If you adore rock and roll music then you most likely have some favorite guitarists from over the years. And whether or not you you are not a big rock and roll fan, you could be familier with the names I'm going to mention.
But I bet you did not notice that you may not have heard about any of them without the discovery of the electric guitar. In fact , rock and roll may not even exist if guitars weren't invented that could play at the volume and with the sound that we've all come to understand and love. The invention of the electric guitar was actually a discovery that modified music forever. Here's how...
The Beginning of Electric Guitar
The electrical guitar as we know it today hasn't truly been around all that long. There were early designs in the 1920's and 30's, and Gibson offered a commercially available electric guitar in 1936. But none really caught on in any massive way.
Although you could find electrified guitars back then, they were never that useful in a band setting because they were based primarily on hollow-body arch top guitars. If you tried to turn them up they inclined to feed back and make a howling noise. That's the reason why they were for the most part utilized for rhythm and seldom might be loud enough to take leads in a big band setting.
And early guitars had an uneven sound with some strings being louder than others. In general, the electric guitar was not ready for prime time. And it actually wasn't prepared for Rock and Roll.
Leo Fender changed all that.
Leo Fender was the inventor of the first commercially available solid body electric guitar. With the solid body electric, players could actually turn the instrument up loud enough to cut thru a whole band. Leo radically modified music, and the rock and roll of the 50's and 60's may not have occurred without him. It certainly would have sounded a lot different.
And the first solid body electric guitars were very different than what had come before. They looked like creatures from another planet compared to typical guitars of the time. Most guitars of the 30's and 40's looked like a typical acoustic guitar with a huge, hollow body and had a typical acoustic sound you'd expect. It is a wonderful sound but only acceptable for particular types of music.
When Leo Fender invented the Broadcaster guitar in 1951, which would shortly be called a Telecaster due to patent issues, it was totally different than anything around. It was angled with a completely new shape and only about 2 inches deep with 2 specially designed mics, called pickups, that captured the sound of the strings. It was light but really compact yet still had a solid piece of wood that resonated with a really, well, solid sound. It was a complete sea change from other guitars.
Inside a few years, Gibson Guitars came up with their own solid-body guitar, the Les Paul. It was based on an invention by jazz guitar player Les Paul who also had been working on a solid body electric guitar himself. Some even say he was the first creator of a solid body electric, and that may be true, although it was not commercially popular till a bit later on.
Guitar Amps Were An Important Factor Too
Even though the guitar could now be played loudly it still needed to be amplified. Many of those early guitar amplifiers came from Fender too , but Gibson and others offered them too. Many of those early amps are valued by collectors and guitar players for their unique and pleasing sounds.
And the amplifier itself had a big impact on the sound as well. You can actually say the sound of the electrical guitar was a marriage between the guitar and the amp used. The amp changed the sound that was produced and when turned up loudly created a distortion that was quite pleasant to guitar players. Early blues guitarists and later rock and roll guitarist sought that overdriven sound. This sound was something that was wholly new to music and spawned that early blues and rock and roll sound we came to enjoy in the 1950's.
At last, players like Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townsend of The Who used this distortion to extreme levels to form the sound of the 60's and psychedelic music. Amps had gotten louder and the sound was more varied than ever. The 1960's truly was the decade when the electric guitar and amplification developed to the point at which it still is today.
And it began with Leo Fender and his invention, the solid-body electrical guitar. Blues guitarists and rock and roll guitarists alike, owe it all to Leo.
But I bet you did not notice that you may not have heard about any of them without the discovery of the electric guitar. In fact , rock and roll may not even exist if guitars weren't invented that could play at the volume and with the sound that we've all come to understand and love. The invention of the electric guitar was actually a discovery that modified music forever. Here's how...
The Beginning of Electric Guitar
The electrical guitar as we know it today hasn't truly been around all that long. There were early designs in the 1920's and 30's, and Gibson offered a commercially available electric guitar in 1936. But none really caught on in any massive way.
Although you could find electrified guitars back then, they were never that useful in a band setting because they were based primarily on hollow-body arch top guitars. If you tried to turn them up they inclined to feed back and make a howling noise. That's the reason why they were for the most part utilized for rhythm and seldom might be loud enough to take leads in a big band setting.
And early guitars had an uneven sound with some strings being louder than others. In general, the electric guitar was not ready for prime time. And it actually wasn't prepared for Rock and Roll.
Leo Fender changed all that.
Leo Fender was the inventor of the first commercially available solid body electric guitar. With the solid body electric, players could actually turn the instrument up loud enough to cut thru a whole band. Leo radically modified music, and the rock and roll of the 50's and 60's may not have occurred without him. It certainly would have sounded a lot different.
And the first solid body electric guitars were very different than what had come before. They looked like creatures from another planet compared to typical guitars of the time. Most guitars of the 30's and 40's looked like a typical acoustic guitar with a huge, hollow body and had a typical acoustic sound you'd expect. It is a wonderful sound but only acceptable for particular types of music.
When Leo Fender invented the Broadcaster guitar in 1951, which would shortly be called a Telecaster due to patent issues, it was totally different than anything around. It was angled with a completely new shape and only about 2 inches deep with 2 specially designed mics, called pickups, that captured the sound of the strings. It was light but really compact yet still had a solid piece of wood that resonated with a really, well, solid sound. It was a complete sea change from other guitars.
Inside a few years, Gibson Guitars came up with their own solid-body guitar, the Les Paul. It was based on an invention by jazz guitar player Les Paul who also had been working on a solid body electric guitar himself. Some even say he was the first creator of a solid body electric, and that may be true, although it was not commercially popular till a bit later on.
Guitar Amps Were An Important Factor Too
Even though the guitar could now be played loudly it still needed to be amplified. Many of those early guitar amplifiers came from Fender too , but Gibson and others offered them too. Many of those early amps are valued by collectors and guitar players for their unique and pleasing sounds.
And the amplifier itself had a big impact on the sound as well. You can actually say the sound of the electrical guitar was a marriage between the guitar and the amp used. The amp changed the sound that was produced and when turned up loudly created a distortion that was quite pleasant to guitar players. Early blues guitarists and later rock and roll guitarist sought that overdriven sound. This sound was something that was wholly new to music and spawned that early blues and rock and roll sound we came to enjoy in the 1950's.
At last, players like Jimi Hendrix and Pete Townsend of The Who used this distortion to extreme levels to form the sound of the 60's and psychedelic music. Amps had gotten louder and the sound was more varied than ever. The 1960's truly was the decade when the electric guitar and amplification developed to the point at which it still is today.
And it began with Leo Fender and his invention, the solid-body electrical guitar. Blues guitarists and rock and roll guitarists alike, owe it all to Leo.
About the Author:
Rick Honeyboy Hart is a long time blues guitarist. He's played in several bands over the years and now helps others learn how to play the blues guitar on his website www.BluesGuitarInsider.com
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