Hero Salute: Les Paul

Last week the musical world said farewell to a hero: Lester William Polsfuss, better known as Les Paul. He passed away last Thursday at the ripe age of 94.

His life was both long and full, and his achievements have had tremendous impact on the way we make music today, including the invention of the solid-body electric guitar, the technique of overdubbing, and the use of audio effects.

He wasn’t just an inventor – he was a virtuoso musician, sold millions of records, was a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and played guitar well into his 90s – despite problems with arthritis.

At AudioJungle we celebrate what he accomplished during his rich life, and salute a hero.

Guitar Playing

Les started playing music at the age of eight, when he picked up the harmonica before moving on to guitar. Around that time he tried to play both instruments at once, and invented a harmonica holder that he wore around the neck. It seems that music and inventing both came to him early in life.

By the age of thirteen he was a semi-pro country singer and musician, and dropped out of school at seventeen to turn pro. He started to move towards jazz music.

In his thirties he shattered his elbow in a car accident. The doctors couldn’t repair the damage – his arm would be fixed in one place. Les instructed them to set his elbow at a 90 degree angle so he could continue to play guitar.

He played with many famous musicians, including Django Reinhardt, Jim and Chet Atkins, Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole. He rose to further fame in the 1950s as he performed with his wife, Mary Ford. They sold millions of records, and had their own television show, “The Les Paul and Mary Ford Show”.

Les’ playing style included licks, trills, chord sequences, fretting techniques and timing. This, combined with the effects he used on his guitar, gave him a unique sound which paved the way to the future. At the age of 90 he released five albums, including his first rock album, and won two Grammys.

If you’re not familiar with Les’ playing, here are two videos: one from his younger days where he performs with Mary Ford (and talks about multi-track recording), and the other from later in life. Both are inspiring!

Solid-Body Electric Guitar

Les wasn’t satisfied with the sounds he was getting out the hollow-body guitars available in the 1930s. He longed for a better guitar, and the inventor inside him did something about it.

He started experimenting, and eventually came up with “The Log” – a length of lumber with a bridge, guitar neck, and pickup. It wasn’t pretty, but he knew he was on the right track with the solid body. He improved the guitar’s appearance by attaching an Ephiphone body.

This solid piece of lumber solved two problems: it stopped feedback normally caused by resonance of the guitar body, and sustain was improved. Eventually Gibson showed interest and the Gibson Les Paul was born. As part of his contract with Gibson, Les promised never to be seen playing in public, or be photographed, with anything other than a Gibson guitar.

Multi-track Recording

Les played and recorded with a lot of big names, but there was one person he couldn’t record with: himself. Les wanted to record himself playing, then play along with himself and record the result. That sounds easy today, but not back then. To start with, he recorded himself onto an acetate disc (a record), then played along with the result, which he recorded onto another disc. But he wasn’t satisfied with that.

His friend Bing Crosby helped fund the research, and in the late 1940s Les started experimenting in his garage with new equipment and techniques, including recording multiple times on tape (a single track) by disabling the erase function.

Ultimately, he developed “Sel-Sync” (Selective Synchronous), which involved recording eight separate tracks on one-inch tape. Ampex engineered and built the first machine in 1955, which Les bought himself for the price of $10,000 (which was worth a lot more back then than it is today).

If you enjoy reading about the history of mult-track recording, have a look at Mix Magazine’s article “Ampex Sel-Sync, 1955“, written to celebrate Les Paul’s ninetieth birthday.

Effects

Les also experimented with recording techniques in his garage, including close-miking, and recording at half and double speed. He realised that acoustic sounds could be enhanced and modified electrically.

The New York Times look back on this time in their tribute article: “There he experimented with recording techniques, using them to create not realistic replicas of a performance but electronically enhanced fabrications. Toying with his mother’s old Victrola had shown him that changing the speed of a recording could alter both pitch and timbre. He could record at half-speed and replay the results at normal speed, creating the illusion of superhuman agility. He altered instrumental textures through microphone positioning and reverberation. Technology and studio effects, he realized, were instruments themselves.”

It is interesting that Les Paul’s inventions weren’t created in a cold science laboratory, but as a result of trying to improve his own music, and overcome the limitations of the technology of his day.

Further Reading

You can learn more about Les Paul from the following websites:

• Les Paul Online
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Les Paul
• Wikipedia: Les Paul
• New York Time: Les Paul, Guitar Inventor, Dies at 94