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Electric guitar history. Pioneers and earliest manufacturers.

Let's talk about electric guitar history. How did we arrive at today's electric guitars? Who are the pioneers and earliest manufacturers?



The earliest electric guitars were designed by various electronics buffs, luthiers, and instrument manufacturers. Rickenbacker is known for manufacturing a number of electric guitars in the 1930s. These guitars came with tungsten pickups.

The electric guitar became very popular in the Big Band era. This was primarily because of the fact that a louder instrument was needed. An instrument that could compete with the loud volumes of large brass sections.

When it comes to electric guitar history, Les Paul plays a major role. In the early 1940s, he built one of the first solid body electric guitars. He was working in the Epiphone guitar factory. Today, the solid body electric guitar is the most well known.

Audiovox is known for building an electric solid body guitar as early as the 1930s.

The Gibson Les Paul was introduced to the market in 1954. The Fender Telecaster was designed in the late 1940s by Leo Fender. In 1954 Fender introduced the Stratocaster, or Strat. By the late 1960s, it had become the most widely played guitar on the market.

When talking about electric guitar history, one cannot ignore the major role played by Fender. It was Fender's guitars and basses that pioneered the modular, and hence cheaper method of guitar making. This involves crafting the body and neck separately, and using commonly available woodworking tools. These are then bolted together.

The Les Paul and Stratocaster are an integral component in the history of electric guitars. Today, most companies design their electric guitars to look like the Les Paul, or the Stratocaster.

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