History of the Guitar

All you need to know for A2

In the beginning
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its strings into electric signals. Since the generated signal is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, it is amplified (see amplification) using an audio amplifier before sending it to a loudspeaker. Since the output of an electric guitar is an electric signal, the signal may easily be altered using electronic circuits to add colour to the sound. Often the signal is modified using effects such as reverb and distortion. Arguably, no other musical instrument has had more of an impact on how music has evolved since the beginning of the twentieth century than the electric guitar. Conceived in the early 1930s, the electric guitar became a necessity as jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound. Since then, it has evolved into a stringed musical instrument capable of a multitude of sounds and styles. It served as a major proponent in the development of rock and roll, as well as countless other genres of music.

History
The need for an amplified guitar became apparent during the big band era, as orchestras increased in size: particularly when guitars had to compete with large brass sections. The first electric guitars used in jazz were hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers. By 1932 an electrically amplified guitar was commercially available. Gibsons first production electric guitar, marketed in 1936, was the ES-150 model (ES for Electric Spanish"; and "150" reflecting the price along with a matching amplifier). The ES-150 guitar featured a single-coil, hexagonally shaped "bar" pickup, which was designed by Walt Fuller. It was to become known as the "Charlie Christian" pickup (named for the great jazz guitarist who was among the first to perform with the ES-150 guitar). An early commercially successful solid-body electric guitar was the Fender Esquire in 1950.

History
Early electric guitar manufacturers include: Rickenbacker in 1932, Dobro in 1933, Epiphone (Electrophone and Electar), and Gibson in 1935 The solid body electric guitar is made of solid wood, without functionally resonating air spaces. Rickenbacher, later spelled Rickenbacker, offered a cast aluminum electric steel guitar, nicknamed The Frying Pan or The Pancake Guitar, developed in 1931 with production beginning in the summer of 1932.

Fender
In 1946, radio repairman and instrument amplifier maker Leo Fender designed the first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar with a single magnetic pickup, which was initially named the Esquire. This was a departure from the typically hollow-bodied Jazz-oriented instruments of the time and immediately found favor with CountryWestern artists in California. The two-pickup version of the Esquire was called the "Broadcaster". However, Gretsch had a drumset marketed with a similar name (Broadkaster), so Fender changed the name to Telecaster. The bolt-on neck was consistent with Leo Fender's belief that the instrument design should be modular to allow cost-effective and consistent manufacture and assembly, as well as simple repair or replacement.

Fender
In 1954, Fender introduced the Fender Stratocaster, or "Strat." The Stratocaster was seen as a deluxe model and offered various product improvements and innovations over the Telecaster. These innovations included a well dried ash or alder double-cutaway body design for bridge assembly with an integrated spring vibrato mechanism (called a synchronized tremolo by Fender, thus beginning a confusion of the terms that still continues), three singlecoil pickups, and body comfort contours. Leo Fender is also credited with developing the first commercially successful electric bass guitar called the Fender Precision Bass, introduced in 1951.

Vox
In 1962 Vox introduced the pentagonal Phantom guitar, originally made in England but soon after made by Alter EKO of Italy. It was followed a year later by the teardrop-shaped Mark VI, the prototype of which was used by Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, and later Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls. Vox guitars also experimented with onboard effects and electronics. In the mid 1960s, as the sound of electric 12-string guitars became popular, Vox introduced the Phantom XII and Mark XII electric 12-string guitars as well as the Tempest XII which employed a more conventional Fender style body and thus is often overlooked as a
Vox classic from the Sixties.

Gibson
Orville Gibson (born 1856, Chateaugay, New York) started making mandolins in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The mandolins were distinctive in that they featured a carved, arched solid wood top and back and bent wood sides. In the 1930s, Gibson began exploring the concept of an electric guitar. In 1936 they introduced their first "Electric Spanish" model, the ES-150. Other companies were producing electric guitars but the Gibson is generally recognized as the first commercially successful electric guitar. Other instruments were also "electrified"; such as steel guitars, banjos and mandolins. During World War II, instrument manufacturing basically stopped at Gibson due to shortages of wood and metal. Only a few instruments were made with whatever parts were at hand. Gibson did war production instead, making wood parts for various military needs. Such shortages continued for a few years after the war and the only notable change occurred in 1946 when the Gibson name on the instrument headstock changed from a cursive script to the block style used to this day. This is seen at the head of the information block at top. The ES-175 was introduced in 1949. The model has seen some variations over the years but it is still in production.

Gibson
In 1948, Gibson hired music industry veteran, Ted McCarty. He was promoted to company president in 1950. During his tenure (19501966), Gibson greatly expanded and diversified its line of instruments. The first notable addition was the "Les Paul" guitar. McCarty was well aware of the strong sales of the Fender Telecaster. In 1950, Gibson decided to make a solid-body guitar of its own according to its own design philosophy . This, despite the fact many other guitar manufacturers were contemptuous of the concept of a solid-body guitar. Designed by the guitarist Les Paul, the first solid body guitar, called the "Les Paul", was released in 1952. The "Les Paul" was offered in several models, including the Custom, the Standard, the Special and the Junior. In the 1950s, Gibson also produced the Tune-o-matic bridge system and its version of the humbucking pickup. In 1961 the body design of the "Les Paul" was changed, due to the demand for a double-cutaway body design. Les Paul did not care for the new body style and let his endorsement lapse, and the new body design then became known as the SG (for "solid guitar"). The "Les Paul" returned to the Gibson catalogue in 1968 due to the influence of players

Amps
In the 1960s, guitarists experimented with distortion produced by deliberately overdriving their amplifiers. The Kinks guitarist Dave Davies produced early distortion effects by connecting the already distorted output of one amplifier into the input of another. Later, most guitar amps were provided with preamplifier distortion controls, and "fuzz boxes" and other effects units were engineered to safely and reliably produce these sounds. In the 2000s overdrive and distortion has become an integral part of many styles of electric guitar playing, ranging from blues rock to heavy metal and hardcore punk.

Amps
The 1950s Blues players and occasionally, some jazz big-band players, pushed relatively low powered valve amps to their limits and beyond. Leo Fender designed the first commercially available high-powered valve guitar amp in the 1950's and legend has it that he kept overengineering it until Dick Dale couldn't break it. Either way, Dick Dale paved the way for an overdriven surf style. The 1960s This era heard the sounds of accidentally torn speakers, leading to experiments with intentionally cut speaker cones. Hardly something that's controllable, but effective nonetheless. Overdriven amplifiers continued to be used for electric blues and some pop styles. Jeff Beck was an early pioneer of the fuzz face: an overdriven transistor preamps used in early rock and pop music for special effect. The 1970s Several stomp-box preamplifiers were produced to emulate overdriven valve amplifier tones, including the famous Ibanez Tube Screamer and many clones, which continue to this day! We also heard hot-rodded valve amplifiers from Mesa Boogie, with extra valve preamp stages to give more control with overdrive levels, volume levels, and equalisation options. The 1980s Distortion (hard-clipping) pedals were produced to support metal styles. Multi-effect racks and floor units became prevalent, with options for switching between a wide range of overdrive sounds, in addition to other popular effects. Also several "connoisseur" custom made amplifiers, generally producing one type of sound extremely well. Punk music called for the most obnoxious distortion sounds possible. The 1990s Our first taste of digital overdrive, where the guitar signal passes through an analogue-to-digital converter, then software emulation of overdrive designs, or valve amplifier clipping characteristics, then digital to analogue conversion. Some of these sounds are quite convincing when used with emulation of various speaker box designs. A revival of fuzz preamplifiers used by grunge players, with a resurgence in the brown overdriven sound and good tone to suit blues and rock players. 2000 and Beyond The early 2000's saw an explosion of digital modelling as companies tried to ensure their future by offering products becoming popular for home recordings, bedroom players and semi-pro musicians. The Global Financial Crisis in the late 2000s forced most companies to curtail development and focus on high volume, low cost items. The outstanding exception was a small company, Fractal Audio, who produced the Axe-FX which is arguably the first device to convince experienced professionals for valve tone.