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