Muscian and legendary luthier Les Paul has died. He was 94. It would be hard to overstate the influence of his guitars — there are few things that have a more iconic American design than a Les Paul, and his guitars have been played by a who’s who of rock and country musicians.

I’ve been playing the guitar since I was sixteen, but I was always a Fender guy, mostly by default. I’ve always wanted to own a Les Paul, but I could just never seem to afford one. In high school, one of the guys in my band bought a 70s era black beauty Les Paul custom. It was $800 at the pawn shop, which for a guy who could barely scrape together lunch money at Taco Bell seemed outrageous — especially since a good American Strat could be picked up for half that price used. But man did that heavy guitar ring like a bell. Last I checked, my buddy still has that amazing instrument and I’m sure it’s worth a heck of a lot more than what he paid for it now.