Lester William Polsfuss, known as Les Paul passes away aged 94
Les Paul was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which "made the sound of rock and roll possible. His many recording innovations include overdubbing, delay effects such as "sound on sound" and tape delay, phasing effects and multi track recording.
He created his first solid-body electric guitar, dubbed "the log",
in 1941. "I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody
had me labelled as a nut," he later said. It did not go on sale for another 11 years, by which time Leo Fender's rival Telecaster model was already on the market.
In
1948, Mr Paul almost died in a car crash that shattered his right arm
and elbow. Afterwards, he convinced doctors to set his broken arm at a
right angle in the guitar-picking and cradling position.
'Beautiful guitar'
He
continued to refine his guitar design throughout the 1950s. Its basic
structure has barely changed over the decades and continues to be
popular among stars and amateurs alike. The Who's Pete Townshend is one of many closely associated with the Les Paul sound.
Mr Paul died from complications of pneumonia in New York, according to Gibson, the firm that sold his guitars.
One of Pete Townshend's Les Paul's that made it through the gig!
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