| Electric Guitars | | | | The Electric guitar that is most prevalent today is the |
| The Electric guitar hasn't been around nearly as long | | | | solid body Electric guitar. The solid body guitar was |
| as the Acoustic and Classical guitars. In fact, the | | | | created by musician and inventor Les Paul in 1941. It is |
| Electric guitar was created just 70 years ago (the | | | | a guitar made of solid wood with no soundholes. The |
| 1930s) by Adolph Rickenbacker. Since that time, the | | | | original solid body guitar created by Paul was very |
| Electric guitar has greatly evolved to the where it is | | | | plain-it was a simple rectangular block of wood |
| today. In this article, we'll go over the history of the | | | | connected to a neck with six steel strings. Les Paul's |
| Electric guitar. | | | | original solid body guitar shape has, of course, changed |
| The History | | | | from the original rectangular shape to the more |
| Guitars, or similar instruments, have been around for | | | | rounded shape Les Paul guitars have today. |
| thousands of years. The Electric guitar was first | | | | During the 1950s, Gibson introduced Les Paul's invention |
| manufactured in the 1930s by Rickenbacker. Original | | | | to the world. The Gibson Les Paul, as it was and still is |
| Electric guitars used tungsten pickups. Pickups basically | | | | called, quickly became a very popular Electric guitar. It |
| convert the vibration of the strings into electrical | | | | has remained the most popular guitar for 50 years. |
| current, which is then fed into the amplifier to produce | | | | Around the same period of time, another inventor |
| the sound. | | | | named Leo Fender came up with a solid body Electric |
| The very earliest Electric guitars featured smaller | | | | guitar of his own. In the late 1940s, Fender introduced |
| soundholes in the body. These guitars are known as | | | | the Fender Broadcaster Electric guitar. The |
| semi-hollow body Electric guitars and still are | | | | Broadcaster, which was renamed the Stratocaster, |
| somewhat popular today, mainly due to the fact that | | | | was officially introduced to the public in 1954. The Strat, |
| they are flexible guitars. | | | | as it is now known, was a very different guitar in |
| However, with the use of pickups, it was possible to | | | | comparison to the Les Paul. It had a different shape, |
| create guitars without soundholes (like the Acoustic | | | | different hardware and was significantly lighter. |
| and Classical guitars have) that still had the ability to be | | | | Fender's Stratocaster Electric guitar is the second |
| heard, if plugged into amplifiers. These guitars are | | | | most popular guitar in the world, second to only the |
| called solid body Electric guitars. | | | | Les Paul. |
| The Electric guitar's popularity began to increase during | | | | Over the years, other companies, such as Ibanez, |
| the Big Band era of the '30s and 40s. Due to the | | | | Jackson, Paul Reed Smith, ESP and Yamaha have all |
| loudness of the brass sections in jazz orchestras, it | | | | produced solid body Electric guitars of their own. |
| was necessary to have guitars that could be heard | | | | However, most Electric guitars still feature the familiar |
| above the sections. Electric guitars, with the ability to | | | | shape of a Les Paul or Strat guitar. |
| be plugged into amplifiers, filled this void. | | | | |