Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, takes a look back at how Les Paul’s solid-body electric guitar became a rock music standard
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| Les Paul Live @ Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in October 2008. Taken by Thomas Faivre-Duboz, Paris, France. Found on Wikimedia Commons |
Today marks what would have been musician Les
Paul’s 102nd birthday. Known for practically inventing the
solid-body electric guitar, his innovations have left a lasting impression on
the music world forever.
A musician himself, Les Paul started his career playing jazz,
blues and country music live and on the radio. From 1945 to 1961, he released
several hit singles, many of which peaked in the top 10 on the singles charts.
Paul continued to perform live solo and with his trio up until his death in
2009 at the age of 94.
Though he may have had a very successful music career, Les
Paul is still best known for his electric guitar. A pioneer in the creation of
the solid-body electric guitar, he put together his first design, dubbed “The
Log,” in 1940. Built on a four-by-four piece of pine wood, The Log included strings
and a pickup, which he would later add the “wings” of an acoustic guitar to for
a more traditional guitar look. It would take 10 years for his design to
officially be made, having been turned down originally by Epiphone and Gibson.
But by 1952, the Gibson Les Paul was the most popular solid-body electric
guitar in the world.
Les Paul’s talent for tinkering and innovation went much
further than just guitars. As a young boy, he attached a coat hanger to a
piece of wood and his harmonica, making the first known harmonica holder. His
design has been in use for decades, its most iconic users being Bob Dylan and
Neil Young. Paul also made strides in the worlds of recording and amplification.
He was one of the first to come up with a way to record multiple tracks on top
of each other, what he called “sound on sound,” and, along with Ampex, developed
the first eight-track recorder in the mid-1950s. Interested in achieving different effects with
his guitar, he developed ways to incorporate delay, reverb and phasing into his
sound. Paul was even one of the first people to use a coil and magnet to create
pickup to amplify his guitar.
Les Paul’s namesake guitars are still some of the most
popular designs to date. Guitarists spanning all genres of music, including Eric
Clapton, Jimmy
Page, Slash,
Green
Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Kiss’
Ace
Frehley, Reggae legend Bob
Marley, The
Who’s Pete
Townshend and the Allman
Brothers Band’s Duane Allman, have used his signature design to make music
history.
Artists have been benefiting from Les Paul’s innovations for
more than six decades. From his iconic guitars to his work developing new
recording and amplification technology and techniques, his many musical
innovations have had a monumental impact on how we hear music and will continue
to shape the way we hear music for a long time to come.
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Find music from iconic artists like Les Paul, as well as artists
that have been touched by his innovations, at Vinyl Bay 777 and
vinylbay777.com. Long Island’s top new independent record shop has thousands of
titles in a plethora of genres to choose
from. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes,
music DVDs and memorabilia in store and online. With more titles being added
all the time, it’s always a great time to see what’s new at Vinyl Bay 777.
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