Pace on Earth

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

It was a noteworthy and newsworthy week in guitar history. Monday marked the 100 years since Leo Fender was born. And, sadly, on Thursday Les Paul died at the age 94. The two of them were synonomous with the electric guitar and are major reasons it is the centerpiece instrument of the most popular music of the last 50 years.

Fender was an inventor and, beyond giving the world the Stratocaster, basically invented the solid body electric guitar. Paul, around the same time, was creating his own version of a solid body which was the basis of what became the other classic rock guitar, the Gibson Les Paul. Beyond that he was sound and effects innovator and a very accomplished player in his own right.

The list of guitars of the Guitar Gods would certainly list these two guitars as 1 and 2. In fact the list for the Strat and the Les Paul (all Gibson incl) are a who's who of rock legends.

For a good clip of a Les Paul in action check this out:


For a great example of a Stratocaster in action and a fitting memorial to these two icons, here is another icon:
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Classic. Thanks fellas.

Pace out.

Labels: Flashback Friday

posted by Vitamin S @ 4:03 p.m.