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Jun 11, 2024 · In this history of the electric guitar, I will tell you about the journey that took the electric guitar from an accompaniment role, relegated to the back of the stage, to an instrument at the forefront of a musical revolution. You’ll learn about the first-ever attempts to electrify a guitar.
History. The "Frying Pan", 1932. Many experiments with electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument were made dating back to the early part of the 20th century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters were adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound.
Dec 5, 2023 · The world was introduced to the first commercially successful electric guitar, the “Rickenbacker Fry-Pan,” in the early ’30s. With its electromagnetic pickups, it converted string vibrations into electrical signals, which could then be amplified through a speaker.
Oct 22, 2021 · Despite its massive cultural significance, we still don’t know exactly who invented the electric guitar. The earliest version of an electrified guitar dates back to around 1890, when an American Naval officer named George Breed created a self-playing guitar that employed electricity to play itself.
- Stromberg Electro
- Rickenbacher A-22 Electrohawaiian, “The Frying Pan”
- Ro-Pat-In Electric Spanishguitar
- Slingerland Songster Model 401
- 1939–1940: Les Paul’s “Log”
- The Travis Bigsby
- Fender Esquire
- Gibson Les Paul
- Honorable Mentions
- Conclusion
Fast-forward 38 years, and we meet the first electric guitardevice intended for the commercial market — the Stromberg Electro. However,this became an electric guitar that never was! Author Lynn Wheelwright does an excellent job of providingthe history of the Stromberg Electro in a 2008 article published in VintageGuitar magazine. Wheelwright report...
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Hawaiian music was thething along with its signature instrument, the acoustic lap steel guitar. Typicallyplayed in a “slack-key” (or open-tuning) style popularized by Joseph Kekuku,the lap steel guitar provided the instantly recognizable slide sound associatedwith Hawaiian music. As the big-band groups of the day ...
Following the release of the Frying Pan, Rickenbacker,Beauchamp, and co. released the first commercially available Electric Spanishguitar. In a strange bit of branding, it appears that one of the earliest knownexamples of this guitar was labeled as a Ro-Pat-In instrument. It was purchasedby Kansas bandleader Gage Brewer and, like the Frying Pan, fe...
In 1936, Slingerland moved the design of solidbody electricguitars forward with the Songster Model 401. Aimed at the Hawaiian-musicmarket, the Slingerland Songster 401 was built for slide guitar, with highaction and metal frets ground flush with the fretboard. Released concurrentlywith the Slingerland Songster Model 400, which boasted a square neck...
Most guitarists know the story of Les Paul and the “Log”guitar. Born Lester William Polsfuss in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Les Paul, theinventor and virtuoso jazz guitarist, sought to create his own solidbodyelectric guitar. He started with a four-by-four chunk of pine, strapped on twohomemade pickups along with a vibrato tailpiece, and attached ...
Paul Bigsby, best known for the ubiquitous Bigsby vibrato,was another electric guitar innovator who launched the Bigsby Electric GuitarCompany in 1946. One of his earliest electric guitar builds was for legendarywestern singer and the father of “Travis Picking,” Merle Travis. The TravisBigsby was a single-cutaway solidbody guitar with a handmade bl...
When Leo Fender created the Fender Esquire, he fundamentallychanged both the guitar-manufacturing and popular-music landscapes. Leo Fender took an oblique route into guitar making. Thoughhe dabbled in piano and saxophone as a young man, Fender wasn’t a passionatemusician. In fact, he never played guitar. However, he had an indefatigablepassion for ...
As we’ve seen, Gibson was dragged kicking and screaming intothe solidbody electric guitar market. Yet, when they entered it, they enteredwith a bang! Developed by Gibson’s brilliant president and productdesigner Ted McCarty with input from the guitar’s namesake (though, by someaccounts, McCarty rejected the bulk of Paul’s ideas), the Gibson Les Pau...
1933: Dobro All-Electric
After his split with George Beauchamp, John Dopyeraelectrified the resonator. Though it was advanced for the time, with a modern14-fret neck joint and a horseshoe pickup, the Dobro All-Electric never made itinto mass production. Reportedly, only a dozen guitars were made.[21, 22]
1937: Audiovox #736 Electronic BassGuitar
Paul Tutmarc, the founder of Audiovox, is often overlooked in the history of the electric guitar, but he made numerous contributions, including a magnetic pickup design that was sold by Tutmarc’s former partner, Arthur Stimson, to Rickenbacker without Tutmarc’s consent! Check out Dennis White’s “Paul Tutmarc & The Mystery of Who Invented the Electric Guitar” to read about this sordid tale. Tutmarc attempted to market his own brand of electricguitars, Audiovox, but it failed to make an impact...
We hope you enjoyed this look back at the history of the electric guitar. Hopefully, it answered some questions or, even better, inspired you to further explore this fascinating topic! Would you like to see more articles on the history of musical instruments and gear? Give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700and let us know!
Feb 2, 2023 · Electric guitars are everywhere today. But have you ever wondered how they became so popular — or where they came from in the first place? Today’s post walks through electric guitar 101: how, when, and where it was first invented, and the journey to the present day.
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Jun 7, 2023 · The electric guitar was officially invented in 1931, when George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker developed the “Frying Pan” Rickenbacker electro lap steel guitar. This instrument featured a magnetic pickup that amplified the sound of the strings.
