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With its chunky body and glistening curves, the Gibson Les Paul stands as one of the most iconic guitars in the world, played by the likes of Jimmy Page, Slash and The Edge. The man who gave his name to the instrument is also a bit of a legend. Lester William Polsfuss started playing semi-professionally at drive-ins aged 13 and invented the neck-worn harmonica holder so that he could play guitar and mouth harp at the same time. He took the stage name Les Paul, dropped out of high school and joined a radio band in St. Louis before moving to Chicago and releasing records as his hillbilly alter-ego Rhubarb Red. Paul made his name playing alongside Nat King Cole at the Jazz at Philharmonic concert in 1944 and formed a double act with his future wife Mary Ford, scoring hits with How High The Moon, Bye Bye Blues and The World Is Waiting For Sunrise; and they went on to star in their own TV show. Paul's experiments in building his own electric instruments started in the 1940s, and after electrocution and a near fatal car crash, his design was finally launched in 1952 as the classic Gibson Les Paul. He went on to popularise overdubbing techniques, delay effects, multi-track recording and phasing and is one of the key inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, marked by a permanent exhibition to his achievements. He died in 2009 after suffering pneumonia.
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