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