Les Paul dead at 92

CNN reports that renowned trend-setting guitarist Les Paul has died at age 92.

Paul invented the whole technique of overdubbing one's own performance, something which today is standard practice but was unheard (and unthought) of back in the 1950s.

Paul built his own guitar, using telephone parts for a pickup and a wood post as the body. He called it "the log," and he says that when he first played it in a New York City night club, the audience didn't know what to think. "You come in with a four-by-four, people look at you like you're freaked out," he says. Paul went home, cut the body off a Spanish-style guitar and glued it to his log -- "and it went over great."