Another Addition To The Fold

I bought an Asian made 5 string bass couple of weeks ago.The name on the headstock is Lawson. This was the first time I had seen the name Lawson before and I was a bit hesitant about buying it but the price was right. I've played a lot of not too familiar Asian made guitars over the years and I have to say this one rates with the best I've played. The guitar is very well made and has good quality electronics although the pickups are slightly noisy. Out of the box the set up was a bit off but a little bridge adjustment got things to my liking. All in all this guitar is a joy to play.

Les Paul Dead At 94

By Todd Leopold
CNN

(CNN) -- Les Paul, whose innovations with the electric guitar and studio technology made him one of the most important figures in recorded music, has died, according to a statement from his publicists. Paul was 94.
Les Paul, whose innovations helped give rise to modern pop music, played guitar into his 90s.

Les Paul, whose innovations helped give rise to modern pop music, played guitar into his 90s.

Paul died in White Plains, New York, from complications of severe pneumonia, according to the statement.

Paul was a guitar and electronics mastermind whose creations -- such as multitrack recording, tape delay and the solid-body guitar that bears his name, the Gibson Les Paul -- helped give rise to modern popular music, including rock 'n' roll. No slouch on the guitar himself, he continued playing at clubs into his 90s despite being hampered by arthritis.

"If you only have two fingers [to work with], you have to think, how will you play that chord?" he told CNN.com in a 2002 phone interview. "So you think of how to replace that chord with several notes, and it gives the illusion of sounding like a chord."

"The world has lost a truly innovative and exceptional human being today. I cannot imagine life without Les Paul," said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. "He would walk into a room and put a smile on anyone's face. His musical charm was extraordinary and his techniques unmatched anywhere in the world."

Lester William Polfuss was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915. Even as a child he showed an aptitude for tinkering, taking apart electric appliances to see what made them tick.

"I had to build it, make it and perfect it," Paul said in 2002. He was nicknamed the "Wizard of Waukesha."

In the 1930s and '40s, he played with the bandleader Fred Waring and several big band singers, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and the Andrews Sisters, as well as with his own Les Paul Trio. In the early 1950s, he had a handful of huge hits with his then-wife, Mary Ford, such as "How High the Moon" and "Vaya Con Dios."

His guitar style, heavily influenced by jazzman Django Reinhardt, featured lightning-quick runs and double-time rhythms. In 1948, after being involved in a severe car accident, he asked the doctor to set his arm permanently in a guitar-playing position.

Paul also credited Crosby for teaching him about timing, phrasing and preparation.

Crosby "didn't say it, he did it -- one time only. Unless he blew the lyrics, he did one take."

Paul never stopped tinkering with electronics, and after Crosby gave him an early audiotape recorder, Paul went to work changing it. It eventually led to multitrack recording; on Paul and Ford's hits, he plays many of the guitar parts, and Ford harmonizes with herself. Multitrack recording is now the industry standard.

But Paul likely will be best remembered for the Gibson Les Paul, a variation on the solid-body guitar he built in the early 1940s -- "The Log" -- and offered to the guitar company.

"For 10 years, I was a laugh," he told CNN in an interview. "[But] kept pounding at them and pounding at them saying hey, here's where it's at. Here's where tomorrow, this is it. You can drown out anybody with it. And you can make all these different sounds that you can't do with a regular guitar."

Gibson, spurred by rival Fender, finally took Paul up on his offer and introduced the model in 1952. It has since become the go-to guitar for such performers as Eric Clapton.

Paul is enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Inventors Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is survived by three sons, a daughter, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Until recently he had a standing gig at New York's Iridium Jazz Club, where he would play with a who's-who of famed musicians.

He admired the places guitarists and engineers took his inventions, but he said there was nothing to replace good, old-fashioned elbow grease and soul.

"I learned a long time ago that one note can go a long way if it's the right one," he said in 2002, "and it will probably whip the guy with 20 notes.

New Addition Part VI 1996 Squire P-Bass

I thought it was about time I showed off the P-Bass I've been working on the last few weeks. This project really turned out great. This girl rocks!

New Addition Part V

The refurbishing of the P-Bass is complete. I picked up a set of Rotosound strings the other day at a local music shop. I don't particularly like Rotosound strings but it was all they had in stock and I was really anxious to hear how all of my work had turned out. Well I have to say I'm very pleased with the results. The playability is sweet and the sound is better then I expected.

Now after all this, do I want to take it apart again and defret the neck or leave things as they are? I don't know. I may later on and I may not. I may even put the bass up for sale and used those proceeds to help purchase a new fretless bass. A friend has offered me $150 for the P. Right now I have about $75 invested in parts. I don't know. For now I'm just going to add the bass to my collection.

I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of working on the guitar and searching for the right parts and putting things together. I could see this turning into a very interesting hobby. As a matter of fact I've already been looking for another project guitar. Yes honey, I did say another guitar.

New Addition Part IV

Well the P-Bass is all back together. The last items I had been waiting for came today so I retired to the shop after dinner tonight and began putting things in their proper place. The bass now has a new bridge, pickguard, pups, pots and input jack. All the electronics came from a 2007 American Standard Precision bass I found for sale on ebay that a guy was parting out. All totaled I have about $75 in the guitar.


You maybe wondering how the bass sounds. I know I am but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I usually keep at least two sets of D'Addario strings on hand in my shop but I guess I forgot to restock. The saga continues.

Today's Quote

"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life". ~Ludwig van Beethoven

August 2009

The first day of August 2009. Can this year fly by any faster?