Photo by Blaine Schultz
Denny Rauen in shop
Denny Rauen
In 2024 Milwaukee guitarist Denny Rauen released his debut album 6/8 Time. But back in 1978 luthier Denny Rauen developed the idea for an electric guitar widely known today as a “compound radius” neck.
Rauen’s idea, originally as a “multi-radius fretboard” was recently recognized by Premier Guitar Magazine as one of the three most significant innovations in the electric guitar’s 75-year history. The article wonders what the 100th anniversary Gibson Les Paul Standard model will look like. The instrument’s namesake, inventor, musician and recording artist, Les Paul grew up in Waukesha.
The article also recognizes the Floyd Rose tremolo system and Paul Reed Smith hybrid electronics.
Rauen’s Innovation
A customer had a request to make his Fender Stratocaster play like his Gibson Les Paul. While not exactly apples and oranges, Rauen set about developing a way to offer the guitar player the best of both worlds.
Over the years Rauen’s customers have come to include his neighbors in Riverwest as well as Keith Richards, Leo Kottke and Leon Russell.
Like Les Paul, who often chose not to patent his inventions, Rauen took a similar philosophy. “I ultimately made the decision to publish the compound radius design for any luthier to use—royalty free,” says Rauen. “It wasn’t easy letting go of the patents and licensing rights, but I believed this innovation should live in the hands of musicians, not locked behind red tape.”
