Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Evolution With the Electric Guitar

By Adrien Phillips


The first electric guitars were produced in the 1930's in reaction with a demand from guitarists in bands whose rhythmic stylicould not be heard above one other instruments. Ths issue with these various guitars was that feedback was coming with the amplifier in the vibration from the guitar's body. This concern began the evolutionary process of the solid body guitar.

The early electric guitars had sound holes in the body that were smaller than the sound holes of conventional guitars. In 1924 Lloyd , an engineer with the Gibson factory, used a magnet to change guitar string vibrations into electrical signals, which could be amplified through a speaker.

Now it was possible to construct guitars that failed to possess sound holes but tend to be heard clearly via an amplifier. Amateur musicians could actually get their hands on various guitars with the efforts of Paul Barth, George and Adolph Rickenbacker who founded the String Company in 1931. Their guitars resembled steel guitars, and were took part in the guitarist's lap using a slide.

Modern electric guitars are made of many thin layers of wood glued together. The top layer is often a more attractive wood to give the guitar a pleasing appearance, and the other layers are of a wood which gives a good tone such as poplar or ash. The use of laminates endows the instrument with the robust body and tonal quality that would be impossible in one piece of wood.

The original solid body guitar was however, made from one wood. In 1941 Les Paul turned a railway sleeper into an amplified stringed instrument. He named it "The Log". When manufacture of his instrument began he stayed using the conventional guitar shape to offer his market a familiar image to relate to. Les Paul's invention marketed as the Gibson Les Paul continues to be extremely popular.




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