Les Paul

You can read the history of the man here:

All I can say is that the world of music has , albeit at a ripe old age, lost one of its guiding lights.

This is the man who gave us the Gibson guitar that bears his name, the glorious-looking, creamy toned or snarling brute of an instrument - the Les Paul. (The Holy Grail for collectors is the 1959 Les Paul Standard Flametop - which, if you could find one, would cost you $250,000- $300,000 in the US)



Here's some creamy toned Les Paul sound:



Here's some snarling brute Les Paul, courtesy of Mr Page:



And here is Mr Paul himself, playing one he made earlier, being joined by Chet Atkins part way through:



Goodbye and thank you, Les Paul.

Gentle Pursuits for the PWME - No 3

When I had energy and money, I used to build electric guitars for my musical son. With a few short-cuts, courtesy of Warmoth, this isn't an insuperable task, and the results can be utterly stunning. I've built a Stratocaster copy, and a Telecaster. I've also modified an Epiphone Les Paul with completely new electronics, hugely improving the tone, and including some fancy switching so it can reproduce the sound of Peter Green's "out of phase" Les Paul of the original Fleetwood Mac glory days. The pickups for the Strat and the Les Paul came from the redoubtable Bill Lawrence, whereas the Tele has Wizard pickups. I'll know I'm feeling better when I sit down with Douglas, my son, to plan the next instrument.