Les Paul
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Les Paul
Lester William Polfus (born on June 9,1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin),better known as Les Paul is an American guitarist. He is known to be one of the most important figures in the development of modern electric guitars and recording techniques. Les Paul is also known as a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar, Multitrack Recording, and various reverb effects. Most people mistake him with his biggest invention: The Gibson Les Paul solidbody guitar.
Childhood
Paul started his musical career by the age of eight when he learned to play the harmonica. He went on with the piano and the banjo but he abandoned the banjo soon to learn how to play the guitar. At the age of thirteen Les Paul was already good enough to play his first gigs as a Country Music guitarist. He had an obvious talent and dropped out of high school at the age of seventeen to pursue his career in music.
Early Career
He found a job playing guitar in a radio band in St. Louis, Missouri. He later moved to Chicago, where he mainly played jazz music for radio programs. He was able to secure a recording contract and released his first two albums in 1936. Les found the electric guitars of the time unfulfilling and began experimenting with his own designs in an attempt to improve the instrument.
First Attempt: The Log
Les Paul is famous for inventing the first solidbody guitar. His first attempt of building a solidbody is called The Log. The guitar was really nothing more than a simple wooden log, taken form a fence post, with an attached guitar neck, a simple hardtail bridge and pickups. Although it looked ugly, Les Paul solved the two biggest problems of 1930's electric guitars: The Feedback and the lack of Sustain. Due to the solid body of The Log it had less problems with the feedback level because it did not resonate as much as the semi-hollow electric guitars of that time. The Log also had a never before heard amount of sustain because the massive body of the guitar stored the energy of the ringing strings. Les Paul afterwards installed sawn-off body parts from an Epiphone Semi-Accoustic guitar for the sake of a better appearance.
