[67blackcherry]

Mr Lester William Polsfuss

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/..._obit_les_paul

Modern music will forever owe you a huge debt of gratitude; multitrack recording and the Les Paul guitar not to mention your many other innovations.

If you've got a Les Paul, please post it up!

[Supertacks]

Don't have one to post but currently in the market for a Goldtop.

RIP Les. Your are right up there with best of the best guitar players in the world.

[Brian Baker]

Just saw the news when I opened up my yahoo email a few minutes ago. What a storied life he lived. Sadly, many people will not even know who he was. Especially casual music lovers that were it not for him inventing a machine that allowed for recorded tracks to be overdubbed, we wouldn't have the music we have today. Imagine just one song that would not exist were it not for Les...Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

RIP Les, you will be missed but your accomplishments will live on.

On a side note, I've read things about how the Gibson SG came to be, and it had something to do with Les getting dovorced from Mary Ford and it being created so she could not get the his royalties from Gibson. Any truth to this?

[Blackwood Goat]

I wasn't aware of his passing. He had been actively playing New York night spots recently.

[Mr. P-Body]

I remember when I was about 5 years old, my dad went out to buy a new guitar. He came home with a "Les Paul" and there was a major uproar, both from Mom, wo wasn't happy with the price, and the neighbor that also "picked", and how envious he was. He (Pop) went on to explain to me about Les Paul and Mary Ford, and how they were among the "pioneers" (I believe he used that word) in modern music.

I tried to learn to play, but discovered I'm not nearly co-ordinated enough, nor am I "tone deaf", so I KNEW I wasn't any good.. . I learned to play the carburetor instead...(:- My little sister now owns Pop's Les Paul. Sorry to hear he passed. Maybe now Pop can actually MEET him!

Jim

[Brian Baker]

Jim, those early Paul's fetch big money. Like $40-$50K sometimes. That later Paul's from the late 50's (particularly the flametops) pull more money in nice shape.

[67blackcherry]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

Just saw the news when I opened up my yahoo email a few minutes ago. What a storied life he lived. Sadly, many people will not even know who he was. Especially casual music lovers that were it not for him inventing a machine that allowed for recorded tracks to be overdubbed, we wouldn't have the music we have today. Imagine just one song that would not exist were it not for Les...Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

RIP Les, you will be missed but your accomplishments will live on.

On a side note, I've read things about how the Gibson SG came to be, and it had something to do with Les getting dovorced from Mary Ford and it being created so she could not get the his royalties from Gibson. Any truth to this?

Think of all the multi-tracking that Sir George Martin did with The Beatles! That list is endless.

I know the SG was Gibson's baby, Les hated it. The early ones were called Les Pauls, but after '62 I believe Les and Gibson parted ways, and Gibson called that the SG for "Solidbody Guitar". Gibson halted production of "proper" Les Pauls until 1968; they reintroduced the Black Beauty Custom. P-body, what year is your dad's Lester? Not to sound callous, but that could be worth some serious coin.

BTW - what's a dovorce?

Back in 1976, I was 13 and had a picture out of Hit Parader or Creem, it was a shot of Ace Frehley playing a tobacco sunburst Les Paul. That, and those shots of Joe Perry playing his '59 tobacco sunburst on the inside of "Live Bootleg" led me to my tobacco sunburst Les Paul. On a side note, Joe sold that guitar during their "dark" years, Slash acquired it when G'nR hit big, and subsequently gave the guitar back to Joe a few years ago on his birthday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iGXP_UBog4

Check out the arpeggios at 1:20; Yngwie eat your heart out!

[Brian Baker]

And Ace screwed it up with smoke bombs out of the center pickup (LOL). Well, once. After he melted the electronics out of it, he never did that again and relied instead on professional pyrotechnics.

[Ron H]

RIP Les. I was fortunate to be able to play a 67 sunburst for a couple months. What a sweet sustain.
Don't forget he dug out the ground in his basement and created the first source for reverb!
Incredible talent and musical vision!

[Ryche400]

RIP, He was a huge influence on thousands of musicians... Even though im not a pro, I always looked up to him for all his achievments in the music industry. I still have my Les Paul copy my dad bought me back in 82. We could never afford a real one.. still cant.... lol. He will be greatly missed.

[codyyy]

Heard about this on some other forums. RIP Les. I don't have a Les Paul, I have a '68 SG Custom. I never really liked the Les Paul guitars, I mean I admire how well they sound and play but they are bricks. It started growing on me a bit lately.
Back in high school a friend bought a Les Paul from some old guy who bought the guitar new in the 50s. It was a Black Beauty. The guy played it, put it in the case, stuck it in the closet and forgot about it. My friend picked it up for $500 apparently. Man that thing was good.
My dad's friend has a '70 Les Paul as well.

[66bonne]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

Just saw the news when I opened up my yahoo email a few minutes ago. What a storied life he lived. Sadly, many people will not even know who he was. Especially casual music lovers that were it not for him inventing a machine that allowed for recorded tracks to be overdubbed, we wouldn't have the music we have today. Imagine just one song that would not exist were it not for Les...Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

RIP Les, you will be missed but your accomplishments will live on.

On a side note, I've read things about how the Gibson SG came to be, and it had something to do with Les getting dovorced from Mary Ford and it being created so she could not get the his royalties from Gibson. Any truth to this?

Brian - you are absolutely right that today's generation of amatuer guitar players are unaware of Les Paul's contributions, influence and legacy.

Jim

[Super Duty D]

My condolences for a great man. Unbelievable what he accomplished. A true legend
during his time and for many years after. Now he is leaving us, passing at what, 91 or 92 years of greatness?. Either way, he got to see a lot of change.

I raise my glass to the man. Tink Tink. Thank you sir

Per the photo request from 67bc, Les Paul's......
My 57 Historic Gold top -main axe
58 Historic Plain top - play 1 x/ year ....closet queen.
78 Tobacco sunburst. Hot but heavy!

That's it for the Paul's.....

[PITTSBURGH 64]

One of my favorite Les Paul Mary Ford tunes... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta_DOcsH4gU

[67blackcherry]

Nice Lesters, Super Duty D! Here's a shot of mine



A cheap Special; I saw it at Sam Ash, it was used and marked at $350.00; not bad for an American made Gibson! I told the wife about it, she said "why didn't you get it?" I picked it up the next day on my lunch break!

My '88 Standard, humbucker sized P-90s. I've had her since 1990, done a ton of gigs and recordings, she's an extension of my hands! I prefer P-90s; roll the volume down and they clean up real nice, plus for drop D tuning you still get nice note articulation.

My '58 Standard Flame Top Historic, picked her up in '99. Traded a real '57 Les Paul Special for it; those Specials are now worth $12-15k. Oh well! The picture doesn't really do the flame justice; beautiful guitar, sounds great.

My '54 Custom Black Beauty Historic. The Customs don't have a maple top and the tone was a bit dark; none of the spank and sparkle without that maple cap! That front pickup was wicked, especially with the tone rolled all the way off. I sold that to help fund my GTO.

My '57 Special Historic. Yeah, I've got a thing for P-90s! She sounded great, I sold that to help fund my GTO.

I've never really been a Marshall guy, I prefer Fenders but nothing sounds like a Les Paul cranked through a Marshall. Then again, that Flame Top Historic through my '66 Deluxe Reverb cranked to 7 or 8...

Thanks again, Mr Polsfuss. RIP

[codyyy]

Nice guitars. I've been thinking of picking up a Les Paul Special body for a custom project. My '68 SG Custom needs a paintjob, however I have enough hardware to put together another guitar. Problem is, I need something with a flat top or small arch at most, because I have the trapezoid tailpiece.

[Brewster]

Killer axes guys and that bye bye blues sure sums it up nicely.
He'll be missed and never replaced. One of my all time favorites and enjoy listening to any of his work. What an artist!
rip fellow cheeser,
Brewster

[bird72]

If not for Les, wouldn't have my favorite:

[Brian Baker]

I've always admired Paul's for their beauty and tone, but I must confess I have never owned one, nor will I likely ever. I've never liked they way they felt in my hands, the necks always felt like baseball bats compared to Strat's and Start' style guitars. Additionally, they are difficult to play in the upper registers due to the upper bout of the body and the neck heel. Lastly, have you ever stood on stage with one around your neck for any length of time? A condition that I call "sling palsy" eventually sets in.

When I was a senior in high school (1986), my then girlfriends stepfather had a 1953 Les Paul Gold Top with the trapeze bridge and P-90's. He hadn't had it out of his case in years...decades maybe. He let me take it home and give it some TLC, which it sorely needed. The fingerboard was filthy and dried out. Cleaned it up and douched it with lemon oil and it was as good as new. Body paint had the typical laquer cracking that they all get. I had to replace the pickup selector switch but after douching the pots with contact cleaner they perked up and the pickups still worked fine. Tuners were sloppy with age, but they weren't that great to start with in 1953.

The band I was in at the time was scheduled to play at our schools annual talent show. The afternoon before the show, we set up on stage in the auditorium to do a sound check, to which I played the Gold Top for the two song sound check. It wasn't as pretty as my one year old Carvin DC200-stereo (which was a double cutaway "Les Paul" style body with the same pickup/controls arrangement...only with a Kahler trem' bridge and a bookmatched body made from curly maple, which was clearcoated).....but it got way more attention from the other guitar heads that showed up for the soundcheck. One of the songs we did was Aerosmith's version of "Come Together" that they did on the Live Bootleg album...everyone loved it. I had it singing through a Fender Concert amp with a myriad of stomp pedals, none of which I can remember now save for the really old Morley wah/volume pedal I had (which I still have) that you had to plug into an electrical outlet. That was a memorable experience because of that Gold Top.

I gave it back to her stepdad and after the school year was up, we broke up and I never saw it again. I didn't care for its trapeze bridge as if you were heavy handed with your picking hand, it would move around on you and alter the tuning (like leaning too hard on a Floyd Rose - LOL). Ironically, my old girlfriend now resides just 3 blocks from me in her Grandmothers old house...she's married now with 3 kids. I wonder if her Stepdad is still alive and if he still has that '53 Gold Top?

[frbird400]

goldtop deluxe