Where did the Les Paul come from?

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Why: Tim Kasher of The Good Life plays a Gibson Les Paul. The Good Life song "Album of the Year" is pretty good.

Answer: Les Paul (b. Lester Polfuss) is a jazz guitarist born in 1915. Dissatisfied with the acoustic guitars sold in the mid-1930s, he experimented with designs for an electric model on his own. He eventually created "The Log," which was a length of common 4" x 4" lumber with bridge, guitar neck, and pickup attached. For appearance, he attached the body of an Epiphone hollow-body guitar, sawed lengthwise with The Log in the middle. This solved his two main problems: feedback, as the acoustic body no longer resonated with the amplified sound, and sustain, as the energy of the strings was not dissipated in generating sound through the guitar body.

Gibson Guitar Corporation designed a guitar incorporating Paul's suggestions in the early 50s. He was impressed enough to sign a contract for what became the "Les Paul" model (originally only in a "gold top" version), and agreed to never again be seen playing in public, or be photographed, with anything other than a Gibson guitar.

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: With wife Mary Ford, Paul went on to release 16 top-10 hits. Ford was known for harmonizing with herself, like in their 1951 version of "How High the Moon."