Electric guitar who invented

None of these solutions were quite what guitarists needed and did not achieve the volume they required. Around was when the very first electric guitar was born, and it was created by a man named Paul H. Paul used a unique method that had not been tried before; he created a pickup using magnets paired with wire coils.

This method amplified the vibration of the strings, increasing the volume of the instrument. Fun fact; his method was actually inspired by how telephones used magnets to create vocal vibrations!

Just a few years later, two more innovative people created their own versions of the electric guitar with a similar method using wire and magnets. John Dopyera and George Beauchamp would go on to create the first instrument that began to resemble the modern electric guitar. The guitar design was taken to a man named Adolph Rickenbacker, who would then go on to create Rickenbacker guitars; this was the very first company to manufacture electric guitars for the masses.

At the time, there was drama afoot at National. Beauchamp played Hawaiian guitar and understood the problem that steel guitarists like him had to face when playing with a band: no one could ever hear them. It was the same volume issue he had tried to solve earlier when he co—invented the metal—bodied resonator with John Dopyera at National. Toying with pickup designs, Beauchamp arrived at a over—the—strings pickup with two horseshoe—shaped magnets surrounding a coil of wire.

That wire surrounded six smaller magnets — one for each string. This was a giant leap toward the modern pickup as we know it today. Earlier pickups were microphonic, meaning they depended on string vibrations being transferred through the air or a wooden bridge. The design sacrificed natural acoustic tone — a major sticking point for manufacturers like National, Gibson, and Dobro — but solved the need for greater volume.

Acceptance among musicians and listeners would prove to be slow but sure. Beauchamp, Rickenbacker, and others severed ties with National and joined forces in to form the Ro—Pat—In Corporation.

While no one is left to explain the weird name, Ro—Pat—In is solidified in gear history for producing the first electric guitars to utilize a modern pickup.

Working with fellow ex—National employees Paul Barth and Harry Watson, Beauchamp built a prototype of an electric steel guitar. Coming out of production in , the Frying Pan was available in two models with different scale lengths: the A22 and A Ro—Pat—In sold a grand total of 13 guitar—and—amp sets in the launch year of Ro—Pat—In sold the first models under the brand name Electro. They changed the company name to Electro String Instrumental Corporation in and marketed the guitars as Rickenbacher Electro Instruments, and so after a subtle spell change the storied Rickenbacker brand was born.

In , Electro String followed up the A22 and A25 with the Model B, which came in a square—neck lap steel version and a round—neck Spanish version. Also in , Beauchamp and Rickenbacker introduced a guitar dubbed the Ken Roberts model, which placed a horseshoe pickup and the first—ever tremolo arm designed by Doc Kauffman on an archtop body built by Harmony with a full 25—inch scale.

With less than 50 built, the Ken Roberts guitar was, in many ways, the first modern electric Spanish—style guitar ever produced. He also designed and built his own multi-track tape recorders. The quality and originality of Les Paul's work inspired a generation of musicians to embrace his guitar and recording techniques.

In , the Gibson Musical Instrument Co. It rapidly established the new instrument as a powerful influence in the entertainment industry. After all, the future of electric guitars is closely tied with what the players of these instruments actually want. Musical Instrument Guide. The Origins of the Electric Guitar The birth of the electric guitar. The first electric guitar Although guitars have a long history, they had fallen behind the times in a way-especially in terms of volume-as many others instruments had been modified over the years.

The first solid-body guitar A major difficulty for the first electric guitars with pickups attached to their bodies was the acoustic phenomenon called "feedback," where sound amplified by an amplifier causes the instrument to resonate, creating a cacophony of sound. The past, present, and future of the electric guitar During the s new and innovative instruments were released one after another, with what we consider the modern electric guitar being mostly completed in Structure What kind of instrument is an electric guitar?