He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which “made the sound of rock and roll possible”. He is credited with many recording innovations, including overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording.
A solid-body instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electric pickup system to directly receive the vibrations of the strings.
Paul’s innovative guitar, “The Log”, built in 1939, was one of the first solid-body electric guitars. Adolph Rickenbacker had marketed a solid-body guitar in the 1930s and Leo Fender also independently created his own in the late 1940s. Though Paul approached the Gibson Guitar Corporation with his idea of a solid body electric guitar, they showed no interest until Fender produced theirs. Gibson designed a guitar incorporating Paul’s suggestions in the early fifties and presented it to him to try. He was impressed enough to sign a contract for what became the “Les Paul” model, originally only in a “gold top” version (official name: “Les Paul Standard”)
The original Gibson Les Paul guitar design regained popularity when Eric Clapton began playing the instrument a few years later.
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