Celebrating Les Paul: The Story of a Jersey Cop’s Unlikely Friendship with a Legend
As a young cop in the early '80s, Jim Wysocki had never even heard of the musical innovator, but a phone call at the station one winter night changed his life forever.
When Les Paul gave Jim this vintage Gibson L7, it lay broken in a box in Les’ cellar. Only after having Gibson restore it did Jim find out the L7 had been one of Paul’s earliest electric-guitar test instruments.
Jim Wysocki is a retired Mahwah, New Jersey, police officer and longtime friend of the late guitar legend, inventor, and musical innovator Les Paul. Their friendship began when Jim was just out of high school and grew into a relationship that lasted more than 29 years. Over the course of that friendship, Les presented Jim with a handful of vintage guitars, artifacts, and musical relics. Jim now displays many of these priceless mementos at a museum in Mahwah, and also shares his collection through the occasional Gibson bus tour—allowing anyone who is interested to touch, hold, and play Les’ gear.
Born Lester Polsfuss in 1915, Les Paul spent his life searching for the perfect sound, leading him to become one of the pioneers of the solidbody electric guitar and the multitrack tape recorder, as well as of rock ’n’ roll in general. A tinkerer and a firm believer in DIY, Les would make it if it wasn’t out there and he needed it—that’s just the kind of person he was. Les Paul died in 2009. He would have been 100 this year.
Jim was gracious enough to share with us some pictures of Les’ legendary gear, as well as some wonderful, heartwarming stories of their relationship. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
Rain, Snow, and a Danelectro
“Put it under your bed for a rainy day.” That’s what Les Paul told Jim when he gave him his first guitar in 1981, back when Jim was just a kid. He’d hear the phrase quite a few more times over the years, often accompanied by another guitar. Back then, Jim wasn’t “a music guy.” In fact, he hadn’t even heard of Les Paul prior to their first encounter.
“I was just out of high school, working a desk job at the police department,” Jim recalls. One winter night during a snowstorm, Jim got a call at the station. “The voice on the other end said, ‘Howdy, this is Les Paul’ … I didn’t know Les Paul from the janitor down the hall!” Les was looking for help finding someone to plow his driveway so he could leave home early the next morning. Jim told him, “If it can wait till midnight, another hour, I’ll swing over and do your driveway.”
Thinking nothing of it, Jim plowed the driveway and thought nothing more of it. About a week later, Jim got a call from Arlene Palmer, Les’ girlfriend, saying Les would like to see him.
Jim made the trip to Les’ house, where Arlene greeted him and led him to the kitchen. He recalls seeing “a little old man sitting behind the counter with a guitar. He looked up and said, ‘Howdy you must be Jim.’”
Les—not “Mr. Paul” as Jim quickly learned—greeted him with a smile, a handshake (using his left hand), and a thank-you. He wanted to offer something as payment. Jim insisted it wasn’t necessary, but Les was not one to take no for an answer. He went behind the counter and picked up a few cassette tapes. “This is my music and I want you to listen to it.” He asked Jim—who still had no clue who he was dealing with—“Do you play guitar?”
When Jim answered that he didn’t, Les decided to fix the problem: He handed him a thin, odd-shaped guitar with a little silver tube across its soundhole, then gave him a receipt with three chords—E, A, and D—scribbled on the back. He then demonstrated how to play the chords and told Jim to come back in a week.
Before Jim left, Les gave him one other gift, a bottle of Krug champagne whose back label read, “Especially selected by British Airways.” On the front, Les had written in gold marker, “To my pal Jim, from Les Paul.”Les’ only request was that Jim save it for a special day.
When Jim asked about the bottle, Les’ answer was the first hint that he wasn’t dealing with just any elderly gentleman. “A bunch of years ago I got a phone call from the airline,” Jim remembers Les explaining. “They wanted me to go on a plane ride. They said everyone was going to go—Eric, Jeff, Paul.”
Perplexed, Jim asked, “Who?”
“You know—Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Paul McCartney.”
Needless to say, that got Jim’s attention. On his way home he stopped at the library, opened a few encyclopedias, and was shocked to see pictures of the man he’d just met.
When he went back the following week, the first thing Les said was, “Jimmy, did you learn those chords?” Jim bashed out the chords fast as he could, and Les said, “Good—[but] too fast. Slow down. Everything’s too fast.” He then took the guitar, went behind the counter, and turned his back on Jim, apparently busy with something.
While he waited for Les to finish what he was doing, Jim said, “I read about you—everything about you is Gibson. You designed their guitars back in the ’30s and ’40s, you were signed by them to endorse their guitars—so what’s with this Danny Electro guitar?”
“It’s pronounced ‘Dan-electro,’ Les corrected him. “Nathaniel Daniels, the owner of Danelectro, gave it to me as a present. It was a prototype, and I want to give it to you now … Put it under your bed for a rainy day.” When Jim said he couldn’t accept it, Les turned around, marker in hand, “It’s too late—because I already got your name on it.”
Watch an interview with Jim Wysocki:
It’s Not “Shit”—It’s Stuff
Les Paul was so famous that people were always giving him things—gifts, trinkets, gadgets. His house was full of them. Boxes, guitars, speakers, electronics, and all sorts of things were literally everywhere. “Three-hundred-sixty-five days a year he’d get something in the mail from somebody around the world,” says Jim, “and he would not throw it away. One day I asked him, ‘Hey, what are you doing with all this shit?’”
“It’s not shit,” Les replied. “It’s stuff, Jim. It’s stuff.”
Over time, Jim helped Les manage the build up of gifts in order to keep the house habitable. “One of the most interesting things I ever came across—I guess it was late in the ’80s—was an old, broken guitar sitting in a Seagram’s Seven box in a corner of Les’ basement.”
Les had called Jim and another friend over late one night to give him a hand fixing the furnace. As they were finishing up, Les asked Jim to bring the box over. “I told him it was junk,” remembers Jim. “But he said, ‘No, no. Bring it over.’” Jim retrieved the box and opened it. There was a dead mouse inside. “This right here,” said Les of the old Gibson archtop, “this breaks my heart. Do me a favor, take this guitar and do the right thing—put it under your bed for a rainy day when you fix it.”
It wasn’t until after Les had passed away that the proverbial “rainy day” finally arrived and Jim shipped the guitar to Gibson to have it restored. A year later the guitar was ready.
“I flew down to pick it up, and when they presented it to me I was expecting some brand-new guitar,” he recalls, “but here was this guitar that was rustic and old. It still had holes in the body—from bugs, as far as I could tell!”
The Gibson employees laughed at how appalled Jim looked. He clearly didn’t know how special the instrument was. “Turns out,” says Jim of the circa-1936 instrument, “it was one of Les Paul’s first attempts at an electric guitar. What I thought were bug holes actually turned out to be where he took a record-player needle and jammed it in the body.”
Jim took the guitar to vintage-guitar expert George Gruhn in Nashville to have it appraised and was laughed at yet again. He recalls George telling him, “You’ve got to be kidding me—I can’t even think about putting a price on this!”
Les’ Shocking Developments (Literally) As Jim understands it, Les’ interest in electronics started at a very early age. He says the guitar legend told him he was just five years old when he saw his brother Ralph flip a light switch and immediately wanted to know how and why the light turned on. “Back then you didn’t have breakers and you didn’t have safeguards on electrical lines,” says Jim. “As a result, Les was shocked many times—but he learned to respect it.”
Electricity apparently almost killed Les three times. The last incident occurred at his studio in 1941 when he was practicing with his bass player. With his guitar in one hand, Les reached into an audio stack and inadvertently touched a live wire.
“He fell to the ground and, at first, the bass player thought he was fooling around—because Les was a joker,” says Jim, “but when he noticed Les’ eyes start to flutter he realized something was really wrong and turned off the circuit.”
Les was so badly burned that the muscles were separated from the tendons in his right arm. The injury forced him to take a year off from playing, and during that time he found unusual new ways to study guitar. It was during that period that Les invented two of the world’s earliest solidbody electric-guitar prototypes, which are now known as “the Clunker” and “the Log.”
An Agreement Among Friends
One night in 2006 Jim received a phone call from Les asking if he and another friend who often helped around the house would come over. It wasn’t out of character for Les to call late at night, but it was unusual for Les to answer the door. Usually it was Arlene.
Les guided them through different rooms, pointing at various things and shaking his head. When they wound up in his guitar room, Les asked, “What do you think?” But Jim wasn’t sure what he was getting at and merely replied, “I don’t know.” Les told them to follow him downstairs, where they went out onto the patio and sat on a couch.
“I got a lot of pressure,” Jim remembers Les confiding. “A lot of people want a lot of my things, but I don’t want to give things to people that are just going to take them and go sell them for a yacht. So what are we going to do with this stuff?”
The other friend interrupted, “What do you mean, ‘we’?”
“You two have been a part of this with me for a long time. I need help. What are we going to do with all of it?”
Jim remembers the look on Les’ face—he was stressed. Genuinely worried. He and the other friend turned to Les and came up with a plan. “How about this deal: Everything you gave us over the course of 20, 25 years, we’re going to make sure people get to see, touch, and play after you pass away.”
Les reportedly looked at them, took his glasses off, smiled, and said, “That’s a deal—let’s go have a drink.”
Today, Jim is keeping his word on that agreement. “That’s why we travel around and we let people play his things,” he explains. “Some people think we’re nuts for letting just anyone touch these million-dollar guitars, but like Les always said, ‘It’s only a piece of wood. Gibson can fix it.’”For more information:
American Music Supply
Click here for more videos from American Musical Supply
Click here for more videos of Les Paul's historic guitars with Richie Castellano
Stringjoy has introduced the Ariel Posen Signature String Set, a heavy-gauge Nickel Wound set designed in close collaboration with acclaimed slide guitarist and singer-songwriter Ariel Posen.
The Ariel Posen Signature String Set from Stringjoy
Ideal for B Standard, Open C, and other lower tunings, this set offers exceptional tone and feel for players who want to explore new sonic territory while maintaining their guitar's unique voice.
Each string in this set is built with Stringjoy’s trademark quality: wound at tension with high compression winds for maximum output, durability, and smooth playability. The result? Strings that hold up under pressure while delivering a natural, expressive voice—perfect for hybrid playing and expressive slide work.
Ariel Posen Signature Set Specs:
• .014 – .018p – .026w – .038 – .050 – .062
• Wound 3rd string
“If you didn’t know these were 14-62 gauges, you’d swear they were just 11s tuned down,” said Ariel Posen. “They feel like home and preserve the sound of the guitar, even in lower tunings. That’s the biggest thing—it still sounds like guitar.”
“We’ve spent ten years experimenting and testing together to find the right combination,” said Scott Marquart, Stringjoy Founder & President. “This release is more than just a new product—it’s the culmination of a shared journey between friends and musicians. Ariel’s set is uniquely him, and I think players will love how it feels and responds.”
Stringjoy’s Ariel Posen signature string set carry a street price of $13.99. Learn more at at stringjoy.com.
Paul Reed Smith cradles one of his company’s Charcoal Phoenix limited-edition guitars in front of a PRS Sonzera amp.
The storied guitar builder reflects on his dozen months sharing his experience, knowledge, and perspective with PG’s readers.
Over the past year, I’ve written a series of articles in Premier Guitar going over some of my, and our industry’s, views of guitar making. You can find all of them all online (and for those reading this online, the articles are collected here). What I am going to attempt to do for this final piece is boil down each of these articles to a “sort of” conclusion. I have enjoyed the process of writing and editing each one. For the most part, it’s been a lot of fun. So:
Tonewood Doesn’t Matter. Wood Does (August 2024)
We don’t use the word tonewood in conversation at PRS. It doesn’t capture a lot of my experience of which combinations of wood make good instruments. First and foremost, we are looking for qualities of wood over species, and we make sure we dry and treat each one appropriately.
What Makes a Guitar Worth the Price? (September 2024)
Very often, the price of a guitar does reflect how good an instrument is—and very often the price of the guitar has nothing to do with how good an instrument is.
What You Can and Can’t See When Buying a Guitar (October 2024)
This one’s a pet peeve. When making a purchase, you can clearly see the color of a guitar and how beautiful it is, but you have no idea if the neck is going to warp over time because of many factors, including wood drying and truss rod installment design. Trust your experience.
Does Where a Guitar Is Made Really Matter? (November 2024)
There are really good, really smart, really talented people all over the world. While I won’t deny it’s helped our career here at PRS being in the United States, I do not believe it is a truly defining factor of our quality. A good example would be the PRS SE Series.
The Complicated Beauty of Electric Guitar Pickups (December 2024)
We’ve taken so many good stabs at humbucking design, and I’m getting incredibly good feedback on our new McCarty IIIs. But making pickups is a complicated art. There are a lot of ingredients in the recipe.
“I hope these articles have had some positive impact on you as a group.”
In Guitar Making, It’s the Details that Matter (January 2025)
Well, that title says it. What’s interesting for me is that all guitar makers believe that different types of details matter more than others. At PRS, we have our own beliefs.
When Building Guitars—Or Pursuing Anything—Go Down All the Rabbit Holes (February 2025)
This one’s about learning. It’s a process I really enjoy. Whether your passion is guitar making, guitar playing, or something else entirely, there is always more to keep discovering.
Paul Reed Smith on Buying Gear (March 2025)
Very often at a clinic, the people who don’t play guitar have a less calcified view of the sound of the instruments being demonstrated than those players who have already developed strong ideas. On the other hand, one time a very experienced player was at one of my clinics and heard something he’d been looking for for a long time and did not expect it out of the guitar he got it from. Trust your experience—not your predetermined views.
Learning from the Mistakes of Guitar Building’s Past (April 2025)
I think my beginnings as a repairman gave me a lot of insight on this one. Even still, just the process of defining a past guitar-making mistake is its own art.
Paul Reed Smith on Where Amp History—and Tone—Begins (May 2025)
This one I love. It’s a greatly exaggerated version of mods you could do to a TS808 Tube Screamer, which has a history on the web. Amplifiers are “modulated power supplies” and can have so much impact on your tone.
The Lifelong Rhythm of Learning (June 2025)
In some periods of time, there’s a lot to be learned, and in some periods of time, you can barely hold what you had before. It’s different for everyone, and for me, it’s been up and down. No matter where you are in the process, there’s always good work to do.
I hope these articles have had some positive impact on you as a group. I know some things resonate with some people and not others, and the opposite as well. I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback from these articles except that there’s not an overwhelming chorus saying “what an idiot,” which I assume means there’s been some meat on the bone of some of the views shared. It’s been a joy. Thanks for listening.
Kemper updated the entire product range introducing the all-new Kemper Profiler MK 2 Series. More Power. More Flexibility.
KEMPER PROFILER - The all-new PROFILER MK 2 Series
Kemper today announces the immediate availability of the all-new KEMPER PROFILER MK 2 Series. Kemper continues to raise the bar with the upcoming Profiler MK 2 Series — a bold evolution of the Profiler lineup (All PROFILERs: Head, Rack, Stage, the Player, and the powered versions), delivering more power, more flexibility, and more creative potential than ever before.
At the heart of the PROFILER MK 2 Series works an upgraded processing engine, unlocking faster performance, with boot times clocking in around 20 seconds, and a host of new features that expand the boundaries of what a modern guitar or bass rig can do.
A New Era of Effects:
20 Blocks in Series, the most powerful effects architecture ever found in a Kemper unit - The PROFILER MK 2 Series now offers seven additional effect blocks, raising the total number of simultaneous audio effect blocks to an incredible 20 — all running with zero added signal latency. It’s like having an entire, fully integrated pedalboard with pedal essentials at your feet — but one that boots in seconds, never needs rewiring, and always remembers your settings.
A new Era of Profiling:
Kemper announces a new profiling technology for the MK 2 series. Availabilty is expected during Summer. Currently in extended testing with some selected third-party profile vendors the new profiling offers:
- More than 100,000 individual frequency points meticulously analyzed for the most precise amp recreation ever achieved.
- Next-Level Speaker & Dynamically adjustable Cabinet Resonance – Capturing the true dynamics of your setup with the longest and most complex impulse responses in the industry.
- Liquid Profiling Technology – Seamlessly integrate the original amp’s gain and tone controls, transforming a single profile into a fully dynamic, living amplifier.
- Unparalleled Precision & Feel – A cutting-edge hybrid approach combining precise, deterministic analog measurement with Kemper’s industry-leading profiling intelligence.
Overview - All that’s new in the PROFILER MK 2 in more Detail:
All-New FX Section – 7 Additional FX Slots - ThePROFILER MK 2-Series introduces an expanded FX section with seven dedicated “pedalboard essential” FX slots, featuring: A new second Noise Gate (Palm Ninja), Compressor, Pure Booster, WahWah, Vintage Chorus, Air Chorus, and Double Tracker.
Adding these to the pre-existing 10 audio blocks, Spectral Noise Gate, Transpose Effect, and Volume Pedal - in total this provides users with 20 simultaneous audio effect blocks, setup gig-ready right out of the box while maintaining full flexibility for customization.
This new layout makes it convenient to cover all the bases and offers 8 flexible FX blocks available for the acclaimed tone shapers and studio-grade unique FX the KEMPER PROFILER is famous for.
Performance Meets Portability - With a smarter internal design and new lightweight aluminum components, the Profiler Stage Mk 2 has shed excess weight — making it even more gig-friendly without sacrificing the tank-like build quality musicians rely on. Whether for touring the world or heading to a local session, this is the most travel-ready full-featured Profiler yet.
Mk 2-ready Player! - For all guitarists and bassists already rocking the compact PROFILER Player, there is good news: it’s been “MK 2”-ready from day one, meaning it’s fully aligned with the power and potential of the new series, and now, on LVL 1 already, it features 16 simultaneous FX in total. This new extended signal flow becomes available for all Player owners as a free update, and yes, it will get Profiling, too. Making the PROFILER Player out of the box the features richest and most professional performance and recording solution - with its travel-friendly footprint and convenient price point!
8-Channel USB Audio Support for the new Mk 2-Series - Native 8-channel USB audio support to all KEMPER PROFILER MK 2 Series units, enabling seamless multitrack recording and reamping directly into your DAW – no external interface required.
Loop Longer, Play Harder - The integrated Looper also gets a serious upgrade. With up to two full minutes of recording time, the MK 2 Series lets you capture extended phrases, build layered soundscapes, or craft entire performances — all on the fly. (Looper available from LVL 3 for the Player)
Speed and Responsiveness Upgrades - Major improvements under the hood. Boot times, preset switching, and UI responsiveness are noticeably faster and smoother, especially in Performance Mode.
Christoph Kemper, Founder & CEO:
“The new PROFILER MK 2-Series makes the PROFILERs feel more like a complete rig than ever before. With instant access to essential FX, full USB audio integration, and improved playability, we’re giving our users a platform that adapts and grows with them.”
Pricing & Availability:
The new KEMPER PROFILER MK 2 Series models are available now from dealers worldwide and directly from the Kemper Online Store. All the new features require a KEMPER PROFILER MK 2 Series device. Visit www.kemper-amps.com for downloads and release notes.
PROFILER Head $1,348.00
PROFILER Rack $1,398.00
PROFILER Stage $1,498.00
PROFILER Player $ 699.00
PROFILER PowerHead $1,798.00
PROFILER PowerRack $1,798.00
PROFILER Remote $ 469.00
At a glance!
The Kemper Profiler MK 2 Series isn’t just about doing more. It’s about doing it better, faster, and without compromise. With unmatched tonal power, surgical precision, and effortless usability, this is the most complete and forward-thinking Profiler platform yet.
The Billy Idol guitarist rides his Knaggs into Nashville.
There’s nothing subtle about Billy Idol, so it tracks that there’d be nothing subtle about the guitars used onstage by his longtime guitarist, Steve Stevens. Famous for his guitar work with Idol and the Grammy-winning symphony of sustain “Top Gun Anthem,” Stevens brought a brigade of eye-popping signature electrics and some choice other jewels out on the road with Idol this spring.
The tour touched down at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville in May, and while Stevens was jetting into town, PG’s John Bohlinger met up with tech and guitar builder Frank Falbo to learn the ins and outs of Stevens’ rig.
Brought to you by D’Addario
Cherry Pie
This cherryburst is one of a score of single-cut Knaggs Steve Stevens signature models in Stevens’ arsenal. He plays with heavier Tortex picks and uses Ernie Ball strings, usually .010–.048s.
More, More, More (Sustain)
This Knaggs Steve Stevens Severn XF, complete with a Sustainiac pickup system, was designed to mimic the look of one of his old guitars, and the stage lights make this finish go insane. It comes out for three to four songs in any given set, including “Rebel Yell.”
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
This Knaggs Steve Stevens, finished in silver sparkle, is outfitted with a killswitch, push-pull control knobs, and Fishman Fluence pickups. Falbo was on the R&D team that helped design the Fluences.
Other guitars backstage include a red sparkle Knaggs with PAFs, a Godin LGXT with piezo saddles and Seymour Duncan pickups that sends three signals (synth, electric, and piezo), a pair of piezo- and MIDI-equipped Godin nylon-string guitars, a dazzling Gibson Les Paul with stock Gibson pickups, a Suhr T-style electric, and a Ciari Ascender for travel and dressing-room rehearsal.
Tube Heart, Digital Brains
Stevens runs through a pair of Friedman heads—a B100 and Steve Stevens SS100, plus a third backup—with each panned hard to either the left or right. Both signals run through a Neve 8803 rack EQ into two RedSeven Amplification Amp Central Evo loadboxes, and through their impulse response programs to front of house. A Neural Quad Cortex is on hand as a backup and for fly dates.
Steve Stevens’ Pedalboard
Stevens’ pedal playground is masterminded by an RJM Mastermind GT, which lives on its own board alongside a Fractal FM3 MK II. He orchestrates most of the changes himself, but Falbo is ready to flip switches backstage in case Stevens is away from his board for a key moment.
The centre hub, built on a Tone Merchants board, carries a TC Electronic PolyTune2 Noir, Xotic Effects Super Sweet Booster, Vox wah, Ernie Ball volume pedal, Mission Engineering expression pedal, DigiTech Whammy Ricochet, Suhr Discovery, JHS Muffuletta, DigiTech Drop, ISP DECI-MATE, Walrus Voyager, Suhr Koji Comp, Zvex Super Ringtone, DryBell Vibe Machine, and Ammoon EX EQ7. An Ebtech Hum Eliminator, two Strymon Ojais, and a Strymon Zuma keep the wheels greased.
The board to the right carries a Boss RV-500, Fender Smolder Acoustic OD, Lehle Dual Expression, Boss GM-800, Empress Bass Compressor, Grace Design ALiX preamp, Fishman Aura, and a Peterson tuner. Utility boxes include an Ernie Ball Volt and a Radial J48.