Editing Les Paul (section)

==Early life==
Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss<ref>Farber, Jim (August 13, 2009). [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/08/14/2009-08-14_electric_guitar_hero_les_paul_dead_at_94_career_spanned_from_hitmaker_to_musical.html "Electric Guitar Hero Les Paul Dead at 94: Hit-Maker, Musical Designer, Pioneer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818173937/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/08/14/2009-08-14_electric_guitar_hero_les_paul_dead_at_94_career_spanned_from_hitmaker_to_musical.html |date=August 18, 2009 }}. ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]''. Accessed August 24, 2009.</ref> in [[Waukesha, Wisconsin|Waukesha]], Wisconsin, to George<ref name="Les Paul Foundation2"/> and Evelyn (Stutz) Polsfuss, both of German ancestry.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lawrence |first=Robb |title=The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy, 1915–1963 |url={{GBurl|NqIgLrXaA6QC|page=2|dq=Germany}} |location=New York |publisher=Hal Leonard Books |year=2008 |pages=2–3 |isbn=978-0-634-04861-6}}</ref> Paul's mother was related to the founders of [[Milwaukee]]'s [[Valentin Blatz Brewing Company]], and to the makers of [[Stutz Motor Company|Stutz]] automobiles.<ref name="bookref1">{{cite book|last=Masino|first=Susan|author2=Paul, Les |title=Famous Wisconsin Musicians|publisher=Badger Books|year=2003|location=Oregon, Wisconsin|pages=9–11|isbn=1878569880}}</ref> His parents divorced when he was a child.<ref>Henry, David (August 13, 2009). [https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aD_WpRVvFQwk "Les Paul, Pioneer of Electric Guitar, Inventor, Dies at 94"]. ''[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]''. Accessed August 24, 2009.</ref> His mother simplified their Prussian family name first to ''Polfuss'', then to ''Polfus'', although Les Paul never legally [[name change|changed his name]]. Before taking the stage name ''Les Paul'', he performed as ''Red Hot Red''<ref name=thirteen>[http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/release.php?get=2539 American Masters (2007 Season) – "Les Paul: Chasing Sound"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318174344/http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/release.php?get=2539 |date=March 18, 2008 }} – thirteen WNET New York</ref> and ''Rhubarb Red''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://classicjazzguitar.com/articles/article.jsp?article=25 |title=Articles |publisher=Classic Jazz Guitar |access-date=March 27, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708163155/http://classicjazzguitar.com/articles/article.jsp?article=25 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 }}</ref>

At the age of eight, Paul began playing the harmonica. After learning the piano, he switched to the banjo and guitar. During this time, Paul invented a neck-worn harmonica holder that allowed hands-free switching from one side of a double-sided harmonica to the other. His design is still widely manufactured today.<ref>(August 14, 2009). [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/arts/music/14paul.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301204416/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/arts/music/14paul.html|date=March 1, 2017}} ''[[The New York Times]]'' (website registration required).</ref> By age thirteen, Paul was performing semi-professionally as a [[country music|country-music]] singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. While playing at Waukesha area drive-ins and [[roadhouse (facility)#USA and Canada|roadhouses]], Paul made his first experiments in attaching electric amplification directly to instruments (as opposed to playing them near a microphone) and in modifying the instruments themselves. Wanting to make his acoustic guitar heard by more people at local venues, he wired a [[phonograph]] needle to his guitar and connected it to a radio speaker.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfNYAAAAIBAJ&pg=1140,3217614&dq=grammy+hall+of+fame+jo+stafford&hl=en|title=Cinemax to honor 'Edison' of music|date=October 22, 2009|author=Ladd, Patty|newspaper=The Vindicator|access-date=May 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904124944/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CfNYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=doUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1140,3217614&dq=grammy+hall+of+fame+jo+stafford&hl=en|archive-date=September 4, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> As a teen Paul experimented with [[Envelope (music)|sustain]] effects, and built a guitar-like instrument using a 2-foot piece of rail from a nearby train line as the body.<ref name="Les Paul Foundation3">{{cite web|title=Les Paul: Inventor and Performer|url=http://www.lespaulfoundation.org/blog/les-paul-inventor-and-performer/|work=Les Paul Foundation website|publisher=Les Paul Foundation|access-date=February 4, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140204014322/http://www.lespaulfoundation.org/blog/les-paul-inventor-and-performer/|archive-date=February 4, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> At age seventeen, Paul played with Rube Tronson's Texas Cowboys, and soon after that he dropped out of high school to team up with Sunny Joe Wolverton's Radio Band in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]], Missouri, who played regularly on [[KMOX]].