ever notice that everybody in w'burg (and in rock scene in general) plays either a les paul, an sg, a hollowbody, or some variation therof?

Wow. I had heard that his arthritis made it so that he couldn't play any more. Glad to see that I'm mistaken!

this is so awesome

Are you kidding me, Telecasters are all the rage now.

i took my dad to see him about 10 years back...the food at iridium was pretty horrible as expected and i was bored to tears.

that said, nice to see him still around.

"Are you kidding me, Telecasters are all the rage now"

radiohead have now put gibsons into their guitar rotation. fenders are sadly goin out of style

nobody plays Les Pauls in W-burg! They are the epitome of Dad-rock lameness, and are far less ergonomic than most fender models. The only rad Gibson guitar is the Firebird!

That being said, Les Paul's contributions to the world of modern music production are huge.

"nobody plays Les Pauls in W-burg!"
That's not the best reason to play a Les Paul, but a good one nonetheless.

"They are the epitome of Dad-rock lameness, and are far less ergonomic than most fender models. The only rad Gibson guitar is the Firebird!"
So, in other words you only listen to shitty music made yesterday by twigs with haircuts, who say they're "from" Brooklyn. And you have no interest in ANY music made with electric guitars since their invention. And you wrote "rad" and still have friends.

"Les Paul's contributions to the world of modern music production are huge."
Are you just that insightful or does Wikipedia know you're not crediting them?

The Gibson Les Paul fails both stylistically and ergonomically. A solid-body electric guitar was just not meant to be shaped like a hollowbody acoustic guitar. They are so uncomfortable to play, especially if you have any sort of gut. You can't beat a strat! Even the cheapest shittiest Squire strat is easier to play than a 2K Les Paul. They also lack any tonal brightness or twang.

Les is 93 years old.

Wait just a minute: Les Paul INVENTED the electric guitar... period! (along with multitrack recording, reverb, reverse echo, etc).

And if you knuckleheads are actually saying a Strat sounds better than a Les Paul, you are not only dumb and tone deaf but clueless. Have fun listening to John Mayer! Unless you're Franz Ferdinand or in a funk band, you have no use for a Strat. When did Clapton start to suck? When he switched from Gibson to Fender! Jimi Hendrix only played a Strat because the shitty wood burned faster onstage with lighter fluid. Eddie Van Halen? Humbucker.

The bottom line: FUCK STRATS, DEMOCRATS and GUN CONTROL LAWS.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wild boar to shoot.

My girlfriend took me to see Les for my birthday this year. The place was unbearably awful, they sat us behind a column, so we had to watch the performance on a tv (seriously), his playing is adequate at best, and the show was short.

Don't waste your time.

Unlike the bulky and awkward Les Paul, the strat was a design that could be easier adapted for more modern, involved playing styles--Richie Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen all used modified strats. While their music tastes are somewhat lacking--such adaptability and flexibility is a surefire sign of a superior guitar design. Sorry Les--your guitar sucks!

But the SG is A-OK. In fact, the SG was designed to modernize the hopeless awkward Les Paul...

Tough critic B. I don't think people are debating his shows are as good as, say, a 73 year old's. It's one of those things where you go and you know you're going to get ripped off.

And one more thing: I know some of you are thinking 'Didn't The Nuge play a Paul Reed Smith back when he was playing in that awesome band Damn Yankees?' and I'll say back 'yes, but that shit was free.'

Every guitar I ever bought with my own sweat? Gibson.

So put that in your hipster dope pipes and smoke it.

In the future, everyone plays steinbergers... (which is owned by Gibson btw).

Ted Nugent is a faggot.

Fuck you and your 'Renegade', Shaw! :: shakes fist ::

Flying V FTW, bitches!

i fucked all of your mothers.

oh man, that last picture --Les Paul w/ 8 year old Yuto. Would have loved to see that. I have a video of him shredding Crazy Train from a NY show recently on my foodblog. Don't know if personal links are frowned upon but here:
http://www.mightysweet.com/mesohungry/?p=7

Funny, this older man I made friends with at that Yuto show was telling me how I need to see Les Paul now before it's too late.

Yeah, Les is a legend. But it's very expensive. I went earlier this year and I wish I hadn't.

Eat a dick, mister christian.

Jack, as you recall, I wanted more 'Coming' in this video but YOU obviously wanted more 'Age' based on the copious close-ups of your saggy assed face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Q4lSsctoA

What the hell are you losers fighting about? Go the fuck away.

i saw les about a year ago and it was a great show. yes the food sucked and it was expensive. get there early and you'll get a better seat. i respect the guy for showing up every week.

i also play a les paul only because it's the best sounding guitar i've ever played. i don't play live and if i did i might have to look for an alternative because the les paul is heavy and it may be awkward for live playing.

Les Paul? How relevant could this dude be? I bet he doesn't even know about MGMT or V Girls yet.

If you're gonna hate on the 'Paul you MUST admit the Gibson RD is the coolest Gibson, if not electric guitar, ever. Look it up, it has a MOOG board inside.

the RD is pretty unbeatable.

I prefer keytars.

Why do you guys care so much and why do you guys have such high expectations for a 93-year-old man? What a bunch of whiners! Let the man play his guitar. If you don't like it, go to your dad's condo and drink fresca

Les Paul ruled back in the day and so did his guitar. They are overpriced now and heavy but if you're into Creed, go rock one. Other than that, go with a Jazzmaster or Jaguar or Tele, then a strat.

Ha! Fresca!

What was the Coca-Cola product that was the non-diet counterpart of Fresca? I miss that.

yo was that really ted nugent

Too heavy? Are you haters 10 year old girls? It's still an awesome looking and sounding guitar in 2008.

I have an American Deluxe Tele natural blonde and a Les Paul Studio in alpine white and I play the LP more. It is warm, expressive, throaty and lush. The Tele is also crystal clear, twangy and sweet both fine guitars but for sheer earthy expression and soul the LP wins easily..the Tele cannot handle edgy hard blues-rock jams as well but is better for country and coubtry rock ..as for Les Paul himself check out the album Guitar Monsters he did with Chet Atkins it is superb and Les wins the duels with Chet easily..his playing is coherent, extended and melodious and yet jazzy..the fact he is still playing passably at 93 is amazing..in his prime he was awesome..Danny Gatton imitated him shamelessly as his idol..

Les is the greatest living exponent of the electric guitar. To say the les paul is the finest guitar is foolish. The classic rock sound is to me comprised of a gibson , a fender ,another fender for the bass , A hammond b3 [or electronic facsimile] and a set of ludwig drums. rogers and sonor are quite acceptable.BUT IT IS ALL OPTIONAL SO TAKE YOUR PICK [sorry] AND PLAY.
It is like saying one colour is better than another. All the other guitars also have their place. Gretsch and rickenbacker are both great instruments. So is a raven.and what about amps? fender ,marshall ,mesa boogie,ampeg.
Who wants to be limited to one ''color of sound''? for what its worth I own a les paul custom ,modified by mike kinal and a fender pre bass made in indonesia. they go through an gibson amplifier [never heard of them?They made a few in the '50's] and a ampeg b15 respectively.one guitar is expensive and one is cheap. They both sound great.
rds post about the tonal differences is quite accurate in my experience. I love the old tele sound. same as I love any good axe.

The Nuge has a point. Les Paul invented the solid body guitar, multitrack recording, and echo. Those achievements alone are worthy of incredibly high praise. I also think his playing on those old Les & Mary records is phenomenal. Maybe we can all try playing Tele customs w/ humbuckers... something to end this senseless bickering. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to smoke my hippy-dippy dope pipe and pet my cat.

Cool to see Les! Still kickin it

FOS

http://warped.battleofthebands.com/backstage/artist.php?artist_id=41836