# Les Paul dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Shift518 Off Topic\ **Created:** [August 13, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095 "2009-08-13T10:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xreaction](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/xreaction/32/6409_2.png) [@xreaction](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/xreaction)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/1 "2009-08-13T10:40:10Z")
For those who appreciate music [quote=“CNN”"] Les Paul, whose innovations with the electric guitar and studio technology made him one of the most important figures in recorded music, has died, according to a statement from his publicists. Paul was 94. Les Paul, whose innovations helped give rise to modern pop music, played guitar into his 90s.Paul died in White Plains, New York, from complications of severe pneumonia, according to the statement. Paul was a guitar and electronics mastermind whose creations – such as multitrack recording, tape delay and the solid-body guitar that bears his name, the Gibson Les Paul – helped give rise to modern popular music, including rock ‘n’ roll. No slouch on the guitar himself, he continued playing at clubs into his 90s despite being hampered by arthritis. “If you only have two fingers [to work with], you have to think, how will you play that chord?” he told [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) in a 2002 phone interview. “So you think of how to replace that chord with several notes, and it gives the illusion of sounding like a chord.” “The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptional human being today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “He would walk into a room and put a smile on anyone’s face. His musical charm was extraordinary and his techniques unmatched anywhere in the world.” Lester William Polfuss was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915. Even as a child he showed an aptitude for tinkering, taking apart electric appliances to see what made them tick. “I had to build it, make it and perfect it,” [Paul](http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Les_Paul) said in 2002. He was nicknamed the “Wizard of Waukesha.” In the 1930s and '40s, he played with the bandleader Fred Waring and several big band singers, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the Andrews Sisters, as well as with his own Les Paul Trio. In the early 1950s, he had a handful of huge hits with his then-wife, Mary Ford, such as “How High the Moon” and “Vaya Con Dios.” His guitar style, heavily influenced by jazzman Django Reinhardt, featured lightning-quick runs and double-time rhythms. In 1948, after being involved in a severe car accident, he asked the doctor to set his arm permanently in a guitar-playing position. Paul also credited Crosby for teaching him about timing, phrasing and preparation. [Crosby](http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Bing_Crosby) “didn’t say it, he did it – one time only. Unless he blew the lyrics, he did one take.” Paul never stopped tinkering with electronics, and after Crosby gave him an early audiotape recorder, Paul went to work changing it. It eventually led to multitrack recording; on Paul and Ford’s hits, he plays many of the guitar parts, and Ford harmonizes with herself. Multitrack recording is now the industry standard. [/quote] R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![JRubino](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jrubino/32/6285_2.png) [@JRubino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JRubino)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:23am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/2 "2009-08-13T11:23:44Z")
Those guitars are going to go through the roof now! ---
**Author:** ![xreaction](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/xreaction/32/6409_2.png) [@xreaction](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/xreaction)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/3 "2009-08-13T12:12:49Z")
Thats exactly why im keeping mine:) ---
**Author:** ![Sady](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/sady/32/6340_2.png) [@Sady](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Sady)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/4 "2009-08-13T13:55:54Z")
Just as long as his guitars dont turn to crap. Would suck to see the company go down hill after the founder dies off. R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![GD3Skier](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/gd3skier/32/6400_2.png) [@GD3Skier](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/GD3Skier)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/5 "2009-08-13T15:07:20Z")
Makes me wish my guitar wasn’t a Les Paul copy lol. ---
**Author:** ![Mk4\_30R\_Ban](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mk4_30r_ban/32/6347_2.png) [@Mk4\_30R\_Ban](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Mk4_30R_Ban)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/6 "2009-08-13T15:08:35Z")
> [@New iPod?!?!?!?!](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/new-ipod/21623/3): > > Those guitars are going to go through the roof now! yup. les paul signature guitars will be worth some coin. ---
**Author:** ![Mafdark](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/mafdark/32/6322_2.png) [@Mafdark](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Mafdark)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/7 "2009-08-13T15:32:21Z")
damn, that sucks. Very few people know he was Steve Millers godfather too. ---
**Author:** ![MclarenGP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MclarenGP](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MclarenGP)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/8 "2009-08-13T16:56:51Z")
wow props to you guys for appreciating Les Paul. Music definately would have taken a different path without him. RIP ---
**Author:** ![88slowmarro](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/88slowmarro/32/6339_2.png) [@88slowmarro](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/88slowmarro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/9 "2009-08-13T17:51:50Z")
holy shit ,what a loss a man that was def about the music and didnt give a fuck about anything but .he will be missed ---
**Author:** ![Singh1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba8739/32.png) [@Singh1](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Singh1)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/10 "2009-08-13T17:59:03Z")
he lived a good life ! 94 ! i will never make it even close to that ! congrats on the long life ---
**Author:** ![Jammer](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jammer/32/6349_2.png) [@Jammer](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jammer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/11 "2009-08-13T22:00:45Z")
Damn ---
**Author:** ![cazwrx187](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/cazwrx187/32/6388_2.png) [@cazwrx187](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/cazwrx187)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/12 "2009-08-13T23:58:24Z")
damn ---
**Author:** ![Jimmerz](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jimmerz/32/6370_2.png) [@Jimmerz](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jimmerz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/13 "2009-08-16T14:44:54Z")
R.I.P and thanks, my axe collection is actually going to be worth somthing. ---
**Author:** ![MclarenGP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@MclarenGP](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MclarenGP)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/14 "2009-08-16T22:35:10Z")
doubt it, unless you have something pre '70. anything newer isnt worth much. ask me how i know. ---
**Author:** ![JRubino](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jrubino/32/6285_2.png) [@JRubino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JRubino)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/les-paul-dies/246095/15 "2009-08-17T04:59:40Z")
> [@Sady"](#): > > Just as long as his guitars dont turn to crap. Would suck to see the company go down hill after the founder dies off. > > R.I.P. Gibson has been mass producing his guitar for years even after he got out of it.