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