What an incredible morning! I knew that all of Les Paul’s recording equipment was on display inside the United Recording studio in Hollywood. But I didn’t know how to wrangle an invitation.
My friend Michael Graves, the audio restoration expert, recently mentioned that he knew Tom Camuso, who runs the Les Paul Recording Studio exhibit, and today the three of us met in the studio for a feast for the eyes and ears.
I had seen several of these items before in museums, but the Les Paul Foundation has brought Les’s original equipment out of the museums and back into operation. It is pretty mind blowing to see up close and persona his original lathe from 1947, the Ampex “Octopus” 8-track tape recorder from 1957, the custom-built Rein Narma mixing console, and so on.
Tom Camuso is doing a great job, bringing awareness to Les’s music and historical achievements through a series of educational classes, museum tours, and publicity events getting rock stars to record through Les’s original gear.
I tried not to foam at the mouth too much, but this was some exciting stuff, as you might imagine!
Big thanks to Michael Graves for the invitation, and to Tom Camuso for his time in showing us the place today.
Also amazing: The new Les Paul exhibit is housed within the United Recording building, one of the most legendary recording studios in Los Angeles. Bill Putnam built the studio, and the very earliest products made by Universal Audio, like the legendary LA-2A and 1176 compressors, were made upstairs in a small workshop. History is all around, you just have to know where to look..
See more many more photos at Deke’s original Facebook post!
