Les Paul, Jazz-Guitar Virtuoso and Inventor, Dies at 94

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Aww, radio station bubbybird and I listen to a lot, KRLI, plays his music from way back when.

Quite a bit more in the article, here's a couple lines.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081301768.html

94!

Actually, I didn't know the guy was still living.
Well... Rest in peace as you say. Your name will last.

Always wanted the Guitar, but could never afford one... but were they heavy...

sad to see him go.

I remember watching a clip from a black-and-white film where he and his wife, Mary Ford, demonstrated how multitrack recording could be used to overdub vocals. He'd start with his wife singing, then layer another vocal track, then another, and another, until he had something like 12 different layers of vocal tracks. Very impressive. He was truly an innovator. I think I need to go find some Les Paul/Mary Ford recordings.

I came straight here after a read the news off of a guitar website to see if a topic was posted. This is a sad day. He did so much to the music world. Plus he was still playing at the age of 94! He was a truly passionate man.

Rest in peace, Les Paul.

R.I.P.

94 is a bloody good age though.

That's entirely dependant on the era that they were made. Nearly all the early ones from the 50's that I played were very light and resonant, including the '58 Junior that I owned. Later ones were really heavy. The '82 Custom that I owned could very well have been used for a boat anchor.

All of the new ones including the VOS and Historic models have 'weight relief' holes drilled in the top of the mahogany slab, and are nowhere near as resonant as the early ones, even if they are lightweight.


It is sad to see Les Paul gone. Although he's mostly remembered for the guitar named after him, he was also one of the first pioneers of multi track recording, and had one of the first 8 channel studios back in the 50's and early 60's when records were still predominantly recorded live to single track mono tape.

The Les Paul Special, which are double cutaway are not that heavy and sound great. Its possibly my favorite all time guitar.

The double cutaway is dependant on either when the guitar was made, or the reissue series. LP Specials previous to 1959 were single cutaways, 59-60 Specials were double cutaways. That being said, I had a reissue 59 Junior, (Like a special, but with no neck binding, and minus the neck pickup) which was fairly heavy. --It all depends on the density of the mahogany used. Generally speaking, the early guitars were very light. Some of the newer ones, like the 'worn finish' LP special that I had a couple of years ago was light, but the body was made from multiple pieces, not a single slab.