The Brief History of the Electric Guitar
The early 20th century was filled with innovations. In entertainment, as metropolitan populations grew, audiences became larger, dance music became more popular and the need for musical instrument amplification became evident. The combination of necessity and invention culminated in the electrification of the guitar. Thus, according to the Smithsonian, the guitar became the most important and popular instrument of the century. Throughout the years, many guitar companies have come and gone (though there are many that have remained in business since the 1800s), many body styles have been created and electronics have been modernized.
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1920s and 1930s
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The earliest electrification took place in 1923, when inventor Lloyd Loar engineered an electrostatic pickup that was marketed unsuccessfully. The earliest complete electric guitar was created for Hawaiian music, which was popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Called the "Frying Pan," it was designed by Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamp and brought to market in 1932. The cast aluminum "Frying Pan" had a small circular body with a long neck and featured an electromagnetic pickup.
1940s
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By 1940, most guitars were still hollow-bodied. The arch top design developed in the late 19th century by Gibson and Epiphone gave greater amplification but when pickups were added, feedback became an issue. Inspired by Thomas Edison's solid body violin, inventor/guitarist Les Paul experimented with mounting pickups on a solid piece of wood at Epi Stathopoulo's Epiphone factory. Les Paul attempted to market "The Log" to Gibson Guitars, but the company wasn't interested. The earliest known Spanish solid body guitar produced by the Slingerland Co. in 1939 was the predecessor of solid body electric guitars played by blues music legends Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker in the 1940s and 1950s.
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1950s
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Meanwhile, Leo Fender developed and marketed his new solid body single pickup guitar the "Esquire" in 1950 followed by the double pickup "Broadcaster" in 1951. (The "Broadcaster" later became the "Telecaster," a model that currently remains in production.) The double cutaway-design "Stratocaster" went into production in 1954, and is still being produced today. In the 1950s, Gibson Guitars finally realized the value of a solid body electric guitar, contacted Les Paul and created the Gibson "Les Paul" model that vies with Fender's "Stratocaster" as the world's most popular guitar today.
1960s
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In the 1960s, experimentation in sound variation made famous by guitarist Jimi Hendrix and also by genius players Chet Atkins and Frank Zappa resulted in standard production of guitars equipped with tremolo arms (aka "whammy bars"). Distortion and texture became essential in rock and jazz guitar playing. Effects pedals started to become popular.
1970s
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By the 1970s, electric guitar playing was brought to another level by Floyd Rose, who invented the Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, which simplified the shred style guitar playing technique brought to popularity (most notably) by Eddie Van Halen. Floyd invented a floating bridge that helps create harmonic overtones and "dive bomb" effects, which are integral components of metal guitar sound.
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References
- Photo Credit Too many guitars image by jfsears from Fotolia.com
