The electric guitar is the most iconic instrument in history. Without it, there would be no rock and roll, no British Invasion, no counter-culture revolution, no Woodstock, no Glastonbury, no Lollapalooza, in fact, live music just wouldn’t be anywhere near as exciting without being able to look at a flamboyant guitarist strutting their stuff live on stage!
Can you imagine a world without The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Guns n’ Roses, Linkin Park, The Foo Fighters, and all the other bands that created their sound with electric guitars? No, you can’t, without the electric guitar, the soundtrack of our lives just wouldn’t exist.
But where did this most illustrious of instruments come from, who was involved, and when? Let’s find out by answering some of the most commonly asked questions about the history of the electric guitar, starting with…
Who invented the Electric Guitar Pickup?
The history of the electric guitar goes all the way back to the early 1930s when George Beauchamp, aided by Adolph Rickenbacker (the founders of Rickenbacker Guitars) created the first electric guitar pickup for the Electro String Instrument Corporation.
Who invented the Electric Guitar?
Unsurprisingly, the first commercially successful electric guitar was also invented by George Beauchamp (using the pickup just mentioned) who created the Electro A-22 (electric lapsteel guitar), (which was nicknamed the "Frying Pan" due to its long neck and circular body) in 1931. The name was later changed to Rickenbacker Electro A-22.
Who invented the first Hollow Body Electric Guitar?
Never a company to be left behind, Gibson soon developed their own pickup, known as the Bar because it consisted of two large magnetic bars. This was used on Gibson lapsteels from 1935 to 1938, and their archtop guitars from 1936 to 1939, creating the first true electrified hollow body guitars.
What was the first song to feature an electric guitar?
George Barnes was the first person to play the electric guitar on a record. The song was Big Bill Broonzy's hit 'It's a Low-Down Dirty Shame', released in 1938. Barnes was one of the busiest session musicians in history, and one of his other accolades was that he was the first guitarist to ever play electric guitar on a Bob Dylan recording.
Who invented the first Solid Body Electric Guitar?
Jazz guitarist, and all-around electronics wizzkid/genius inventor, Les Paul, invented the first solid-body electric guitar in 1941. It was carved from a single piece of wood and lacked the hollow cavity that was found on guitars at the time. This produced an instrument with a smoother tone that could be easily amplified without the feedback issues experienced when amplifying hollow-body guitars.
He called his prototype "The Log", and it was made from a 4x4 piece of lumber to which he attached the neck and headstock, a bridge, and a hand-wound pickup. He then added some wings to each side to make it look more like a conventional guitar.
The prototype then went through many iterations with changes/improvements made by both Les Paul and the Gibson engineers before finally becoming the Les Paul guitar we all know and love which was released in 1952.
What was the first Solid Body Electric Guitar you could buy?
Even though Gibson and Les Paul were working hard on perfecting their solid body guitar, a load of relative upstarts, headed by Leo Fender beat them to it. They released the first solid body guitar ever sold, the Fender Broadcaster (which became the Fender Telecaster due to a complaint by Gretch about the name being too similar to their Broadkaster drum set) in 1950. As just mentioned, the Gibson solid body, the Les Paul Guitar wasn’t released until two years later, 1952.
What year was the first Fender Stratocaster released?
Following on from the success of the Telecaster, Leo Fender wanted to create an even better guitar with more tonal options and other refinements. This led to the creation of the company’s most iconic guitar, the Fender Stratocaster in 1954.
It featured three pickups (instead of the two found on the Telecaster) for tonal variety, a revolutionary floating tremolo system, and a carved body for more comfort. Surprisingly, it wasn’t an instant success but went on to be one of, if not the biggest-selling electric guitar in history.d
What guitar first featured a Humbucker pickup?
Even though the humbucker is most commonly associated with the Gibson Les Paul, it was first sold to the public attached to a Gibson Consolette steel guitar in 1955. It then appeared on the Gibson ES175D and on Les Pauls in 1957.
For more information on pickups, check out my Easy Guide to Pickup Types and Configurations.
Who first invented pointy guitars and when?
Very surprisingly, this happened all the way back in 1958 when Gibson released the Flying V, the Explorer, and the Moderne as part of their “Modernistic” series. The designs were meant to be slightly shocking, futuristic, and a direct response to Fender’s claim that Gibson guitars looked old-fashioned.
But they didn’t go down well with the guitar-buying public at the time, and the Flying V was phased out of production in 1959, the Explorer in 1963, and the Moderne wasn’t even released until 1982 and didn’t sell well, even then, due to it’s, in my opinion, ugly shape. However, over time, the Flying V and Explorer have become classics and are widely used by a number of guitar icons leading to many reissues over the years, and they are both currently in production and selling well.
Wrapping it Up
That’s it, we’ve come to the end of our journey through the history of the electric guitar. I hope I’ve covered all the main questions that are most commonly asked, I could have gone into more detail, but I thought that short and sweet answers worked best to get the most information into the least number of words. If you're still interested in guitar history, you can read on.
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