Long before the Gibson Guitar Corporation put his name on a solid-body electric guitar, Les Paul was a legendary innovator in music, beating Bob Dylan to the neck-worn harmonica and designing and recording on a prototype multi-track recording system. But a block of wood known as 'The Log' is what made him so much more than an excellent jazz/country guitarist.


The Log was a 4x4 block of wood on which Paul strung strings and embedded a magnetic-coil pickup, building one of the first Spanish-style electric guitars. Ted McCarty at Gibson had to be convinced to build a solid-body guitar, and only consented when Leo Fender's Telecasters hit the shelves, almost a decade after The Log had been in use. It was McCarty, then, who got the patent for a guitar that is known as the Les Paul Standard. Paul, according to Gibson, only contributed the tailpiece design and the colour preferences to the guitar. And yet, only the most ardent fan would even remember Ted McCarty.

So, after the brief history lesson, we get to the important business - that of paying tribute. It's not surprising that some of the legendary licks in guitar music have come by way of various Gibson Les Paul models. Here are three of my favourites:


Random Trivia: Eric Clapton recorded the lead part on a Les Paul, the only guest to ever play on a recording by The Beatles.



And one of the most recognized songs ever, by the man himself:

4 comments

1. HyperActiveX on 1:04 PM, August 20, 2009

   Hey Sumant - great post and a cool tribute to a great guitar player from another guitar player. And that's a compliment from yet another guitar player :)
   
   - H
   
   P.S. We should get together and jam sometime. Its been ... like ... ages! Are you in the neighbourhood much these days?
   
   P.P.S. Liked the new look for your blog.

    
2. Anand Ramachandran's Evil Twin on 10:55 PM, August 21, 2009

   This has got to be one of the best-written blogs - right up there with Prem and Narendra Shenoy. Awesome stuff.

    
3. Karen on 8:12 PM, October 18, 2009

   I work at Narconon drug rehab and have very little time to play my guitar. What are some simple songs that I can learn to get the basics down?

    
4. sumit on 12:13 PM, February 03, 2012

   yeah, he is very good in guitar. I want to play on guitar but I have not much knowledge about this how to play a good music. I really surprise,when I see someone is playing on guitar.
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