| The electric guitar was invented by a very talented | | | | nothing more than a rectangular body attached to the |
| man who when by the name of Adolph Rickenbacker. | | | | neck and six steel strings. However, a modern day |
| The first complete setup was back in the 1930's, which | | | | Les Paul is simply a thing of beauty. |
| was only a mere 70 years ago. On the other hand, the | | | | It was in the 50's that Gibson hooked up with Les Paul |
| Classical guitar and the Acoustic Guitar have been | | | | and presented the Gibson Les Paul to the world. From |
| around for many centuries. There is evidence that | | | | that day there was no turning back. The Gibson Les |
| dates back to 1800 B.C., that shows the presents of | | | | Paul has been a major success for over 50 years, |
| guitars, or similar instruments. There is really no | | | | and is considered the most popular selling electric guitar |
| comparison between todays electric guitars and the | | | | on the market. One guy very partial to the Gibson is |
| past. The evolution of electric guitars has been nothing | | | | Slash from Guns n' Roses. |
| short of amazing. This article will give you a brief | | | | Leo Fender soon became the next big thing in |
| history of the electric guitar. | | | | solid-body guitars. Leo invented the Fender |
| Adolph Rickenbacker manufactured his fist electric | | | | Broadcaster in the late 40's. The Broadcaster was |
| guitar in the early 1930's, and equipped it with tungsten | | | | introduced to the public in 1954, but instead of |
| pickups. These pickups would sense the vibrations | | | | Broadcaster, it was named the Fender Stratocaster or |
| from the strings and convert them into electrical | | | | Fender "Strat". The Fender Strat guitar was very |
| currents. The currents are relayed into the amp and | | | | different from the Gibson in the fact the the Strat had |
| produces sound. | | | | a different body shape, used different hardware, and |
| Semi-hollow body are what the older guitars were | | | | was much lighter. Despite these differences, the |
| know as. They were called this because they had | | | | Fender has become the second favorite guitar among |
| sound holes in the body of the guitar. This style of | | | | musicians. Musicians such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray |
| guitar is still very popular today. | | | | Vaughn, and many others play the Fender |
| As the Big Band era approached in the 30's and 40's, | | | | Stratocaster. |
| the use of electric guitars became more popular. | | | | Today, there are many other guitar manufactures that |
| Plugging the guitar into an amplifier would give the | | | | produce solid-body guitars. Here are a few: |
| much needed sound levels to be heard over the loud | | | | 1. Washburn |
| surroundings of the bands. | | | | 2. Ibanez |
| A guy by the name of Les Paul is an excellent | | | | 3. ESP |
| musician, but if for some reason you don't know this | | | | 4 .Jackson |
| name, he is the inventor of the solid body electric | | | | 5. Paul Reed Smith |
| guitar. Les Paul invented the fist solid body in 1941. | | | | 6. Kramer |
| This type of guitar is made of one piece of wood and | | | | 7. Dean |
| has no sound holes. You are able to simply plug into an | | | | 8. Epiphone |
| amplifier and start thrashing. Paul's first original guitar he | | | | 9. Peavy |
| made was nothing to brag about. It consisted of | | | | 10. |