might possibly have never come about.

Re:A true innovator

[tungstencoil]

Actually, maybe we're already well into the world of the next sonic revolutionary: Andy Hildebrand, inventor of Auto-Tune. Although I'm not sure I'm ready for a world where the "Auto-Tune effect" is as popular as the twang of a Les Paul guitar.

Too late, it's all over everything. I spent a fair amount of time in recording studios, and used Auto-Tune from it's first release onward. It has a very distinctive sound, even when used subtly. Trust me when I say the overwhelming majority of recordings made nowadays use it to one extent or another - enough that you can hear it. And I'm not talking about just the obvious cases. At least in modern music, it is more pervasive than the "rock guitar" sound.

Re:A true innovator

[PigIronBob]

"which now included a truss rod in the neck to keep it from warping."...

Truss rods do not stop necks from warping, they are there to adjust the 'relieve' of the neck, a proper neck is not straight as in 'level' but must be slightly bowed to accommodate the envelope of the plucked string.

Les Paul, real Guitar Hero

[Fritz T. Coyote]

He will be missed. Amazing how long he kept playing, and how many people he influenced.

Chet Atkins and now Les Paul

[Sturm]

What a loss. I love everything Chet Atkins and Les Paul did together. I loved hearing Chet and Les banter back and forth before doing a song. Their music was so technical but because of their great skill it ended up sounding effortless (the trademark of truly great musicians).

Most people will obviously associate Les Paul with a particular guitar, and although that particular piece of hardware will be his legacy, his musical skills will be greatly missed. His style was so unique and is almost impossible to emulate.

Thank you for all your wonderful contributions to the musical world, Les. You will be greatly missed.

Re:Chet Atkins and now Les Paul

[Anonymous Coward]

Its not a loss. Its a great success! Look at all the stuff he got done before today! At 94 I'd say his lifes work was complete. And we still have all of his inventions. No need to miss him. Don't miss him, celebrate his work with the epic sustain of a Les Paul Standard.

'Guitarhero'

[fwice]

Whoever tagged this article 'Guitarhero' was absolutely correct.

The man's influence on music cannot be stated highly enough.

Between the design (and implementation of the electric guitar) to multitrack recording to delay effects, he really was a renaissance man.

Rest in peace you musical genius...

[ShadowBlasko]

RIP Les Paul. You changed the world, one string at a time

My Guitar Gently Weeps...

What the world would could have been like...

[Anonymous Coward]

...had he not invented the electric guitar. Someone else may have done it but Les truly took it to the next level.

It boggles the mind that this man's invention would have such an impact on the world. What would Woodstock have been without the electric guitar and Jimmy Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner.

-R-

Re:What the world would could have been like...

[atomic-penguin]

Err....that was a Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner on...

Right... and a Stratocaster is, in fact, an electric guitar the last time I checked.

Ah, nuts.

[RevWaldo]

Les Paul and his trio played (every?) Monday nights at the Iridium Jazz Club here in NYC. Every once in awhile I'd see the ad for it and think "I gotta check that out sometime. After all, he won't be around forever."

Of course, I never did.

I will play today

[maharb]

It's a sad day for everyone who loves the electric guitar. I am going to play loud for him today!!

wow

[thatskinnyguy]

I may not have a Les Paul, but the guitar I do have has humbucking pickups and a tune-o-matic bridge (That Les Paul invented). I appreciate his contributions and his dedication to his craft. Now I'm going to go play for a bit.

True Shred

[flyneye]

Les Paul will be missed.
          Speaking as the local /. luthier, Les was one of the few individuals DESERVING of a signature model guitar. A performer who through his own necessity invented many guitar oriented devices that preceded todays analogs , advancing music universally as we know it today. Sadly, today signature models are passed out to any moron on the corner who gets radio play with 2 of the 3 chords they know.(well not literally or I'd be first in line for Les Paul and Chet Atkins models.)
Gibson being the worst offender of all stacking signatures :Zakk Wylde Les Paul (no offense to Wylde) is a prime example and there are others.
        Les was also the original solid body guitar shredder who wowed audiences with pioneered techniques like echo picking and others. When his right elbow was shattered , he had it reset so his arm would always be at an appropriate angle to facilitate pickin'.
          The "Log" predecessor to the "L.P." wasn't invented at Gibson but in fact at Epiphone. No one should ever feel the Epiphone Les Paul is any less a masterpiece than its Gibson counterpart and certainly waaaay more bang for the buck. It is after all Les' signature model.