Electric guitar. The history of the emergence of the guitar
The appearance of the electric guitar played a very important role in the history of music, because without it, many musical directions simply would not have arisen. It all started small. The history of the creation of the electric guitar dates back to the 1920s and 1930s, when the acoustic guitar was used by numerous American blues and jazz big bands, but since it was practically inaudible, it was assigned the position of only a rhythm instrument.
In 1923, the first experiments were carried out in which they tried to amplify the guitar sound with the help of electricity. Then, Lloyd Lore, a little-known engineer-inventor in those years, managed to come up with an electrostatic pickup for stringed instruments, which recorded the vibrations of the resonator box. However, his invention was a complete failure on the market.
One of the important dates in the history of the creation of the electric guitar is 1931, when Georges Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker invented the electromagnetic pickup. An electrical impulse in it ran along the magnet winding, while an electric field was created and the signal was amplified from the vibrating string. As soon as their tool appeared, it was immediately called a "frying pan". And all because its body was all-metal, and in its shape it really resembled a frying pan, to which a disproportionately long "handle" - a neck was attached. However, this first electric guitar proved to be the most viable.
Numerous experimenters in the late 1930s tried to incorporate pickups into Spanish guitars, which looked more traditional and had hollow bodies. But without such troubles as resonant pickups (feedback), distortions, the appearance of other extraneous noises, it was not without. Applying a double counter winding, capable of "extinguishing" an extra signal, we managed to cope with all the shortcomings.
Leo Fender founded a company that by 1950 was churning out copies of guitars, which were called "Esquire" (translated as squire or squire), followed by "Broadcaster", "Telecaster". The first instrument called the "Stratocaster" was released in 1954. Since that time, this model of guitars has not undergone any special changes.
Since the shape of the body did not particularly affect the sound of the guitar, the designers tried to express their fantasies as best they could. For example, the instrument of the guitarist of the ABBA group resembled a star in its shape. The dovetail guitar belongs to the Scorpions guitarist. If we talk about manufacturing companies, then of them, perhaps the most famous are B.C. Rich and Gibson, the outlines of the instruments, which had a perversely extreme character. It was Gibson's designers who invented the same “dovetail”. Some call it "V Factor", while others call it "Flying V".
Talking about modern guitar music, it is impossible to ignore one of the varieties of guitars - the electric guitar. It is safe to say that this is, if not the most popular tool, then one of the most widespread. The instrument is unique in that it is a synthesis of art and the achievements of human progress. But few people know that the history of the instrument began almost 100 years ago. In the 1920s, a new, innovative musical movement, jazz, was born in America. Jazz orchestras emerged, consisting of a brass section, piano, drums and double bass. By this time, the guitar had established itself as an instrument with rich possibilities - the names of virtuosos Giuliani, Sora, Pujol, Tarrega and Carcassi entered guitar history forever. The new trend has not spared the guitar either. However, integrating her into the orchestra proved to be difficult. The guitar was not loud enough and was lost in the orchestra. Then the idea arose to add volume to the guitar electrically. In 1924, Lloyd Loar, an engineer at the Gibson guitar factory, who designed guitars with cutouts in the letter f, began experimenting with a sensor that converts body vibrations into electrical signals. But this method did not find practical application, since the result was far from perfect. According to another version, Loer was no longer an employee of Gibson at that time, therefore, he could not introduce his developments into mass production. Therefore, the first electric guitars to hit the market in 1931 are considered to be guitars manufactured by the Electro String Company, formed by Paul Bart, George Bucham and Adolph Rickenbacker, later named Rickenbacker after one of the creators. Rickenbacker guitars were used in particular by the legendary Beatles. However, the first guitar they released had nothing to do with later models. It had a round body made of aluminum (it is also said that the first models were wooden), and outwardly looked like a banjo. The musicians jokingly called it "frying pan".
Rickenbacker frying pan- guitar frying pan. Today it is a collector's item.
Despite the growing popularity, the new instrument was patented only in 1937, since the patent office doubted the advisability of using pickups. By the time the patent was obtained, electric guitars from other manufacturers appeared on the market. However, the Rickenbacker used a pickup that still works today. A coil of copper wire is wound around the magnet. When exposed to a magnetic field, the vibrating strings generate an induction current in the coil, which can be fed to the input of a sound amplifier. For the operability of the pickups, steel or nickel strings are used. The popularity of electric guitars has been growing in the 30s. Gibson instruments are in the greatest demand: Gibson L-5, Gibson ES-150 and Gibson Super 400 (so named because of its high price - 400 dollars).
Popular in the 1930s, some guitars are still in production today.
Some modern guitars have the same construction as the 1930s guitars, with minor changes. The guitar becomes audible in the orchestra, gradually it is transferred from accompanying instruments to solo instruments. Muddy Waters in the early 40's turned the idea of the possibilities of the electric guitar in the blues. But with amplified sound, feedback problems also appear. Surely many people know the characteristic unpleasant whistle if you bring the microphone to the speaker, to which an amplified signal from the same microphone is fed. The same effect is observed with guitars. In addition, the body of the guitar resonated with the sound of other instruments, which, when amplified, created unwanted overtones. There are several ways to fix this. The first is to cover the cutout in the deck with a plastic panel to reduce the influence of outside sounds. The second is to make the resonant body smaller (in particular, the Gibson ES-335 guitar released in 1958 has a body about 4 cm wide).
These two methods were widely practiced until the 50s. In the fifties, a new era of electric guitars began - the era of the "board". It is difficult to unequivocally answer who the authorship belongs to to make electric guitars from a single piece of wood, that is, to exclude a resonating body altogether. The first candidate is Lester William Polfuss, better known as Les Paul. In his youth, Les Paul was fond of electronics, worked at a radio station and studied music. He designed his first solid-body guitar in 1941. According to one of the versions, he suggested that Gibson begin mass production of his model, but the company's management had more conservative views on the design of the guitar. During the Second World War, Les Paul was drafted into the service of a radio operator, so he retired from music for a while. In 1948, he began experimenting with overlaying sound onto a previously recorded phonogram, giving a certain impetus to the field of sound engineering. In the early 1950s, Gibson's management approached him with a request to help create a guitar out of a single piece of wood. The fact is that in 1950 a new name appeared on the market - Fender. Fender has been around since 1946. Its creator, Leo Fender, was an electrical engineer who designs guitar amplifiers. In 1950, his firm released the first guitar, called the Esquire, which after a series of renames (in particular because of the patented name behind the legendary drum model produced by Gretsch) became the Telecaster. Leo Fender gave up on the idea of producing semi-acoustic guitars - that was what resonating body electric guitars were called at the time. Today, this wording is not entirely accurate, since acoustic guitars with a pickup appeared on the market. The most accurate English formulation sounds like Hollow body electric guitar - an electric guitar with a hollow body. In everyday life, it is called the jazz model. A pragmatic man, Leo Fender decided to concentrate exclusively on the "electric" sound of guitars. Firstly, the feedback problem was partially solved, and secondly, the guitars from a solid piece of wood had a harder sound attack and better sustain. Initially, the English word sustain with the development of electric guitars entered almost all languages. In everyday life, this word guitarists mean the time of the sounding of a note (sound or string) from the moment of sound production to the moment of complete decay. In solid-body guitars, the sustain is significantly higher, since the rigid structure dampens string vibrations to a lesser extent than the resonant body, which takes up a significant part of their mechanical energy. In the fifties, there were both supporters and opponents of such guitars, but, undoubtedly, interest was shown in the new instrument. Leo Fender decided not to stop there. His next steps were truly revolutionary. First, his brainchild was the most successful and often copied electric guitar in history - the Stratocaster. Secondly, he created a fundamentally new instrument - the bass guitar. In both cases, Fender tried to create more modern instruments, eliminating the shortcomings of previously produced models. If the stratocaster was like a continuation of the history of electric guitars, then the bass guitar had no analogues before. Leo Fender walked towards new trends in music. The era of jazz orchestras was waning, the era of rock and roll was coming. Often, numerous rhythm and blues quartets had a sharp question - what instrument to fill in the lower register. Often one of the guitarists had to pick up a double bass, which required certain skills, and was also heavy and cumbersome. This is how the idea of creating a lightweight compact tool that easily fits in the back seat of a car came about. The Stratocaster, in turn, was a model of comfort - it had an unusual shape. The notch on the bottom allowed the fingers to reach the very top frets, the notch on the top was just a way to balance the center of gravity so that when playing while standing, the bar would not outweigh. The corners of the guitar were chiselled and didn't bite into the ribs. The Stratocaster had another innovation, which Leo Fender called "synchronized tremolo", which will be discussed later.
Solid body guitars, which have become classics, are still very popular today.
However, for the first 10 years, the Stratocaster did not enjoy the triumphant popularity that it gained in the 70s. There may be several reasons for this. Firstly, musicians who have long been famous for their conservatism often preferred "jazz" guitars in the fifties. In the 60s, the era of British music began. The first half of the sixties belongs to the legendary Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Animals. Music originated in America reached Europe, and above all Great Britain. American records went with sailors to port cities (some of which were Liverpool and Hamburg) and gave rise to the Big Bit epidemic in them. English musicians introduced a kind of academicism into the new movement, music, which was previously considered a cheap entertainment for young people, began to be perceived by the older generation. However, the market for electric guitars in Britain was different from the American one. Big companies like Gibson and Rickenbacker managed to get their instruments to Europe, Fender was unable to gain a foothold in this market. In addition, European guitar companies could not ignore the hype around electric guitars. Many firms tried to produce their own models, in particular the early Beatles used instruments from the German factory Hofner, and Paul McCartney still plays the Hofner violin bass, bought in the early 60s in Hamburg. English musician Chris Rea immortalized the significance of the factory's instruments for British blues in the albums Hofner Blue Notes and Return Of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes (despite this fact, the company was unable to maintain a leading position in the market).
Sir Paul McCartney and his famous Hofner Bass Violin
The second half of the 60s passed under the banner of experiments in the field of sound. Many distortions that were previously considered interference have now become an artistic element, electrical sound began to be transformed with effects beyond recognition. First of all, the musicians began to apply overdrive, which gave a characteristic "buzzing" sound. This, in particular, can also explain the low interest in stratocaster. The fact is that they had three singles as pickups, which gave a weaker signal compared to the humbuckers that were on many other guitars (we will talk about the types of pickups later). The more powerful output of the humbuckers behaved more interestingly on the overdriven sound. This led to the birth of a new style - hard rock. The brightest representatives of the "new sound" of the late 60s are the Yardbirds, which included Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The legendary guitar virtuoso Jimmi Hendrix contributed to the great popularity of the stratocaster, who changed the idea of \ u200b \ u200bthe possibilities of the guitar in rock music. After his performance at the Woodstock Festival, there was an increased interest in Stratocaster. Many guitarists have switched to this model. It is pointless to list all the musicians who use the stratocaster - the list will be very long. Suffice it to name the brightest of them - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Richie Blackmore, Rory Gallagher, David Gilmore, Mark Knopfler and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Each of these guitarists is a master of his craft, each has an individual style of playing and each worked in his own genre. Apparently this gave birth to the legend about the versatility of stratocaster, guitars, on which you can play any music, from jazz to heavy metal. This is perhaps the end of the history of the development of electric guitars. As an instrument, the electric guitar was finally formed in the 70s. In the eighties, several new corporations for the production of guitars appeared in the USA - Jackson, Hamer, Kramer, B C Rich. At these factories, the tools offered by older firms were taken as a basis and improved. So, for example, a "superstrat" appeared on the market - a guitar in the shape of a stratocaster, but often having more convenient access to the last frets, the number of frets on guitars increased to 24 (in some cases, up to 30, for example, Ulrich Roth, a former participant Scorpions), various pickup configurations were used.
The Ibanez SA guitar can be classified as an improved superstrat.
Sometimes the guitars were given a peculiar shape that did not affect the sound in any way, but looked impressive on stage - for example, the Gibson Explorer or the Gibson Flying V. Sometimes the guitars were made to order, with a body in the form of an American flag, a dragon, or a Viking ax. The convenience of playing such guitars was not always taken into account and was a subjective concept.
The shape of the guitar became an artistic element for the concert show.
Jay Turser "SHARK" guitar bought by Vladimir Holstinin (Aria) for the collection just for a joke.
Seven and eight-string guitars are not uncommon. At the same time, Japanese enterprises entered the world market. Jack Bruce, who worked with Eric Clapton in the Cream trio, recalls the first time he picked up a Japanese bass guitar in the late 60s: "It was the worst instrument that never sounded." Today, professional musicians enjoy using the products of the Japanese firms ESP and Ibanez. It is difficult to imagine the trend of the instrument's development in the near future, but in the present, the electric guitar has already become a completely classical instrument.
Sometimes guitarists don't have enough range. Ibanez RG Prestige seven and eight string guitars.
The article was prepared by Leonid Reinhardt (Germany)
The POP-MUSIC online store offers inexpensive new electric guitars. On our website you will find a catalog of over 500 models of these instruments. The store has pick-up points in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities, as well as delivery throughout the country by Russian Post and transport companies.
Characteristics of electric guitars
The electric guitar is equipped with an electromagnetic pickup, which expands the possibilities of sound post-processing. This is its fundamental difference from , in which the role of the sound amplifier is played by the housing itself with a resonating hole. There is no such hole in electronic guitars, the body is one-piece, not hollow, with a bizarre shape. The most common body types are the Stratocaster and Les Paul, which are shaped like a cutaway acoustic folk guitar.
One of the first one-piece models was the Telecaster from FENDER. A little later, this company launched the production of a Stratocaster-type case, which many manufacturers copy, more ergonomic superstrata go back to it. The shape of the hulls of Randy Rhoads, Flying V (resembles an arrowhead), Explorer is interesting.
Large selection of electric guitars
In our store, you can place an order for an electric guitar by selecting the appropriate model using filters. The range of prices is impressive: from 8 to 103 thousand rubles. To set the desired range, move the slider or enter numbers manually. You can also search by brands. The electric guitar shop offers you 147 models of the American brand SCHECTER - from democratic to elite. The brands PHIL PRO, LAG, CRUISER by CRAFTER, PIGNOSE are represented by single models. The most affordable prices are the products of the manufacturer ASHTONE.
Guitars also differ from each other in body and neck material (alder, mahogany, maple, ash), design, number of pickups (2-3) and their configuration, number of strings (6, 7, less often 8), frets (22, 24 and more), switch positions, presence / absence of a tremolo lever and many other characteristics. Professional electric guitars are more expensive than amateur ones. If you are looking for where to buy an electric guitar, please contact us!
Buy electric guitar these days it is quite difficult. If you decide to choose an electric guitar, not an acoustic guitar, and not a bass guitar, then you need to take into account a lot of different factors.
The first thing you need to do is decide on a price range. A good electric guitar can also be found in budget versions up to 15 thousand rubles. Next, you need to decide what style (or styles) you want to play: there are no universal solutions (there is only what is more suitable for a certain genre, and for which less), and a lot depends on the device and component parts of the guitar: the wood itself, pickups (humbucker or single), strings, etc. Therefore, when you decide what exactly you will play the guitar, the range of models and / or manufacturers will also be determined. Of course, you need to choose your body type: stratocaster, telecaster, forest floor, v-style and others. For beginners, the Stratocaster and other superstrat are best suited. If the guitar has a so-called tremolo-lever, and if you need it - also pay attention to it, it must hold tight.
Next - evaluate the sound of the selected guitar, live or in demo samples. If it suits you, proceed to the purchase, and when you get the electric guitar in your hands, be sure to check its tuning (the guitar must hold the tuning), fret (number of frets), evaluate the workmanship, check the neck (put the guitar body on your shoulder and look along Neck: The neck should be straight and the strings level).
After you have chosen an instrument, think about accessories: the electric guitar itself will not sound. To play your electric guitar fully, you need at least
The electric guitar appeared in the 30s of the XX century in response to the need to amplify the guitar sound in jazz big bands.
As the size of ensembles grew, the wind section began to drown out acoustic guitars, and musical instrument manufacturers began to look for a way out of this situation. This led to the invention of the electric guitar, which over time became one of the main instruments in popular music around the world. Thanks to its wide capabilities, it has become a major component in the development of styles such as rock and roll, and many others.
How to choose an electric guitar?
Modern instruments have a variety of designs. However, all electronic guitars have similarities. First of all, this is the presence of a neck, strings and a pickup. The model can be without a body, there are exotic electric guitars with a frame. Nevertheless, the most common wooden bodies are in the form of a solid board, on which there are pickups, volume and tone controls, and a tremolo knob.
Nowadays, the influence of wood material on the sound character of electronic guitars is a topic of constant controversy. Some believe that it does not play any role, others talk about subtle differences in sound, depending on the type of wood. The bodies are made of hardwood: alder, ash, mahogany, poplar, linden, maple are often used. For more affordable models, pine, agatis, and plywood are used.
The neck has several types of fastening. It can be glued into the body of the guitar or screwed onto it. In the second case, the neck of an electric guitar is easy to replace on your own, firms such as Warmoth and Mighty Mite have created a market for interchangeable necks.
The third type of attachment, when the neck goes through the entire body, is more typical for basses.
From the pickup to the amplifier, the signal is altered by various devices to create effects. Modern electric guitars have several types of pickups installed at the same time. The selector allows you to switch between them. The fact is that single-coil pickups give a cleaner, brighter, harsh tone, while double-coil pickups give a warmer, thicker, even slightly muddy tone.
The main effects are usually controlled by the guitarist using a multi-function pedal. Modern devices of this type contain many electronic effects (20 or more) that shape the sound in real time. In 2002, electric guitars appeared that independently convert the signal to digital format, which allows them to be connected directly to a synthesizer or computer.
The electric guitar is played most often with the help of a pick, which is due to the use of well-stretched metal strings.
Still have questions? Please contact our consultants. We offer to buy electric guitars both in an online store and in a retail network in Moscow.