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1930s photo of Les Paul (right) and fellow musician Sunny Joe Wolverton with a selection of instruments that includes Paul's two famed L5 guitars. Photo courtesy of the Waukesha County Museum.

Les Paul’s first pro guitar on display in hometown museum

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
1930s photo of Les Paul (right) and fellow musician Sunny Joe Wolverton with a selection of instruments that includes Paul's two famed L5 guitars. Photo courtesy of the Waukesha County Museum.
1930s photo of Les Paul (right) and fellow musician Sunny Joe Wolverton with a selection of instruments that includes Paul’s two famed L5 guitars. Photo courtesy of the Waukesha County Museum.

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – Les Paul’s first professional guitar is on display at the Waukesha County Museum.

The museum used donations to acquire the 1927 Gibson L-5 Sunburst Cremona at a California auction in June.

The acoustic guitar is one of two L-5s Les Paul purchased at Gibson’s Kalamazoo, Mich., factory in 1933. Paul gave the guitar to a friend who later returned it when he died.

A Waukesha native, Paul created the first solid-body electric guitar and developed technology and recording techniques that set the standard in the industry like tape echo, multitrack recordings and overdubs. Paul died in 2009 at age 94.

The guitar is on display through the end of the year.

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AP-WF-08-26-12 1602GMT

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

1930s photo of Les Paul (right) and fellow musician Sunny Joe Wolverton with a selection of instruments that includes Paul's two famed L5 guitars. Photo courtesy of the Waukesha County Museum.
1930s photo of Les Paul (right) and fellow musician Sunny Joe Wolverton with a selection of instruments that includes Paul’s two famed L5 guitars. Photo courtesy of the Waukesha County Museum.