Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94

[Guinness]

Via AP

[Gizzmonic]

I was just heading here to post this.  Les Paul was a true legend both in terms of his craft, and his production techniques.  The music world is a bit poorer without him.

[Mr. Happy]

A big loss to the music world and to those of use who simply love music.

[BatGirl]

what a huge loss
but how great that he was able to live a long life
and got to see what happened as a direct result
of his artistic vision and avant-garde spirit

[T. J.]

Saw him at his weekly gig in NYC about 5 years ago.  He was quite the ladies' man, even at (that time) nearly 90.  What a life.  He was still doing his weekly show until a couple months ago.

RIP Les.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

He truly was a living legend, an icon, his name will forever be part of the lexicon of the music and recording industries.

I wanted a Gibson Les Paul from the moment I first laid eyes on one. I was 11 or 12 and had never thought about who Les Paul was but damn I wanted on of those guitars. I later learned about Les Paul the guitar player from listening to my guitar heroes, names like Clapton, Harrison, and Beck, who always claimed him as one their guitar heroes. When I first became interested in studio recording techniques I discovered he was a legend there too. It's no exaggeration to say he was one of the single most innovative artists and sound engineers of the 20th century.

[MusicMan]

He truly was a living legend, an icon, his name will forever be part of the lexicon of the music and recording industries.

I wanted a Gibson Les Paul from the moment I first laid eyes on one. I was 11 or 12 and had never thought about who Les Paul was but damn I wanted on of those guitars. I later learned about Les Paul the guitar player from listening to my guitar heroes, names like Clapton, Harrison, and Beck, who always claimed him as one their guitar heroes. When I first became interested in studio recording techniques I discovered he was a legend there too. It's no exaggeration to say he was one of the single most innovative artists and sound engineers of the 20th century.

+1

We throw around the term "legend" pretty easily these days, but if anyone deserved it, it was Les Paul.

[Guinness]

He truly was a living legend, an icon, his name will forever be part of the lexicon of the music and recording industries.

I wanted a Gibson Les Paul from the moment I first laid eyes on one.

My first guitar was a Les Paul knockoff, made by Ultravox.  It had a neck pickup, no bridge pickup, and cost $35 at the pawn shop, but, to a beginner at least, really made me feel like a big shot.  Nowadays, I like the idea of having a Les Paul, but don't like their necks.

And talk about your immortality:  as long as their are guitars his name will be on guitarists lips whether they know who he is or not.

I would posit that Mr Paul had a much larger effect on music and perhaps society as a whole than MJ (not to denigrate MJ, that's a whole other discussion).  Les Paul didn't invent rock'n'roll, but without him it couldn't have been invented.

[Gizzmonic]

My first guitar was a Les Paul knockoff, made by Ultravox.  It had a neck pickup, no bridge pickup, and cost $35 at the pawn shop, but, to a beginner at least, really made me feel like a big shot.  Nowadays, I like the idea of having a Les Paul, but don't like their necks.

And talk about your immortality:  as long as their are guitars his name will be on guitarists lips whether they know who he is or not.

I would posit that Mr Paul had a much larger effect on music and perhaps society as a whole than MJ (not to denigrate MJ, that's a whole other discussion).  Les Paul didn't invent rock'n'roll, but without him it couldn't have been invented.

I've heard that Paul actually did not design the Les Paul guitar...that all his suggestions were rejected and he didn't care for the final design.

[HudsonHawk]

I've heard that Paul actually did not design the Les Paul guitar...that all his suggestions were rejected and he didn't care for the final design.

He did not design it, per se.  He submitted the original design for a solid-body guitar to Gibson, which was rejected.  But that design is what later led to the Les Paul design.  He supposedly designed the tailpiece and Gibson incorporated some of his other advice, but he clearly did not design the guitar as it was produced.  Some claim he simply agreed to lend his name to the guitar as a marketing tool.  A lot of his contribution depends on who you ask.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

He did not design it, per se.  He submitted the original design for a solid-body guitar to Gibson, which was rejected.  But that design is what later led to the Les Paul design.  He supposedly designed the tailpiece and Gibson incorporated some of his other advice, but he clearly did not design the guitar as it was produced.  Some claim he simply agreed to lend his name to the guitar as a marketing tool.  A lot of his contribution depends on who you ask.

I think he also preferred his own self wound pick-ups and custom switches, so even his own Les Paul guitars were customized. The SG was originally going to be a new Les Paul model, he didn't like the double cut away and asked not to have his name associated with it.

[Tralfaz]

The SG was originally going to be a new Les Paul model, he didn't like the double cut away and asked not to have his name associated with it.

It was called the Les Paul Standard, nicknamed SG for Standard Guitar.