At thirteen, he took the tone arm from his father's phonograph, jammed the heavy needle into the top of his five-dollar guitar, and filled it with Plaster of Paris to quell feedback. The guitar didn't survive, but his idea worked, essentially creating the first solid-body electric guitar. Les Paul went on to alter guitars in his quest to create the perfect sound, making one breakthrough after another along the way. Nonstop experiments in his homemade...