Get 'shocked' with this electric guitar history page.

Why electricity and guitar had to meet.
Already in the 1800's people began experimenting with electrically powered instruments. (e.g. music boxes and player pianos) Amplified instruments however do not appear before the 1920's when electrical amplification was invented by the radio industry.

By the 1930's the need for an amplified guitar became apparent. This period is referred to as 'the big band era'. The acoustic guitar was no match for the brass sections in the jazz orchestras. This shortcoming was the major basis for the electric guitar to evolve.

They simply needed a guitar with a volume knob.

The first steps.
You can imagine the first electric guitars didn't really resemble the ones we're familiar with. In fact they were more like acoustic guitars with rudimentary magnetic pickups attached to them.

With these pickups the vibrations of the strings were converted into electrical signals. Those impulses were then amplified through a set of speakers. This was already happening in the early 1920's and the theory still applies to our modern electric guitars.

The Frying Pans.
The first electric guitar for the general public was build in 1931. They were called "Frying Pans". The picture below shows clearly why.

This Hawaiian guitar was mostly made out of aluminum and was the first commercially successful electric guitar.

The very first Frying Pan, also known as the Mona Lisa of musical instruments, still exists and is considered to be priceless.

Despite the success a major problem occurred with the electric guitars made so far. They all had a hollow body and vibrated a lot which was of course disastrous for the sound it produced and for the guitar itself. This effect is known as the feedback.

From hollow to solid body.
The electrical guitar was a great success from day one. But the problem with the feedback caused guitar bodies to crack. A solution was necessary but also evident in the way it appeared. When a hollow body causes problems you simply build a solid body. It's early 1940's.

Mass producing 'Fenders and casters'.
The first mass produced electric guitar was build in 1950 in Leo Fender's workshop. It was first called the Broadcaster but quickly renamed to the Telecaster due to patent related issues.

4 Years later, in 1954, Fender's next guitar, called the Stratocaster, was presented to the public. By now the electric guitar was so successful that other companies started to manufacture their own guitar brands. The Gibson Les Paul guitar has been made in those days.

Famous means expensive!
Through the 1960's and the 1970's Fender and Gibson were not only the leading electric guitar brands, they were also very expensive. They stood for quality and durability but were to high-priced for the 'common people'. Cheaper imitations filled up the market but it was known they produced an inferior sound and were less playable.

In the 1980's out of Japan came guitars of similar quality as the famous American models. As a result Fender and Gibson were forced to make less expensive guitars.

From history to future.
Even today Fender and Gibson represent the standard for quality electric guitars. But they're no longer alone out there. And as technologies and materials evolve so does the guitar. With computer chips and matching software possibilities are endless.

Electric guitars have become true synthesizers with strings.