Les Paul dies at 94 Les Paul - the inventor of the solid-body electric guitar and one of the most important developers of multi-track recording - died Thursday at age 94. Born Lester William Polsfuss on June 9th in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Paul began his life-long affair with music at age eight, playing harmonica and piano. He got his first guitar …
I play Bass (Precision Big Block), but I learned guitar on, and still own, a Les Paul. There aren't a lot of people who truly make a mark on the world big enough to be heard by almost everybody, everywhere on Earth. Les was one of them. He will be missed by many, and remembered by more.
Dear Mr. Paul,
I wish to thank you for the contribution that you have made to this world. You have given so many of us a voice that we may have not had if you had not invented what you have. It is merely a tool yes but a powerful one that can bring joy, tears, satisfaction, and mourning with a simple movement. So before I start rambling I wish you the best of luck wherever you happen to find yourself now.
Sincerely,
Chris
I believe this calls for a somber pint all around
By converting the nice full range audio tracks to MP3s or compressed (to always sound loud) CDs.
The lower bit rate MP3s just muddy up the sounds, and the "always sound loud" CD have absolutely NO dynamic range, and are almost as bad.
Yes, Multi-track was a great "invention" and in these days it might even be granted a patent. Even more so if it were a computer program.
Things were simpler in the 50's.
Gibson is now owned by the evil Henry Juszkiewicz. He ruined some big deals in the
music tech industry. Have a look on the web for what Gibson did to Oberheim, Opcode
and a poor person by the name of Lynx Crowe.
Mine is Evil Bill, since Henry Juszkiewicz can't be properly seen in a mirror, or photographed.
You two are both fuckheads. Your comments have absolutely nothing to do with the wonderfulness that Les Paul brought to the world. Learn what a wake is for, youngsters, before you lose someone important in your own RealWorld[tm] lives ... If you have lives of your own, that is ...
You saved me pointing that out.
Also to correct Herby it's not actually compression it's "hard limiting" which is the issue with the horrible modern mixes. Compression itself even out the dynamics usually used to either limit the attack of a note or sustaining a note (in the case of a guitar)
Les Paul will be sadly missed as he was both a true innovator and a what I would term a gentleman.
Sorry to see you go Les
Virag0 has a valid point, L.P. & L.F. were creators of beautiful musical instruments, and they made these beautiful things because they wanted to make them, in the end they were made by companies who only want to make money.
It seems when the big corporations take over they fuck it up big time, like CBS when they took over Fender and couldn’t read the spec and bought a shitload of ‘Ash’ instead of ‘Swamp Ash’ and made crappy sounding guitars with it anyway.
It’s had to believe that in the 50’s Gibson were unable to sell a significant number of solid body guitars as the C&W set preferred the twang of a Fender, Gibson only created the flying V, Firebird & Explorers in an attempt to attract people away from the futuristic looking Strat.
The great big gig in the sky is gong to have an awsome lineup now.
Here's to you L.P. (raises glass)
P.S. The Rickenbacher ‘Frying Pan’ lap steel electric predates Les Paul’s log as the first solid leccy guitar (let the flames begin).
...to have Les Paul in accompaniment to their heavenly choir. A true heavyweight in modern music has passed on to their realm.
RIP, Les Paul.
While I'm partial to the sound of my Strat played through the full Marshall stack, my Les Paul is right up there alongside it, and probably a bit more playable for my hands.
Edison did not invent the phonograph. Edison did invent the electric chair though - as a marketing gimmick for promoting his preferred DC method of distributing the leccy. Edison was competing against Tesla's AC method. Tesla had worked for a time for Edison, until Edison reneged on a deal when Tesla came up with the goods for Edison. The Great Niagara turn on, tune in, drop out you know.
Had Edison's DC system won out, only the rich ghettos would have electric lighting, little better than fanny by gaslight - Tesla, after all, invented the fluorescent tube too. Also, you would never have had audio amplifiers, electric guitars, rock concerts. Or jobs in IT, etc. You would still be listening to Gilbert and Sullivan, barrel organs, and occasionally bump and grind. Instead, we have Steve Vai cranking it out at 20 notes per second.... isn't it a wonderful world.
awwww hell, I wanted him to live forever
Every time I pick up a Gibson LP it amazes me to think that those instruments have been in pretty much continuous production, virtually unchanged since 1954. I can't think of any other piece of design that has endured as long as that and it's very sad to say goodbye to the last great pioneer of music technology.
Well done Les, you got it absolutely right first time.
Strange that of all the comments, there's nothing from anyone saying they saw him perform. Back in Jan 1990 I saw Les Paul in the Irridium Jazz Club in New York. A wonderful setting, a narrow room that saw our table barely 10 feet from the stage. It's an evening I never forgot largely because he was a man relaxed with himself and his surroundings, he was in his element.
I can’t help smiling as I think of Les jamming tonight with Jimi Hendrix with John Bonham and Keith Moon battling on drums. Oh, and watching on in awe and screaming with joy at the top of his voice would be one Bill Hicks. So long guys and thanks for passing by this way – you made a difference.
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