The Gibson Sunburst Electric Guitar Invented by Les Paul

Posted by reallynicearticle on December 27th, 2020

The boy was born Lester William Polsfuss June 9th 1915 just outside Milwaukee, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, America. Later he became the man known as Les Paul. This became his stage name after his hillbilly nicknames like 'Rhubarb Red' and 'Red Hot Red". Initially he played the banjo. He later mastered the guitar and invented a neck worn device to hold his harmonica in front of his mouth to enable him to play it, with his hands free to play the guitar at the same time. This device was later popularized by Bob Dylan and Neil Young and is still produced today. guitar to midi converter 

Les Paul was more than a musician, he was a songwriter, inventor and a pioneer. He invented the worlds' most popular and successful solid body Sunburst electric guitar, the Gibson Les Paul. He invented many recording mechanics and methods; 'overdubbing', multi-track recording, phasing effects and tape delay. It was these technical inventions that made the birth of Rock 'n' Roll possible.

At thirteen, he was a semi professional musician playing guitar and harmonica in a country based group. Soon after he would join the Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys and then Wolverton's Radio Band based in St. Louis, Missouri, on KMOX. In 1934 Les Paul moved to Chicago and performed mainly sessions on the radio. In 1936 he released his first two studio based records. On one he was credited as an blues accompanist for performer Georgia White and the other recording bore his earlier nickname, 'Rhubarb Red'. Soon after, he adopted his famous name and infamous jazz playing guitar style. By 1937 Les Paul formed a trio with percussionist and bass player, Ernie Darius Newton and Chet Atkins older half brother, guitarist and singer Jim Atkins. In 1939 the trio arrived in New York and began a residency gig on Fred Waring's radio show in Pennsylvania.

During the 1940's Les Paul continued his development and experimentation with the electric guitar. One such experiment resulted in near electrocution, the effects of it took over two years for him to recover from. He re-located to Hollywood with a new trio of musicians and continued to produce music for the radio. Disillusioned with acoustic electric guitars, paul began experimenting to produce a new way of making the sound of the guitar electric and amplified. He started with a basic lump of 4 x 4 20lb lumber wood, attached a bridge, a Gibson neck, a Larson fingerboard and two pickups. He called his guitar invention the 'Log'. The Log was one of the very first solid body electric guitars ever to be made. To make the visual appearance off the Log more guitar like, he added the body sides of a semi-acoustic Epiphone and in place of its middle, he fixed the Log down the central column.

This was a ground breaking solution to the main problems Les Paul had been facing; Sustain - the power of the strings was energized through the body of the guitar and Feedback - was now controlled by the semi-acoustic body of the electric guitar. Paul ceaselessly continued to adjust and improve the technical specifications of his Log electric guitar and used the instrument to record with even after the production of his Gibson Les Paul Sunburst.

Throughout the 1940's Les Paul performed and recorded with many well known artists like; Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong and The Andrews Sisters. As well as performing with him, Bing Crosby also financed many of his recording experiments. At the beginning of 1948 Paul had a near fatal car accident that shattered his right arm and elbow. Surgeons insisted that his arm would have to be re-built in a set position, which took a year and a half to complete. The guitarist demanded that his arm should be set at a ninety degree angle. An angle that would still allow him to continue to play the guitar.