First Electric Guitar

by vasilis Isaakidis
Electric Guitar: The first Instrument

It was the radio industry in the 1920s that made possible electrical amplification and thus prepared the ground for the first amplified electric guitar. Loyd Loar is one of the main figures of the time. An engineer at Gibson Guitar Company, Loar developed an electric pick up for viola and string bass. In his design, the vibrations of the strings were carried through the bridge of the instrument. In turn, the magnet and coil (electric pick up) would register and pass those vibrations to the amplifier. The first actually electric guitar was commercially advertised by Stromberg-Voisinet company in 1928 which applied a similar pick up. The difference from Loar’s pick up was that the vibrations of the strings were carried through the soundbox and not from the bridge. In either case, the early innovators faced a problem. The signal was too weak. The first modern electric guitar called the “Frying Pan” was developed and marketed by George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker in 1932. The difference was that the electromagnetic pick up now registered the vibrations from the strings themselves. The result was a much stronger tone, a bigger signal.

The “Frying Pan” hollow body electric Hawaian style guitar, was played flat on the lap. The sound it produced was very unique and different from the acoustic sound and was slow to be accepted by most musicians.

Unsatisfied with the feedback, tonal quality and lack of sustain, many artists at the time started experimenting and using a solid blog of wood. Les Paul, already an accomplished acoustic guitarist, used a solid piece of pine wood and added the electric picks ups. He nicknamed it “The Log”. Thus, the first solid body guitar was born!

Leo Fender mass produced a solid body guitar in 1950 and two years later Gibson mass produced its first solid body electric guitar endorsed by Les Paul.

A new era had begun in the music making. For many, the potential of the electric guitar was to be limitless…To this day, few people can deny that…

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