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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
 Posted - 10/18/2008 : 18:52:56
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Hi all
i was watching a flim last night on BBC 4(some of the UK forumites might of seen it) about the great Les Paul and his contribution to music not only the guitar but overdubbing,reverb,multi tracking etc.........plus his guitar playing especially the stuff with chet atkins... ..at the start in his studio they show a quick glimpse of his gear and you see a boss TU-2 in use.... later at a gig he does on a monday evening in new york it looks like he has a few pedals in front of him and they look like they are boss..... i taped it so i will look again in slow motion to see if i can get a better look....one of them was bright green so posssibly a phaser...?.... |
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2008 : 19:48:10
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Yes, I saw that. I wasn't able to see what pedals he had but I loved the rooms he had full of gear from his whole career.
BBC1 has run a series on the history of guitar and I've missed that completely so far. Will have to look it up on iPlayer. |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 15:41:39
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Yes Franz, let us know what he uses.
Someone mentioned that particual programme to me as well.
And yes Bossarea, I also missed almost anything from that particular series, but as time goes on a lot of these programmes do have parts in them that have appeared somewhere else.
I did manage to listen to the programme about Howlin Wolf, but I seem to remember having heard a lot of that info before on another programme.
To change the subject: I have also discovered this with magazines, like guitarmagazines publishing reviews which are more or less straight copies from the site from the manufacturer. Pitty really as it takes away the personal element of productreviews.
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 17:37:17
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Hi Bossarea,Visserman and all
some of the stuff including this programme is repeated again tonight on BBC4 if anyone is interested....to touch on bossarea's comment about all his gear,while they were making the film,people from the smithsonian instiution called in to look at including his multi track and sound on sound machine into their exhibits..... talk about a living legend...... |
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pedals 4 pv
Platinum Member
Canada
1351 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 20:53:32
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Les Paul invented guitar effects!
From wiki;
His many recording innovations include overdubbing, delay effects such as "sound on sound" and tape delay, phasing effects and multitrack recording. In 1947, Capitol Records released a recording that had begun as an experiment in Paul's garage, entitled "Lover (When You're Near Me)", which featured Paul playing eight different parts on electric guitar, some of them recorded at half-speed, hence "double-fast" when played back at normal speed for the master. ("Brazil", similarly recorded, was the B-side.) This was the first time that multi-tracking had been used in a recording. These recordings were made not with magnetic tape, but with wax disks. Paul would record a track onto a disk, then record himself playing another part with the first. He built the multi-track recording with overlaid tracks, rather than parallel ones as he did later. There is no record of how few "takes" were needed before he was satisfied with one layer and moved onto the next.
Paul even built his own wax-cutter assembly, based on auto parts. He favored the flywheel from a Cadillac for its weight and flatness. Even in these early days, he used the wax disk setup to record parts at different speeds and with delay, resulting in his signature sound with echoes and birdsong-like guitar riffs. When he later began using magnetic tape, the major change was that he could take his recording rig on tour with him, even making episodes for his 15-minute radio show in his hotel room.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 21:13:56
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I also understand his entire rig is low-impedance - from pickups to amps. He wants a shrill "ringing tone" from his LP (funny to think of a Les Paul as a signature guitar.. imagine people talk about the petrucci that way one day!), whereas most people want the thick, dark rock tone.
I haven't seen the BBC doc you guys get to see, but I've seen an old instructional/interview video.. the guy was/is a maniac on guitar. People with the means are flocking to see his shows on Monday nights in New York.. I know a few who have seen him and one who got his ~2000 Standard autographed by Les himself. Nice piece to have.. |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
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starr36
Platinum Member
Canada
1172 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2008 : 23:54:45
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| for those of you who have time ... you may want to youtube dailymotion etc search for Les Paul video clips, you may find some interview etc. ... |
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starr36
Platinum Member
Canada
1172 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2008 : 21:42:44
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quote:
Originally posted by FRANZONI
Hi all
i was watching a flim last night on BBC 4(some of the UK forumites might of seen it) about the great Les Paul and his contribution to music not only the guitar but overdubbing,reverb,multi tracking etc.........plus his guitar playing especially the stuff with chet atkins.....at the start in his studio they show a quick glimpse of his gear and you see a boss TU-2 in use.... later at a gig he does on a monday evening in new york it looks like he has a few pedals in front of him and they look like they are boss..... i taped it so i will look again in slow motion to see if i can get a better look....one of them was bright green so posssibly a phaser...?....
y'all know, that Les Paul, Leo Fender, were unabashed geniuses and relentless in their experimenting. Really codependents! HA!
Their contributions are such that we wouldn't have modern music the way it is without them.
There are a couple of very large thorough books on Electic guitars by Thunder Bay Press out of California ... somme 500 pages full colour ... goto your local library .. i'm sure if you are in a bigger city they will have them ... cover's every guitar ever made by all manufacturers etc, very very interesting reading and photos and documented permutations of serial number series, finishes, model year issue/discontinued etc.
Sounds like the perfect referal for all the bossheads here.
now i'm going to back to work, my headaches are gone. |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 20:50:18
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Thunder Bay Press? F* those Californians! they stole Ontario and NOW Thunder Bay (my hometown)!?! 
In terms of books.. in Nashville I was given a History of Gibson book which is nice (A4ish and full colour). Nicer is Beauty of the Burst, which has great pictures of over 100 58-60 Les Paul Sunbursts. It includes headstock, side, and back views of most guitars. It reminds me a little of the BOSS book, as the text is translated from Japanese.
Seeing so many originals side by side helps you appreciate a nice bookmatched figured maple top! Few early LPs were well matched, compared to what is easily produced by many companies today.
We seem to have an abundance of nice maple, but we've sadly overfarmed Mahogany. Few guitars have the beautiful deep textural grain of those early LPs.. 
</off topic>
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jaymzHal
Silver Member
United Kingdom
297 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 22:19:15
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I watched this program today! I didn't even realise it aired, I only know about the electric guitar history shows on bbc1. He is using a dd-something in his live rig. I thought the show was excellent, especially the info about the multitracking, but it really glossed over the les paul guitar at the end! It would've been nice if there was a little more on it, the evolution, the sg naming business and such.
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2008 : 02:23:53
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| anybody got a link to this vid |
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guirat
Silver Member
United Kingdom
186 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2008 : 20:38:44
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I saw a thread in another forum which had a pic of his current pedalboard, it was all Boss as I recall. A couple of delays, a reverb, I forget the others.
I still have on tape a 70's TV programme about Les Paul (I think it's also on Youtube). Near the end he is shown playing on stage using his 'Les Paulverizer', a pedal sized device attached to his guitar which allowed him to layer many guitar tracks on top of each other in real-time. Like an early version of a sampler, but multitrack. Did this invention ever hit the market, and is there even a modern digital equivalent? (my own delay pedals are pretty basic and I don't know what modern sampling/delay pedals are capable of). |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2008 : 23:18:01
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Danny Gatton used a box on his guitar called i think a 'magic dingus' which he designed and built with his father,which controlled a lot of stuff similar to the great Les,but he stopped using it after a lot of critics said he was all about effects.... another overlooked genius and very underrated guitar player who sadly is no longer with us....i thing i notice about a lot of great players is that they also like to delve into the inner workings of their gear,eric johnson is another who has rebuilt amps and effects...even clapton made blackie out of three different original 50's strats..... |
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silvertone6120
Gold Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2008 : 23:28:18
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| Les Paul built the Les Paulverizer in 1944...it's the only one like it. He never marketed it; after all, he gives away his secrets he's outa work! |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2008 : 00:14:22
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| Truly an innovator way ahead of his time is Les Paul,they should put his stuff on display in the smithsonian as they said they might in the programme...even his guitar uses low impedence pickups which he designed...genius.....i'm actually suprised that Boss/Roland haven't approached him about an endorsement as he uses their stuff live.....imagine having one of the innovators and legends of the electric guitar endorsing your gear............ |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 11/09/2008 00:19:32 |
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Les Paul and boss pedals.........
