life.com — In 1939, Paul -- unhappy with his acoustic guitar -- created a new, rudimentary electric design, which would pave the way for the rowdy rock & roll we know today. He sold his design to Gibson in the early '50s; everyone from Slash to the Edge to B.B. King has played a Les Paul.
Aug 13, 2009 View in Crawl 4
lennybirdAug 13, 2009
Next guitar I get is going to be the black Les Paul studio with "gold," pickups. Fairly cheap guitar for amazing performance.I love my Fender Strat; and like you can't get those crisp highs out of anything but a strat (or tele), so you can't get that warm humbucker rhythm without a Les Paul.
4antistupidAug 14, 2009
I've heard a lot of people mention the quality lately. I guess they're leaning too much on the brand to keep the price up. I know a lot more about pianos, and the hand builders are really getting squeezed by machine built models from Asia.
mikeytwitAug 14, 2009
Man, can you should your ignorance anymore? Pete played a Les Paul in the 70's(see The Kids Are Alright, where you can see him playing one), And Jimmy Page is synonymous with the Les Paul Standard. Get a clue!
jmdwinterAug 14, 2009
Your argument would have been a lot stronger if you hadn't resorted to a non-musical personal attack on Jackson.
tcasey22Aug 14, 2009
I've never had the money to buy one, but its one of my favorite parts of walking into any guitar shop: Picking up a Les Paul and dreaming.Thanks Les, RIP.
zoomakabuAug 14, 2009
Look at the U2 photo. Do you see a wire there?
brad77Aug 14, 2009
Pictures of people who play Les Paul guitars are nice, but this guy really deserves much, much more than that. He's a veritable Forrest Gump of the music world. From playing in the country "National Barn Dance" band by day, witnessing (and participating) in the birth of the Chicago jazz scene by night, to playing in Bing Crosby's radio show band and rubbing elbows with innumerable greats in the music business. He was a consummate tinkerer, basically inventing the electric guitar and multitracking (overdubbing).Somehow pictures of Madonna with a Les Paul seem like a hollow tribute. I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, but geez. Read his Wikipedia article at least. Better yet, watch Chasing Sound to gain insight on just how much he changed the world of popular music.