Design Paul

Les paul didnt design the Les Paul?

Les Paul was a great guitarist and he designed many guitars, but he didnt design the Les Paul, so why was THAT one named after him?

I was fortunate to meet Mr. Paul at the Empire Music Conference in Rochester, New York, during the mid 1990's. He was a key-note speaker at the conference. After his speach, Mr. Paul was an extremely nice man and was very liberal with his time in personal conversations with many of us in attendence.

Paul, Les, 1916–, American guitarist and inventor, b. Waukesha, Wis., as Lester William Polfus. He began playing country music at 14, later switched to jazz, and started his own trio in 1936. Considered one of the finest jazz guitarists, he is famous for his amazing versatility. Dissatisfied with the sound of available instruments, Paul invented (1941) a solid-body electric guitar. Marketed (1951) by Gibson, it was extremely important in the development of rock music and was played by many of its greatest stars. Several versions of his prized guitars are still manufactured. Paul also created techniques in his home studio that allowed him to overdub numerous tracks, producing the distinctive sound of Les Paul and Mary Ford (his wife) in such 1950s hits as “Vaya Con Dios” and “How High the Moon.” The multitrack recording originated by Paul has since been widely used to make popular recordings. He also invented the eight-track tape recorder and made important innovations in reverb and other areas of studio methodology. Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

I also found this info.

By 1952 Les Paul was not only the most popular guitar player in America, he was also a leading innovator in guitar and electronics design. He had been experimenting with electric guitars for as long as there had been electric guitars. He had once mounted a guitar string on a railroad tie to confirm his belief that a solidbody guitar would maximize sustain, and he had incorporated a mini-railroad rail-a 4"x4" piece of pine-into the body of a homemade solidbody electric guitar he nicknamed "TheLog."
Les had approached Gibson in the '40s with his ideas for a solidbody electric guitar, but Gibson was already leading the industry with archtop electric guitars. Furthermore, Gibson had always been very conservative when it came to aligning with artists. In 50 years, only two players had their names on Gibson models: Nick Lucas, an early guitar star and crooner whose "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" was the biggest record of 1929, and Roy Smeck, a multi-instrumentalist so talented he was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Strings."

In the early '50s, when the solidbody guitar first became commercially viable, Gibson designed an instrument that would change the image of the solidbody electric from a simple plank of wood to an elegant, stylish piece of art. Such a guitar would be a radical move for a traditional company like Gibson, but Gibson had been founded on the radical mandolin and guitar designs of Orville Gibson back in the 1890s. This new model would have the same carved-top contours that had set Orville's instruments apart from all others.

With the new model almost ready for market, Gibson approached Les Paul, the obvious choice to help launch it. Les was already intimately familiar with the unique characteristics of a solidbody electric guitar. And he was at the top of his career. His 1948 hit, "Brazil," featured six guitar parts, all played by Les in a virtuoso demonstration that would eventually earn him recognition as the father of multi-track recording. When he combined his guitar and electronic talents with the vocals of his wife Mary Ford, the result was gold-two million-selling records in 1951, "Mockin' Bird Hill" and "How High the Moon."

The Les Paul Model, as it was originally called, has changed little since its debut in 1952. Except for an updated bridge and humbucking pickups, the Les Paul Standard of today is still the same guitar. The Les Paul has been the driving force behind many changes in popular music. It powered the blues rock sound of the late '60s and the southern rock of the late '70s. By the '90s the Les Paul was providing signature sounds for every genre of rock, from alternative to metal.

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