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Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external
Electric guitar
electric sound amplification in order to be heard at
typical performance volumes, unlike a standard
acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to
convert the vibration of its strings into electrical
signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by
loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or
electronically altered to achieve different timbres or
tonal qualities via amplifier settings or knobs on the
guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects
such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter
is considered to be a key element of electric blues
guitar music and jazz, rock and heavy metal guitar
playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of
electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and
acoustic-electric guitars. 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom electric guitar
String instrument
Invented in 1932, the electric guitar was adopted by
jazz guitar players, who wanted to play single-note Other names Guitar, solid-body guitar
guitar solos in large big band ensembles. Early Classification String instrument
proponents of the electric guitar on record include (fingered or picked or
Les Paul, Eddie Durham, George Barnes, Lonnie strummed)
Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, T-Bone Walker, and Hornbostel–Sachs 321.322
Charlie Christian. During the 1950s and 1960s, the classification (Composite
electric guitar became the most important chordophone)
instrument in popular music.[1] It has evolved into Developed 1932, United States
an instrument that is capable of a multitude of
Playing range
sounds and styles in genres ranging from pop and
rock to folk to country music, blues and jazz. It
served as a major component in the development of
electric blues, rock and roll, rock music, heavy metal
music and many other genres of music.
(a guitar tuned to E standard)

Electric guitar design and construction varies greatly Sound sample

in the shape of the body and the configuration of the
neck, bridge, and pickups. Guitars may have a fixed 0:06
bridge or a spring-loaded hinged bridge, which lets
players "bend" the pitch of notes or chords up or Electric guitar lick in the style of Chuck Berry
down, or perform vibrato effects. The sound of an file · help

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electric guitar can be modified by new playing techniques such as string bending, tapping, and
hammering-on, using audio feedback, or slide guitar playing.

There are several types of electric guitar. Early forms were hollow-body semi-acoustic guitars,
while solid body guitars developed later. String configurations include the six-string guitar (the
most common type), which is usually tuned E, A, D, G, B, E, from lowest to highest strings; the
seven-string guitar, which typically adds a low B string below the low E; the eight-string guitar,
which typically adds a low E or F# string below the low B; and the twelve-string guitar, which has
six two-string courses similar to a mandolin.

In rock, the electric guitar is often used in two roles: as a rhythm guitar, which plays the chord
sequences or progressions, and riffs, and sets the beat (as part of a rhythm section); and as a lead
guitar, which provides instrumental melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and solos. In
a small group, such as a power trio, one guitarist may switch between both roles; in larger groups
there is often a rhythm guitarist and a lead guitarist.

History
Many experiments with electrically amplifying the vibrations of a
string instrument were made dating back to the early part of the 20th
century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters were
adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound.
Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to
the bridge; however, these detected vibrations from the bridge on top
of the instrument, resulting in a weak signal.[2]

Electric guitars were originally designed by acoustic guitar makers and

instrument manufacturers. The demand for amplified guitars began
during the big band era; as orchestras increased in size, guitar players
soon realized the necessity in guitar amplification and
electrification.[3] The first electric guitars used in jazz were hollow
archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers. The "Frying Pan", 1932

The first electrically amplified stringed instrument to be marketed

commercially was a cast aluminium lap steel guitar nicknamed the "Frying Pan" designed in 1931
by George Beauchamp, the general manager of the National Stringed Instrument Corporation, with
Paul Barth, who was vice president.[4] George Beauchamp, along with Adolph Rickenbacker,
invented the electromagnetic pickups.[5] Coils that were wrapped around a magnet would create an
electromagnetic field that converted the vibrations of the guitar strings into electrical signals,
which could then be amplified. Commercial production began in late summer of 1932 by the Ro-
Pat-In Corporation (Electro-Patent-Instrument Company), in Los Angeles,[6][7] a partnership of
Beauchamp, Adolph Rickenbacker (originally Rickenbacher), and Paul Barth.[8]

In 1934, the company was renamed the Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company. In
that year Beauchamp applied for a United States patent for an Electrical Stringed Musical
Instrument and the patent was later issued in 1937.[9][10][11][12] By the time it was patented, other
manufacturers were already making their own electric guitar designs.[13] Early electric guitar
manufacturers include Rickenbacker in 1932; Dobro in 1933; National, AudioVox and Volu-tone in
1934; Vega, Epiphone (Electrophone and Electar), and Gibson in 1935 and many others by 1936.
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By early-mid 1935, Electro String Instrument Corporation had

achieved success with the "Frying Pan", and set out to capture a new
audience through its release of the Electro-Spanish Model B and the
Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts, which was the first full 25-inch scale
electric guitar ever produced.[14][9][10][11][12] The Electro-Spanish Ken
Roberts was revolutionary for its time, providing players a full 25-inch
scale, with easy access to 17 frets free of the body.[15] Unlike other lap-
steel electrified instruments produced during the time, the Electro-
Spanish Ken Roberts was designed to play while standing upright with
the guitar on a strap, as with acoustic guitars.[15] The Electro-Spanish
Ken Roberts was also the first instrument to feature a hand-operated
vibrato as a standard arrangement,[15] a device called the "Vibrola",
Electro-Spanish by Ken invented by Doc Kauffman.[15] [16] It is estimated that fewer than 50
Roberts, 1935 Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts were constructed between 1933 and
1937; fewer than 10 are known to survive today.[9][10][11][12]

The solid-body electric guitar is made of solid wood, without functionally resonating air spaces.
The first solid-body Spanish standard guitar was offered by Vivi-Tone no later than 1934. This
model featured a guitar-shaped body of a single sheet of plywood affixed to a wood frame. Another
early, substantially solid Spanish electric guitar, called the Electro Spanish, was marketed by the
Rickenbacker guitar company in 1935 and made of Bakelite. By 1936, the Slingerland company
introduced a wooden solid-body electric model, the Slingerland Songster 401 (and a lap steel
counterpart, the Songster 400).

Gibson's first production electric guitar, marketed in 1936, was the ES-150 model ("ES" for
"Electric Spanish", and "150" reflecting the $150 price of the instrument, along with matching
amplifier). The ES-150 guitar featured a single-coil, hexagonally shaped "bar" pickup, which was
designed by Walt Fuller. It became known as the "Charlie Christian" pickup (named for the jazz
guitarist who was among the first to perform with the ES-150 guitar). The ES-150 achieved some
popularity but suffered from unequal loudness across the six strings.

A functioning solid-body electric guitar was designed and built in 1940 by Les Paul from an
Epiphone acoustic archtop as an experiment. His "log guitar" — a wood post with a neck attached
and two hollow-body halves attached to the sides for appearance only — shares nothing in common
for design or hardware with the solid-body Gibson Les Paul, designed by Ted McCarty and
introduced in 1952.

The feedback associated with amplified hollow-bodied electric guitars was understood long before
Paul's "log" was created in 1940; Gage Brewer's Ro-Pat-In of 1932 had a top so heavily reinforced
that it essentially functioned as a solid-body instrument.[2]

Types

Solid-body
Unlike acoustic guitars, solid-body electric guitars have no vibrating soundboard to amplify string
vibration. Instead, solid-body instruments depend on electric pickups, and an amplifier ("amp")
and speaker. The solid body ensures that the amplified sound reproduces the string vibration
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alone, thus avoiding the wolf tones and unwanted feedback[19]

associated with amplified acoustic guitars. These guitars are generally
made of hardwood covered with a hard polymer finish, often polyester
or lacquer. In large production facilities, the wood is stored for three
to six months in a wood-drying kiln before being cut to shape.
Premium custom-built guitars are frequently made with much older,
hand-selected wood.

One of the first solid-body guitars was invented by Les Paul. Gibson
did not present their Gibson Les Paul guitar prototypes to the public,
as they did not believe the solid-body style would catch on. Another
early solid-body Spanish style guitar, resembling what would become
Gibson's Les Paul guitar a decade later, was developed in 1941 by O.W.
Appleton, of Nogales, Arizona.[20] Appleton made contact with both
Gibson and Fender but was unable to sell the idea behind his "App"
guitar to either company.[21] In 1946, Merle Travis commissioned steel
guitar builder Paul Bigsby to build him a solid-body Spanish-style The Fender Stratocaster
electric. [22] Bigsby delivered the guitar in 1948. The first mass- has one of the most often
produced solid-body guitar was Fender Esquire and Fender emulated electric guitar
Broadcaster (later to become the Fender Telecaster), first made in shapes[17][18]

1950, five years after Les Paul made his prototype. The Gibson Les
Paul appeared soon after to compete with the Broadcaster.[23] Another
notable solid-body design is the Fender Stratocaster, which was introduced in 1954 and became
extremely popular among musicians in the 1960s and 1970s for its wide tonal capabilities and
more comfortable ergonomics than other models. Different styles of guitar have different pick-up
styles, the main being 2 or 3 "single-coil" pick-ups or a double humbucker, with the Stratocaster
being a triple single-coil guitar.

The history of electric guitars has been summarized by Guitar World magazine, and the earliest
electric guitar on their top 10 list is the Ro-Pat-In Electro A-25 "Frying Pan" (1932) described as
"The first-fully functioning solid-body electric guitar to be manufactured and sold".[24] It was the
first electric guitar used in a publicly promoted performance, performed by Gage Brewer in
Wichita, Kansas in October 1932.[25][26][27] The most recent electric guitar on this list was the
Ibanez Jem (1987) which featured "24 frets", an impossibly thin neck" and was "designed to be the
ultimate shredder machine". Numerous other important electric guitars are on the list, including
Gibson ES-150 (1936), Fender Telecaster (1951), Gibson Les Paul (1952), Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet
(1953), Fender Stratocaster (1954), Rickenbacker 360/12 (1964), Van Halen Frankenstrat (1975),
Paul Reed Smith Custom (1985) many of these guitars were "successors" to earlier designs.[24]
Electric guitar designs eventually became culturally important and visually iconic, with various
model companies selling miniature model versions of particularly famous electric guitars, for
example, the Gibson SG used by Angus Young from the group AC/DC.

Chambered-body

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Some otherwise solid-bodied guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul Supreme, the PRS Singlecut, and
the Fender Telecaster Thinline, are built with hollow chambers in the body. These chambers are
designed to not interfere with the critical bridge and string anchor point on the solid body. In the
case of Gibson and PRS, these are called chambered bodies. The motivation for this may be to
reduce weight, to achieve a semi-acoustic tone (see below) or both.[28][29][30]

Semi-acoustic
Semi-acoustic guitars have a hollow body similar to an acoustic guitar
and electromagnetic pickups mounted directly into the body. They work
in a similar way to solid-body electric guitars except that because the
hollow body also vibrates, the pickups convert a combination of string
and body vibration into an electrical signal. Many models, known as
semi-hollow bodies, have a solid block running through the middle of the
soundbox designed to reduce acoustic feedback. They do not provide
enough acoustic volume for live performance, but they can be used
unplugged for quiet practice. Semi-acoustic guitars are noted for being
able to provide a sweet, plaintive, or funky tone. They are used in many
genres, including jazz, blues, funk, sixties pop, and indie rock. They
generally have cello-style F-shaped sound holes, which can be blocked off
to further reduce feedback. Whereas chambered guitars are made, like
solid-body guitars, from a single block of wood, semi-acoustic guitar
bodies are made from multiple pieces of wood in an archtop form, a Epiphone semi-acoustic
method of construction different from the typical steel string acoustic hollow-body guitar
guitar. The top is formed from a moderately thick piece of wood which is
then carved into a thin outward-curving shape, whereas conventional
acoustic guitars have a thin, flat top.

Electric acoustic
Some steel-string acoustic guitars include a built-in system to electrically amplify their output
without altering their tone as an alternative to using a separate microphone. The system may
consist of piezoelectric pickups mounted under the bridge, or a low-mass microphone (usually a
condenser mic) inside the body of the guitar that converts the vibrations in the body into electronic
signals. Combinations of these types of pickups may be used, with an integral
mixer/preamp/graphic equalizer. Such instruments are called electric acoustic guitars. They are
regarded as acoustic guitars rather than electric guitars because the pickups do not produce a
signal directly from the vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top or
body, and the amplification of the sound merely increases volume, not alters tone.

Construction
Electric guitar design and construction vary greatly in the shape of the body and the configuration
of the neck, bridge, and pickups. However, some features are present on most guitars. The photo
below shows the different parts of an electric guitar. The headstock (1) contains the metal machine
heads (1.1), which use a worm gear for tuning. The nut (1.4)—a thin fret-like strip of metal, plastic,
graphite, or bone—supports the strings at the headstock end of the instrument. The frets (2.3) are
thin metal strips that stop the string at the correct pitch when the player pushes a string against
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the fingerboard. The truss rod (1.2) is a metal rod (usually

adjustable) that counters the tension of the strings to keep the
neck straight. Position markers (2.2) provide the player with a
reference to the playing position on the fingerboard.[31]

The neck and fretboard (2.1) extend from the body. At the neck
joint (2.4), the neck is either glued or bolted to the body. The
body (3) is typically made of wood with a hard, polymerized
finish. Strings vibrating in the magnetic field of the pickups
(3.1, 3.2) produce an electric current in the pickup winding that
passes through the tone and volume controls (3.8) to the
output jack. Some guitars have piezo pickups, in addition to or
instead of magnetic pickups.

Some guitars have a fixed bridge (3.4). Others have a spring-

loaded hinged bridge called a vibrato bar, tremolo bar, or
whammy bar, which lets players bend notes or chords up or
down in pitch or perform a vibrato embellishment. A plastic
pickguard on some guitars protects the body from scratches or
covers the control cavity, which holds most of the wiring. The
degree to which the choice of woods and other materials in the
solid-guitar body (3) affects the sonic character of the amplified
signal is disputed. Some believe it is highly significant, while
others think the difference between woods is subtle. In acoustic
and archtop guitars, wood choices more clearly affect tone.

Woods typically used in solid-body electric guitars include

alder, swamp ash and mahogany. Cheaper guitars are often
made of cheaper woods, such as plywood, pine, or agathis—not
true hardwoods—which can affect durability and tone. Though 1. Headstock
most guitars are made of wood, any material may be used. 1.1 machine heads
Materials such as plastic, metal, and even cardboard have been 1.2 truss rod cover
1.3 string guide
used in some instruments.
1.4 nut
2. Neck
The guitar output jack typically provides a monaural signal.
2.1 fretboard
Many guitars with active electronics use a jack with an extra 2.2 inlay fret markers
contact normally used for stereo. These guitars use the extra 2.3 frets
contact to break the ground connection to the on-board battery 2.4 neck joint
to preserve battery life when the guitar is unplugged. These 3. Body
guitars require a mono plug to close the internal switch and 3.1 "neck" pickup
connect the battery to ground. Standard guitar cables use a 3.2 "bridge" pickup
3.3 saddles
high-impedance 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) mono plug. These have a tip
3.4 bridge
and sleeve configuration referred to as a TS phone connector. 3.5 fine tuners and tailpiece
The voltage is usually around 1 to 9 millivolts. assembly
3.6 whammy bar (vibrato arm)
A few guitars, such as Rickenbacker guitars equipped with 3.7 pickup selector switch
Rick-O-Sound, feature stereo output. There are a variety of 3.8 volume and tone control knobs
ways the "stereo" effect may be implemented. Commonly, but 3.9 output connector (output jack)
not exclusively, stereo guitars route the neck and bridge (TS)
pickups to separate output buses on the guitar. A stereo cable 3.10 strap buttons

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then routes each pickup to its signal chain or amplifier. For 4. Strings
these applications, the most popular connector is a high- 4.1 bass strings
4.2 treble strings
impedance 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) plug with a tip, ring, and sleeve
configuration, also known as a TRS phone connector. Some
studio instruments, notably certain Gibson Les Paul models, incorporate a low-impedance three-
pin XLR connector for balanced audio. Many exotic arrangements and connectors exist that
support features such as midi and hexaphonic pickups.

Bridge and tailpiece systems

The bridge and tailpiece, while serving separate purposes, work closely together to affect playing
style and tone. There are four basic types of bridge and tailpiece systems on electric guitars. Within
these four types are many variants.

A hard-tail guitar bridge anchors the strings at or directly behind the bridge and is fastened
securely to the top of the instrument.[32] These are common on carved-top guitars, such as the
Gibson Les Paul and the Paul Reed Smith models, and on slab-body guitars, such as the Music
Man Albert Lee and Fender guitars that are not equipped with a vibrato arm.

A floating or trapeze tailpiece (similar to a violin's) fastens to the body at the base of the guitar.
These appear on Rickenbackers, Gretsches, Epiphones, a wide variety of archtop guitars,
particularly jazz guitars, and the 1952 Gibson Les Paul.[33]

Pictured is a tremolo arm or vibrato tailpiece-style bridge and tailpiece system, often called a
whammy bar or trem. It uses a lever ("vibrato arm") attached to the bridge that can temporarily
slacken or tighten the strings to alter the pitch. A player can use this to create a vibrato or a
portamento effect. Early vibrato systems were often unreliable and made the guitar go out of tune
easily. They also had a limited pitch range. Later Fender designs were better, but Fender held the
patent on these, so other companies used older designs for many years.

With the expiration of the Fender patent on the Stratocaster-

style vibrato, various improvements on this type of internal,
multi-spring vibrato system are now available. Floyd Rose
introduced one of the first improvements on the vibrato system
in many years when, in the late 1970s, he experimented with
"locking" nuts and bridges that prevent the guitar from losing
tuning, even under heavy vibrato bar use.

The fourth type of system

Detail of a Squier-made Fender
employs string-through
Stratocaster. Note the vibrato arm,
body anchoring. The strings
the 3 single-coil pickups, the volume
and tone knobs. pass over the bridge
saddles, then through holes
through the top of the
guitar body to the back. The strings are typically anchored in
place at the back of the guitar by metal ferrules. Many believe
this design improves a guitar's sustain and timbre. A few Tune-o-matic with "strings through
examples of string-through body guitars are the Fender the body" construction (without
stopbar)

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Telecaster Thinline, the Fender Telecaster Deluxe, the B.C. Rich IT Warlock and Mockingbird, and
the Schecter Omen 6 and 7 series.

Pickups
Compared to an acoustic guitar, which has a hollow body,
electric guitars make much less audible sound when their
strings are plucked, so electric guitars are normally plugged
into a guitar amplifier and speaker. When an electric guitar is
played, string movement produces a signal by generating (i.e.,
inducing) a small electric current in the magnetic pickups,
which are magnets wound with coils of very fine wire. The
signal passes through the tone and volume circuits to the
Pickups on a Fender Squier "Fat
output jack, and through a cable to an amplifier.[34] The
Strat" guitar—a "humbucker" pickup
current induced is proportional to such factors as string density on the left and two single-coil
and the amount of movement over the pickups. pickups on the right.

Because of their natural qualities, magnetic pickups tend to

pick up ambient, usually unwanted electromagnetic interference or EMI.[35] This mains hum
results in a tone of 50 or 60 cycles per second depending on the powerline frequency of the local
alternating current supply.

The resulting hum is particularly strong with single-coil pickups. Double-coil or "humbucker"
pickups were invented as a way to reduce or counter the sound, as they are designed to "buck" (in
the verb sense of oppose or resist) the hum, hence their name. The high combined inductance of
the two coils also leads to the richer, "fatter" tone associated with humbucking pickups.

Necks
Electric guitar necks vary in composition and shape. The
primary metric of guitar necks is the scale length, which is the
vibrating length of the strings from nut to bridge. A typical
Fender guitar uses a 25.5-inch (65 cm) scale length, while
Gibson uses a 24.75-inch (62.9 cm) scale length in their Les
Paul. While the scale length of the Les Paul is often described
as 24.75 inches, it has varied through the years by as much as a
half inch.[36]
Roasted Maple guitar neck blanks
with flame figure before shaping Frets are positioned proportionally to scale length—the shorter
the scale length, the closer the fret spacing. Opinions vary
regarding the effect of scale length on tone and feel. Popular
opinion holds that longer scale length contributes to greater amplitude. Reports of playing feel are
greatly complicated by the many factors involved in this perception. String gauge and design, neck
construction and relief, guitar setup, playing style, and other factors contribute to the subjective
impression of playability or feel.

Necks are described as bolt-on, set-in, or neck-through, depending on how they attach to the body.
Set-in necks are glued to the body at the factory. This is the traditional type of joint. Leo Fender
pioneered bolt-on necks on electric guitars to facilitate easy adjustment and replacement. Neck-
through instruments extend the neck to the length of the instrument so that it forms the center of
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the body. While a set-in neck can be carefully unglued by a

skilled luthier, and a bolt-on neck can simply be unscrewed, a
neck-through design is difficult or even impossible to repair,
depending on the damage. Historically, the bolt-on style has
been more popular for ease of installation and adjustment.
Since bolt-on necks can be easily removed, there is an after-
market in replacement bolt-on necks from companies such as
Warmoth and Mighty Mite. Some instruments—notably most
A bolt-on neck
Gibson models—continue to use set-in glued necks. Neck-
through bodies are somewhat more common in bass guitars.

Materials for necks are selected for dimensional stability and rigidity,[37] and some allege that they
influence tone. Hardwoods are preferred, with maple, mahogany, and ash topping the list. The
neck and fingerboard can be made from different materials; for example, a guitar may have a
maple neck with a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. Today there are expensive and budget guitars
exploring other options for fretboard wood for instance Pau-Ferro, both for availability and cheap
price while still maintaining quality.[38] In the 1970s, designers began to use exotic human-made
materials such as aircraft-grade aluminum, carbon fiber, and ebonol. Makers known for these
unusual materials include John Veleno, Travis Bean, Geoff Gould, and Alembic.

Aside from possible engineering advantages, some feel that

with the rising cost of rare tonewoods, human-made materials
may be economically preferable and more ecologically
sensitive. However, wood remains popular in production
instruments, though sometimes in conjunction with new
materials. Vigier guitars, for example, use a wooden neck
reinforced by embedding a light, carbon fiber rod in place of
the usual heavier steel bar or adjustable steel truss rod. After-
market necks made entirely from carbon fiber fit existing bolt-
on instruments. Few, if any, extensive formal investigations
have been widely published that confirm or refute claims over
the effects of different woods or materials on the electric guitar
sound.

Two headless .strandberg* Boden

Plini model guitars with differing
construction methods. On the left is
neck-through construction with a
quarter-sawn Roasted Maple neck
and Swamp Ash wings. On the right
A neck-through bass guitar is a chamfered bolt-on quarter-sawn
Mahogany neck and Mahogany
body. Both necks have visible
Several neck shapes appear on guitars, including shapes known carbon reinforcement strips.
as C necks, U necks, and V necks. These refer to the cross-
sectional shape of the neck (especially near the nut). Several
sizes of fret wire are available, with traditional players often preferring thin frets, and metal
shredders liking thick frets. Thin frets are considered better for playing chords, while thick frets
allow lead guitarists to bend notes with less effort.

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An electric guitar with a folding neck called the "Foldaxe" was designed and built for Chet Atkins
by Roger C. Field.[39] Steinberger guitars developed a line of exotic, carbon fiber instruments
without headstocks, with tuning done on the bridge instead.

Fingerboards vary as much as necks. The fingerboard surface usually has a cross-sectional radius
that is optimized to accommodate finger movement for different playing techniques. Fingerboard
radius typically ranges from nearly flat (a very large radius) to radically arched (a small radius).
The vintage Fender Telecaster, for example, has a typical small radius of approximately 7.25 inches
(18.4 cm). Some manufacturers have experimented with fret profile and material, fret layout,
number of frets, and modifications of the fingerboard surface for various reasons. Some
innovations were intended to improve playability by ergonomic means, such as Warmoth Guitars'
compound radius fingerboard. Scalloped fingerboards added enhanced microtonality during fast
legato runs. Fanned frets intend to provide each string with an optimal playing tension and
enhanced musicality. Some guitars have no frets, while others, like the Gittler guitar, have no neck
in the traditional sense.

See also
List of electric guitar brands
Bass guitar
Bahian guitar
Bolt-on neck
Distortion (guitar)
Effects pedal
Electric pipa
Electromagnetic induction
Electronic tuner
Guitar harmonics
A selection of guitars and amps at Apple Music
Guitar synthesizer Row in Portland, Oregon in 2012
Guitar amplifier
Keytar
List of guitars
List of guitarists
Neck through construction
Pickup
Relic'ing
Sitarla
Stars and Their Guitars: A History of the Electric Guitar (documentary film)
Set-in neck
Vintage guitar

References
1. Hempstead, Colin; Worthington, William E. (2005). Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Technology,
Volume 2 (https://books.google.com/books?id=0wkIlnNjDWcC&pg=PA793). Taylor & Francis.
p. 793. ISBN 1-57958-464-0.

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2. Wheelwright, Lynn; Carter, Walter (28 April 2010). [1] (http://www.vintageguitar.com/3588/ro-pat

-in-electric-spanish/). Vintage Guitar. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
3. "Invention: Electric Guitar" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180824234551/http://invention.si.ed
u/invention-electric-guitar/p/35-invention). www.invention.si.edu. Lemelson Center for the Study
of Invention and Innovation. Archived from the original (http://invention.si.edu/invention-electric-
guitar/p/35-invention) on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
4. Wheeler, Tom (1978). The Guitar Book: A Handbook for Electric & Acoustic Guitarists.
Harpercollins. p. 153. ISBN 0-06-014579-X.
5. "Invention" (https://invention.si.edu/node/791/p/35-invention). Lemelson Center for the Study of
Invention and Innovation. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
6. Smith, Richard R. (1987). The History of Rickenbacker Guitars (https://books.google.com/book
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External links
ON! The Beginnings of Electric Sound Generation (http://www.museumofmakingmusic.org/on)
– an exhibit at the Museum of Making Music, National Association of Music Merchants,
Carlsbad, CA – some of the earliest electric guitars and their history, from the collection of Lynn
Wheelwright and others
King of Kays (http://www.Kingofkays.com) Vintage guitar's from America, Japan, and Italy.
Pictures, history, and forums.
The Invention of the Electric Guitar (http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/electricguitar/
index.htm) – Online exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American
History
Sweetwater Sound | Who Invented the Electric Guitar? (https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/wh
o-invented-the-electric-guitar/) — A chronological exploration of the development of the electric
guitar from 1890 to 1952, including contributions from Rickenbacker, Bigbsy, Fender, and
Gibson.

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