Les Paul - RIP

I cant play the guitar very well at all
I wanted to and i still have a few under the bed
Always marvel at my friends that can double thumb bluegrass really well or play lead solo

(side note - just bought my self a present. Gunna fly down to mel'burg and see Ry Cooder!)

Anyway..............
Les paul passed away yesterday(??)

For those that dont know - i guess he is the Gene Berg of guitars

reckon he was a step better that Leo fender but that is my opinion

He played, he recorded, he made guitars

reckon he was the original "guitar hero"

Thanks Les

I'm more of a Fender man myself, but there's no doubting the impact Les had on popular music as a musician and an inventor. He invented multi-track recording and probably the first ever 'signature guitar', the Les Paul, which entered production in 1952 and predated the Fender Strat by 2 years (the Tele of course was first in 1950).

Sunburst Les Pauls from the late '50s are incredible beautiful and highly sought after, commanding upwards of $US100,000. They probably increased in value even more since Les passed.

nooo!
But forever though, my les paul standard, like any around the world will be a token of his rememberance.
beautiful instrument 👍

should also note that Leo Fender didn't actually play guitar (he may have played them) and didn't consider himself a musician.

Les Paul and Mary Ford had a huge hit in the '50s called ' All the world is waiting for the sunrise '. A true classic!

rip Les. How old was he? must have been in his 90s?

I too love my tele, but Les invented so many thing, multitrack recording for one... he was a man before his time.

You know I read an interview with him recently, he gave up guitar for like 15 years after an accident and hand injury. Then his doctor told him to play again to keep his mind going. When he came back to it his arthritus was so bad he had to change his style completely, but he's been playing like 3 nights a week for the past 5 years or so. Try and see an old footballer do that. Music lasts so much longer than sport. 👍

R.I.P. legend!

he was 94
not a bad innings

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/guitar-legendinventor-les-paul-dies-at-age-94/2009/08/14/1249756427219.html

Well that's sad news. The Les Paul is such a popular guitar at least we know he'll never be forgotten. Being a metal head, I love the fat sound of a Gibson, especially a Les Paul, even though I don't even own one yet.
As for fender, well they're like the little wannabe guitar with a skirt on compared to a Gibson : ) Sorry guys, I am a cronic smartass. But it isn't my fault Les Paul equipped his guitars with nice fat humbuckers instead of fender and their cute litlle single coil junk. Again, sorry, I can't help it. Like I said, I don't even have a Les Paul but I do have a fender strat copy. Damn it!!!!
Just for fun here's a few of my axes.

Ha!! Nice rack of axes. Old PAFs can get pretty bright and twangy too in the right hands, but your metal guitars would be nothing but fat! :thumb:

I love them single coils 🙂 Just cos:

Hey greasykitchen, at least neither of us has a VW guitar......yet : ) You're right to like single coils, I'm just a shocking stirrer. Anyone who says you can't get good tones out of a fender has obviously never listened to Hendrix, Clapton or Malmstein. I guess those guys can play sort of OKish.............

Exactly. And no 'Hello Kitty' guitars either!

FWIW the guitar on the right now has two chrome covered humbuckers, Les Paul style (don't really sound like one though). Good to have some variety.

Edit: Is that a Dean V there? Awesome.

And I can't believe no one has said 'don't even point at it' 😂

Cool. I don't think I've seen a strat with humbuckers. Right on.
Yes, the sunburst V is a Dean. It's freakin awesome. I'd wanted one for a long time and scored that one for a bargain on ebay from the US.
Here's another pic.

Awesome. Shades of Iron Maiden circa 1983 and Pantera.

Never seen a Strat with humbuckers before??!! They were all the rage in the '80s. Ever heard of Eddie Van Halen, or Dave Murray (IM) to name just a few.

Trivia: the humbucking pickup was invented in 1957 by Seth Lover at Gibson. Thus was born the PAF (patent applied for) and the Les Paul standard as we know it (before that Les Pauls had P90 single coils).

Here's mine. Very low budget though, nothing in the Dean or Les Paul league.

Dirtbag wrote:As for fender, well they're like the little wannabe guitar with a skirt on compared to a Gibson : )

wannabe eh? wannabe able to buy a great guitar for half the price, half the mud, half the weight and half the hipe?

buy a tele, coz that's what Led Zepplin I was recorded on . 😉

Oh, btw, have you seen Les Paul's latest guitar? there was barely any gibson left in it. and the pickups were special things he'd made at home. At the end of the day, even he left humbuckers behind.

Hey greasy, nice axe. As for Eddie Van Halens old Guitar, I kinda never thought of that seeing as it was an old butchered beast. I love that guitar, with it's cool paint and kramer neck. Good call.

Hey Pete, sorry mate, didn't mean to offend anyone mate, just stirring. Like I said earlier, I don't even own a Les Paul. As for a tele, I'd go there. If only I could do the karate kid thing at the end of crossroads with it. I can play that piece at the end, but not as fast as old Steve Vai.

Speaking of crossroads, and I see Bizarre is going to see Ry Cooder, does anyone know what the song is in crossroads that the karate kid plays when he first gets the yellow tele in the pawn shop? It's one of the coolest riffs I've ever heard but don't know what it's called. ????????

Bizarre wrote:he was 94

x 69 ?

Very sad, but he did have a pretty good innings, and I reckon he had some good times along the way.

A genius inventor and sound engineer, he virtually invented a lot of modern studio processes, like double tracking and stuff - great bloke.

Craig Torrens wrote:

Bizarre wrote:he was 94

x 69 ?

yeah.... he was 6486

chunks54 wrote:Very sad, but he did have a pretty good innings, and I reckon he had some good times along the way.

A genius inventor and sound engineer, he virtually invented a lot of modern studio processes, like double tracking and stuff - great bloke.

Agreed (that message got kinda lost for a bit).

Dirtbag: EVH's guitar was technically a proper strat, but essentially it was - melding Fender and Gibson in DIY fashion. 🥷

Just heard part of an interview with him from back in '93 the things that bloke did were brilliant, his first electric guitar was a standard guitar filled wiyh plaster and old cloths (to stop the feedback) the next was a section of rail track, I assume thats like our rail sleepers, but he had to put "wings" on it to make the audience accept it as a guitar. Fascinating stuff.

I had no idea that there even was a bloke called Les Paul! R.I.P dude! What an awesome looking and sounding guitar.

I myself have a Strat, Maton, Banjo and Fender Rhodes electric piano....

as a bass player i love my fender jag!
but my brother is a mad lover of gibson!! he had an epiphone black beauty and now a schecter blackjack! he loves the fat humbucker sound!! he was devo when he found out about les paul's passing, i was just amazed at the story about him getting his arm held in one place because of arthritis so he could still play! that's comitment!

Much respect. RIP Les Paul.

I have a 70's Les Paul Goldtop with the P90's.I also have a few Ibanez's,A Tele copy,a Strat copy, a Strat (squire),A Gretsch, AND WAIT 4 IT A VW GUITAR! Its a quirky thing that doesn't balance well, and the electric effects built in are more of a party thing than a sound you would chase.

Was a sad day indeed - the man was a legend.

Never really digged the style of the Les Paul, but loved the sound - so I did the next best thing and invested in a Vee. Only prob was that it was a little too ostentatious to actually gig with so I never really used it in anger.



(Gotta love the Pink velour and silk case lining 😀 )

Have to admit tho, being a huge Hendrix fan, I'm really more of a Strat man. I run a 1970's reissue Squier, which was basically a parts bin special using left over stock - so it's got the early style neck, pickups and hardware - probably the closest I will ever come to owning an original '50's strat, unless I win the lottery.



For the Strat lovers amongst you - check this out - a valuation on a '50's Stat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPu6IvgPwEk

Hi Mick, nice rig. Can't bag a Marshall too badly. I love your flying V. I'll swap you one of my guitars for it if you don't like it too much : ) It'll look great with my others.
How good is it that there are a heap of guitar freaks in here. It's good to have other things in common.
Here's my stack. I've had it since 1992 and have only had to change the valves once. Yay.

Not a guitar person myself but I thought you guys might like this picture of a guitar store I found.






Regards,

Matt.

That is awesome : )

Dirtbag wrote:Hi Mick, nice rig. Can't bag a Marshall too badly. I love your flying V. I'll swap you one of my guitars for it if you don't like it too much : ) It'll look great with my others.
How good is it that there are a heap of guitar freaks in here. It's good to have other things in common.
Here's my stack. I've had it since 1992 and have only had to change the valves once. Yay.

Think I might hold on to it - can't beat the warm tones of just a little overdrive + reverb though the Marshall with a little Wah - very 'Isle of Wight'

😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

I always fancied an angled top cab, but gave up gigging years ago and can't really justify it now (yeah yea - who needs to justify anything - lol). I figure that I'll start up another band when I retire, or at leass finish my restos - just play straight blues - maybe I'll treat myself then - plus the bus will need to be finished to gig with. I used to use my old splitty as the bands transport when I gigged bofore - could just about squeeze a 3 piece in there (with a couple of groupies 😂)

I have a heap of accoustics that I mostly play - the one I'm lusting for at the moment is one of these - a Donmo rustbucket - they are the 'ratlook' of the resonators. Effin awesome 😀



http://www.donmo.com/Guitarsite/Rustbuckets.html

You can quite often see the guy who builds these 'busking' in Adelaide - the''re called prawnhead. Great hillbilly blues style. He makes them out of old corrugated fence panels - I've got a heap of fencing to replace on my property too - would be a nice touch to get it made from my own fence.

Would look good next to my other one too.

😂

hey dirtbag hows the 79 dean V i have the MLF it kicks major ass what kinda metal you into
and after playing a mates les paul classic i have to admit they are sweet and this is sad news

Hey dethbug. I loooooove the Dean V. Such a beast. It was one of those guitars I'd wanted for so long and couldn't wipe the stupid smile off my face when I actually bought it. You're right about the Les Paul being a sweet thing to play, although I think I'm more of a Gibson Explorer man myself, even though I only have a couple of explorer copies as I am a bit of a tight ass and wont fork out for a real one : )
As for what I like to listen to and play - In Flames, Darkest Hour, old Metallica, Joe Satriani, Kataklysm, Cannibal Corpse etc. What about yourself?

yeah mine rips plays really well and the neck is great thinking about putting in new pick ups and a new trem system. im buying a gibson explorer off a mate soon hopefully a white one with symour duncans. i play and listen to. lamb of god, fear factory, vai, satriani, strapping young lad, soilwork, machine head, dimmu borgir list is endless nice to see another metal head around

R.I.P Les Paul.
Dirtbag.I was gunna say u must be a metal guy!
nice bunch of axes there mate.
I had a Les Paul and regrettably sold it.As a lefty,getting hold of decent guitars can be a pain.
Ive now got an original lefty Strat that I'm probably selling soon as I'm mainly an acoustic player.
Got a Martin DC16gte acoustic,Cole Clark 12 string i had bulit and have just scored a 32 year old original lefty Gibson Hummingbird.
HANGING to pick that up!

I just had a look on Jacksons Rare Guitars website.Theres a 57 Gold top Les paul on there for $295,000!!!!! Yikes

And a '59 sunburst for what I worked out to be $750,000! Triple yikes!! Nice instruments to be sure but that's just rediculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Martin and Gibson acoustics are possibly the best. I have a low end Taylor (better than Matons I tink) to go with the strats and copies pictured above and a Danelectro re-issue I picked up for half-price ish.

T-34 wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPu6IvgPwEk

Nice guitar, but early serial numbers were not sequential. David Gilmour has strat 0001 which is not the 1st ever made. And those plates could easily be swapped. But you gotta love a sunburst maple neck strat - the only colour scheme really.

Oh and I also use an unreliable Ampeg Super Jet (and too many pedals) but hoping to upgrade to an AC-15 before too long.

hey wannavee whats the cole clark like i want to get a nice acuostic but i dont wanna get a maton im not a fan i was thinking cole clark or maybe breedlove

like cole clark fat lady's over matons... and martins, strangely.

My Cole Clark 12 is awsome.Very nice warm sound to it.Plugged in,i believe it cant be beaten.Ive played Martin and Gibson 12strings and they are nowhere near the CC for tone.Ive had lots of comments about how nice it sounds.
My 6 string Fat Lady1 CC was a bit 'thin' sounding on its own,yet plugged into a PA it is awsome.I did have to replace 3 preamps though.Having a guitar die onstage is a bit annoying! Thats why i sold it (before i smashed it!)
Ive heard no probs with FL2's and 3's as they fixed the teething probs with earlier pick ups etc.The higher priced CC's are very good apparently.
CC's are made by a luthier that used to work for Maton.A lot of people say they are very similar.A good guitar,it just depends what your budget is and what you wanna do with it.
I only got my Martin coz i got a redundancy package a few years back so i went nuts buying stuff (9 guitars included!) and having a mate that imports them helps on price.
Only my opinion,but if you just want an acoustic for home etc,save ya dollars and buy a Martin or a Gibson.If you want it for live work and will plug in,try a Cole Clark or later Maton.
I will only use my Martin if it goes into a PA.They have average preamps and sound shit through an acoustic amp.Not real happy about that seeing as they are a $3500 acoustic! Think theyre a bit cheaper now though.
Taylors are a great acoustic too.It just depends on the individual really.You hafta try loads of guitars back to back in the same enviroment.
My mate thats a muso and plays every night had a high end CC and he sold that to buy a Takamine for around $3500.I played one and hated it! Again,individual styles and abilities comes into play there.
I personally dont listen to people who say 'Oh,Jack Johnson plays a CC coz theyre a fantastic guitar' etc.Yes,they ARE a nice sounding guitar,but he gets them for nothing!
Dave Gilmour,Pink Floyd.Now he is someone i would take notice of.He plays Martins,Taylors,Gibsons and numerous other brands (though his favourite is a very old Martin that he wrote 'Wish you were here' with and is probably worth more than a Ferrari! )
I fortunately have a Martin coz it suits me and my style of playing and they are very easy to play and sound good,same as my CC 12 string.
I dont think you'd be disappointed with a CC FL2 or 3,just watch out for the FL1's,they can have preamp probs.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Lee

wow! that guitar store pic is amazing!

thanks Wannavee thats awesome ill have to go start trying out some

No probs deth.
I play mainly Pearl Jam,Nirvana,Soundgarden,Alice in chains,Metallica,Foo Fighters,even some acoustic Rage (Killing in the name of.Funny played acoustically) and whatever covers we hafta do,so i play a wide variety of music,mainly tuned down half a step.
Though grunge is probably my favourite stuff to play (Thats pretty obvious ay?)
I read a recent test of a Cole Clark 'anzac' or something like that from a USA 'Acoustic' mag.
They said for a plugged in performance,the CC is very hard to beat against ANY acoustic guitar.
Thats a HUGE rap for an Aussie made guitar from that mag,as they test them all and are very critical.
As i mentioned before,unplugged,a CC just hasnt got the silky warmth of tone that i like.
I heard an old Guild were good,so i bought one off ebay.Man that was a dumb idea!
Go to a store that has loads of good brands and play them all.Not shop to shop,as they all have a different acoustic enviroment,like some have floorboards,some have carpet.It does make a dififference.
I played my Martin at a different shop to where i bought it and sounded very different.
All the above is just my opinion.Now get out there fella!
Cheers
Lee