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Electric guitar

Two types of electric guitar: Godin LG and Squierby Fender Stratocaster

String instrument

Classification String instrument (Most oftenplucked or strummed, either byfingers, or with a pick.)

Hornbostel–Sachsclassification

321.322(Composite chordophone)

Playing range

(a standard tuned guitar)

Electric guitarFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses a pickup toconvert the vibration of its strings into electricalimpulses. The most common guitar pickup uses theprinciple of direct electromagnetic induction. Thesignal generated by an electric guitar is too weak todrive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sendingit to a loudspeaker. Since the output of an electricguitar is an electric signal, the signal may easily bealtered using electronic circuits to add "color" to thesound. Often the signal is modified using effects suchas reverb and distortion.

Invented in 1931, the electric guitar became anecessity as jazz guitarists sought to amplify theirsound in the big band format. Early proponents of theelectric guitar on record included: Les Paul, LonnieJohnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, T-Bone Walker, andCharlie Christian. During the 1950s and 1960s, theelectric guitar became the most important instrumentin pop music.[1] It has evolved into a stringed musicalinstrument that is capable of a multitude of soundsand styles. It served as a major component in thedevelopment of rock and roll and many other genresof music.

Electric guitar design and construction varies greatlyas to the shape of the body, and configuration of theneck, bridge, and pickups. Guitars have a fixed bridgeor a spring-loaded hinged bridge that lets players bendnotes or chords up or down in pitch, or perform avibrato. The sound of a guitar can be modified by newplaying techniques such as string bending, tapping,hammering on, using audio feedback, or slide guitarplaying. There are several types of electric guitar,including the solid body guitar, various types of hollow body guitars, the seven-string guitar, whichtypically adds a low "B" string below the low "E", and the twelve string electric guitar, which has sixpairs of strings.

Popular music and rock groups often use the electric guitar in two roles: as a rhythm guitar whichprovides the chord sequence or "progression" and sets out the "beat" (as part of a rhythm section), and alead guitar, which is used to perform melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and guitar solos.

Contents1 History

2 Construction

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2 Construction2.1 Bridge and tailpiece systems2.2 Pickups2.3 Guitar necks

3 Sound and effects3.1 Built-in sound shaping3.2 Classic amplifier sounds3.3 Effects units3.4 Modern amplifier techniques3.5 Digital and software-based effects3.6 Synthesizer and digital guitars

4 Playing techniques5 Types

5.1 Solid body5.2 Chambered bodies5.3 Semi-acoustic5.4 Full hollowbody guitars5.5 Electric acoustic5.6 String, bridge, and neck variants

6 Uses6.1 Popular music6.2 Jazz and jazz fusion6.3 Contemporary classical music6.4 Vietnamese traditional music

7 See also8 References9 Bibliography10 External links

HistoryVarious experiments at electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument date back to the earlypart of the twentieth century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters adapted and placedinside violins and banjos to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphonesattached to the bridge, however these detected vibration from the bridge on top of the instrument,resulting in a weak signal.[2] With numerous people experimenting with electrical instruments in the1920s and early 1930s, there are many claimants to have been the first to invent an electric guitar.

Electric guitars were originally designed by guitar makers and instrument manufacturers. Some of theearliest electric guitars adapted hollow bodied acoustic instruments and used tungsten pickups. The firstelectrically amplified guitar was designed in 1931 by George Beauchamp, General Manager at NationalGuitar Corporation with Paul Barth who was Vice President.[3] The maple body prototype for the onepiece cast aluminum "Frying Pan" was built by Harry Watson, factory superintendent of National GuitarCorporation.[3] Commercial production began in late summer of 1932 by the Ro-Pat-In Corporation(Electro-Patent-Instrument Company Los Angeles),[4][5] a partnership of Beauchamp, AdolphRickenbacker (originally Rickenbacher), and Paul Barth.[6] By 1934 the company was renamedRickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company.

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The "Frying Pan", 1932

Gibson Les Paul Custom1954

The need for the amplified guitar became apparent during the big band era as orchestras increased insize, particularly when guitars had to compete with large brass sections. The first electric guitars used injazz were hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers. By 1932 anelectrically amplified guitar was commercially available. Early electric guitar manufacturers include:Rickenbacker (first called Ro-Pat-In) in 1932, Dobro in 1933, National, AudioVox and Volu-tone in1934, Vega, Epiphone (Electrophone and Electar), and Gibson in 1935 and many others by 1936.

The solid body electric guitar is made of solid wood, without functionally resonating air spaces.Rickenbacker offered a cast aluminum electric steel guitar, nicknamed "The Frying Pan" or "ThePancake Guitar", developed in 1931 with production beginning in the summer of 1932.

The first solid body "Spanish" standard guitar was offered by Vivi-Tone no later than 1934. An exampleof this model, featuring a guitar-shaped body of a single sheet of plywood affixed to a wood frame.

Another early, substantially solidSpanish electric guitar, calledElectro Spanish, was marketed bythe "Rickenbacker" guitarcompany in 1935 and made ofBakelite. By 1936, theSlingerland company introduceda wooden solid body electricmodel, the Slingerland Songster401 (and a lap steel counterpart:the Songster 400).

The earliest documentedperformance with an electricallyamplified guitar was in 1932, byGage Brewer.[2] The Wichita,Kansas-based musician had anElectric Hawaiian A-25 (frypan,lap-steel) and a standard ElectricSpanish from George Beauchampof Los Angeles, California.Brewer publicized his new instruments in an article in the WichitaBeacon of 2 October 1932 and through performances that month.

The first recordings using the electric guitar were by Hawaiian styleplayers, in 1933. Bob Dunn of Milton Brown's Musical Browniesintroduced the electric Hawaiian guitar to Western Swing with hisJanuary 1935 Decca recordings, departing almost entirely from Hawaiianmusical influence and heading towards jazz and blues. Alvino Rey was

an artist who took this instrument to a wide audience in a large orchestral setting and later developed thepedal steel guitar for Gibson. An early proponent of the electric Spanish guitar was jazz guitarist GeorgeBarnes who used the instrument in two songs recorded in Chicago on 1 March 1938, "Sweetheart Land"and "It's a Low-Down Dirty Shame". Some incorrectly attribute the first recording to Eddie Durham, buthis recording with the Kansas City Five was 15 days later.[7] Durham introduced the instrument to ayoung Charlie Christian, who made the instrument famous in his brief life and would be a majorinfluence on jazz guitarists for decades thereafter.[8]

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Gibson's first production electric guitar, marketed in 1936, was the ES-150 model ("ES" for "ElectricSpanish"; 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 great jazz guitarist who was amongthe first to perform with the ES-150 guitar). The ES-150 achieved some popularity, but suffered fromunequal loudness across the six strings.

Early proponents of the electric guitar on record include: Alvino Rey (Phil Spitalney Orchestra), LesPaul (Fred Waring Orchestra), Danny Stewart (Andy Iona Orchestra), George Barnes (under manyaliases), Lonnie Johnson, Floyd Smith, Big Bill Broonzy, T-Bone Walker, George Van Eps, CharlieChristian (Benny Goodman Orchestra) Tampa Red, Memphis Minnie, and Arthur Crudup.

A functionally solid body electric guitar was designed and built in 1940 by Les Paul from an Epiphoneacoustic archtop. His "log guitar" (so called because it consisted of a simple 4x4 wood post with a neckattached to it and homemade pickups and hardware, with two detachable Epiphone hollow body halvesattached to the sides for appearance only) shares nothing in design or hardware with the solid bodyGibson Les Paul introduced in 1952. However, the feedback problem associated with hollow-bodiedelectric guitars was understood long before Paul's "log" was created in 1940; Gage Brewer's Ro-Pat-Inof 1932 had a top so heavily reinforced that it essentially functioned as a solid-body instrument.[2]

In 1945, Richard D. Bourgerie made an electric guitar pickup and amplifier for professional guitarplayer George Barnes. Bourgerie worked through World War II at Howard Radio Company makingelectronic equipment for the American military. Barnes showed the result to Les Paul, who thenarranged for Bourgerie to have one made for him.

ConstructionElectric guitar design and construction varies greatly as to the shape of the body, and configuration ofthe neck, bridge, and pickups. However, some features are present on most guitars. The photo belowshows the different parts of an electric guitar. The headstock (1) contains the metal machine heads (1.1),which use 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 stopthe string at the correct pitch when the player pushes a string against 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.

The neck and fretboard (2.1) extend from the body. At the neck joint (2.4), the neck is either glued orbolted to the body. The body (3) is typically made of wood with a hard, polymerized finish. Stringsvibrating in the magnetic field of the pickups (3.1, 3.2) produce an electrical current in the pickupwinding that passes through the tone and volume controls (3.8) to the output jack. Some guitars havepiezo 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 that lets players bend notes or chords up or down in pitch, or perform avibrato embellishment. A plastic pickguard on some guitars protects the body from scratches or coversthe control cavity that holds most of the wiring.

The degree to which the choice of woods and other materials in the solid guitar body (3) affects thesonic character of the amplified is disputed. Many believe it is highly significant, while others think thedifference between woods is subtle. In acoustic and archtop guitars, wood choices more clearly affecttone.

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Legend: 1. Headstock:1.1 machine heads1.2 truss rod cover1.3 string guide1.4 nut2. Neck:2.1 fretboard2.2 inlay fret markers2.3 frets2.4 neck joint3. Body3.1 "neck" pickup3.2 "bridge" pickup3.3 saddles3.4 bridge3.5 fine tuners and tailpiece assembly3.6 whammy bar (tremolo arm)3.7 pickup selector switch3.8 volume and tone control knobs3.9 output connector (output jack)

Typical solid body electric guitars woods include alder (brighter,but well rounded), swamp ash (similar to alder, but with morepronounced highs and lows), mahogany (dark, bassy, warm),poplar (similar to alder), and basswood (very neutral).[9]

Maple, a very bright tonewood,[9] is also a popular body wood,but is very heavy. For this reason it is often placed as a 'cap' on aguitar made primarily of another wood. Cheaper guitars are oftenmade of cheaper woods, such as plywood, pine or agathis—nottrue hardwoods—which can affect durability and tone. Thoughmost guitars are made from wood, any material may be used.Materials such as plastic, metal, and even cardboard have beenused in some instruments.

The guitar output jack typically provides a monaural signal.Many guitars with active electronics use a jack with an extracontact normally used for stereo. These guitars used the extracontact to break the ground connection to the on-board battery topreserve battery life when the guitar is unplugged. These guitarsrequire a mono plug to close the internal switch and connect thebattery to ground. Standard guitar cables use a high impedance1/4 inch (6.35 mm) mono plug. These have a tip and sleeveconfiguration referred to as a TS phone connector.

A few guitars feature stereo output. For example Rickenbackerguitars equipped with Rick-O-Sound. There are a variety of waysthe "stereo" effect may be implemented. Commonly, but notexclusively, stereo guitars route the neck and bridge pickups toseparate output buses on the guitar. A stereo cable then routeseach pickup to its own signal chain or amplifier. For theseapplications, the most popular connector is a high impedance1/4 inch plug with a tip, ring and sleeve configuration—alsoknown as a TRS phone connector. Some studio instruments,notably certain Gibson Les Paul models, incorporate a lowimpedance 3-pin XLR connector for balanced audio. Manyexotic arrangements and connectors exist that support featuressuch as midi and hexaphonic pickups.

Bridge and tailpiece systems

The bridge and tailpiece, while serving separate purposes, workclosely together to affect playing style and tone. There are fourbasic types of bridge/tailpiece systems on electric guitars. Withinthese four types are many variants.

Hard-tail

A hard-tail guitar bridge anchors the strings at or directly behindthe bridge, and is fastened securely to the top of the instrument.These are common on carved top guitars such as the Gibson Les

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(TS)3.10 strap buttons4. Strings:4.1 bass strings4.2 treble strings

Detail of a Squier-made FenderStratocaster. Note the vibrato arm, the3 single-coil pickups, the volume andtone knobs.

Tune-o-matic with "strings throughthe body" construction (withoutstopbar)

Paul, Paul Reed Smith models, and on slab body guitars like theMusic Man Albert Lee and Fender guitars that are not vibratoarm equipped.

Floating tailpiece

A floating or trapeze tailpiece (similar to a violin's) fastens to the body at the base of the guitar. Theseappear on Rickenbackers, Gretschs, Epiphones, a wide variety of archtop guitars, particularly Jazzguitars, and the 1952 Gibson Les Paul.[10]

Vibrato arms

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

With expiration of the Fender patent on the Stratocaster-stylevibrato, various improvements on this type of internal, multi-spring vibrato system are now available. Floyd Rose introducedone of the first improvements on the vibrato system in manyyears when, in the late 1970s, he experimented with "locking"nuts and bridges that prevent the guitar from losing tuning, evenunder heavy vibrato bar use.

String-through body

The fourth type of systememploys string-throughbody anchoring. Thestrings pass over thebridge saddles, then

through holes through the top of the guitar body to the back. Thestrings are typically anchored in place at the back of the guitar bymetal ferrules. Many believe this design improves a guitar'ssustain and timbre. A few examples of string-through bodyguitars are the Fender Telecaster Thinline, Telecaster Deluxe,B.C.Rich IT Warlock and Mockingbird, the Schecter Omen 6and 7 series.

Pickups

Compared to an acoustic guitar, which has a hollow body, electric guitars make less audible sound whentheir strings are plucked, so electric guitars are normally plugged into a guitar amplifier. When anelectric guitar is played, string movement produces a signal by generating (i.e., "inducing") a smallelectric current in the magnetic pickups, which are magnets wound with coils of very fine wire. The

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A close-up of the pickups on a FenderSquier "Fat Strat" guitar—a"humbucker" pickup on the left andtwo single-coil pickups on the right.

signal passes through the tone and volume circuits to the output jack, and through a cable to anamplifier.[11] The current induced is proportional to such factors as string density, and amount ofmovement over the pickups.

Because in most cases it is desirable to isolate coil-woundpickups from the unintended sound of internal vibration of loosecoil windings, a guitar's magnetic pickups are normallyembedded or "potted" in wax, lacquer, or epoxy to prevent thepickup from producing a microphonic effect.

Because of their natural inductive qualities, all magnetic pickupstend to pick up ambient, usually unwanted electromagneticinterference or EMI. The resulting hum is particularly strongwith single-coil pickups, and aggravated by the fact that manyvintage guitars are insufficiently shielded against electromagneticinterference. The most common source is 50 or 60 Hz hum frompower transmission systems (house wiring, etc.). Since nearly allamplifiers and audio equipment associated with electric guitarsmust be plugged in, it is a continuing technical challenge toreduce or eliminate unwanted hum.

Double-coil or "humbucker" pickups were invented as a way to reduce or counter the unwanted ambienthum sounds (known as 60 cycle hum). Humbuckers have two coils of opposite magnetic and electricpolarity to produce a differential signal. Electromagnetic noise that hits both coils equally tries to drivethe pickup signal towards positive on one coil and toward negative on the other, which cancels out thenoise. The two coils are wired in phase, so their signal adds together. This high combined inductance ofthe two coils leads to the richer, "fatter" tone associated with humbucking pickups.

Piezoelectric pickups use a "sandwich" of quartz crystal or other piezoelectric material typically placedbeneath the string saddles or nut. These devices respond to pressure changes from all vibration at thesespecific points.

Optical pickups are a type of pickup that sense string and body vibrations using infrared LED light.These pickups are not sensitive to EMI.

Some "hybrid" electric guitars are equipped with additional microphone, piezoelectric, optical, or othertypes of transducers to approximate an acoustic instrument tone and broaden the sonic palette of theinstrument.

Guitar necks

Electric guitar necks vary in composition and shape. The primary metric of guitar necks is the scalelength, which is the vibrating length of the strings from nut to bridge. A typical Fender guitar uses a25.5 inch scale length, while Gibson uses a 24.75 inch scale length in their Les Paul. While the scalelength of the Les Paul is often described as 24.75 inches, it has varied through the years by as much as ahalf inch.

Frets are positioned proportionally to scale length—so the shorter the scale length, the closer the fretspacing. Opinions vary regarding the effect of scale length on tone and feel. Popular opinion holds thatlonger scale length contributes to greater amplitude. Reports of playing feel are greatly complicated bythe 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.

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A bolt-on neck

A neck-through bass guitar

Necks are described as bolt-on, set-in, or neck-throughdepending on how they attach to the body. Set-in necks are gluedto the body in the factory, and are said to have a warmer tone andgreater sustain. This is the most traditional type of joint. LeoFender pioneered bolt-on necks on electric guitars to facilitateeasy adjustment and replacement. Neck-through instrumentsextend the neck the length of the instrument so that it forms thecenter of the body, and are known for long sustain and for beingparticularly sturdy. While a set neck can be carefully unglued bya skilled luthier, and a bolt-on neck can simply be unscrewed, aneck-through design is difficult or even impossible to repair,depending on the damage. Historically, the bolt-on style has beenmore popular for ease of installation and adjustment. Since bolt-on necks can be easily removed, there isan after-market in replacement bolt-on necks from companies such as Warmoth and Mighty Mite. Someinstruments—notably most Gibson models—continue to use set/glued necks. Neck-through bodies aresomewhat more common in bass guitars.

Materials for necks are selected for dimensional stability and rigidity, and some allege that theyinfluence tone. Hardwoods are preferred, with maple, mahogany, and ash topping the list. The neck andfingerboard can be made from different materials, such as a maple neck with a rosewood or ebonyfingerboard. In the 1970s, designers began to use exotic man-made materials such as aircraft gradealuminum, 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 in relation to the rising cost of raretonewoods, man-made materials may be economically preferable and more ecologically sensitive.However, wood remains popular in production instruments, though sometimes in conjunction with newmaterials. Vigier guitars, for example, use a wooden neck reinforced by embedding a light, carbon fiberrod in place of the usual heavier steel bar or adjustable steel truss rod. After-market necks made entirelyfrom carbon fiber fit existing bolt-on instruments. Few, if any, extensive formal investigations have beenwidely published that confirm or refute claims over the effects of different woods or materials on electricguitar sound.

Several neck shapes appear on guitars,including shapes known as C necks, U necks,and V necks. These refer to the cross-sectionalshape of the neck (especially near the nut).Several sizes of fret wire are available, withtraditional players often preferring thin frets,and metal shredders liking thick frets. Thin fretsare considered better for playing chords, whilethick frets allow lead guitarists to bend notes

with less effort.

An electric guitar with a folding neck called the "Foldaxe" was designed and built for Chet Atkins byRoger C. Field.[12] Steinberger guitars developed a line of exotic, carbon fiber instruments withoutheadstocks, with tuning done on the bridge instead.

Fingerboards vary as much as necks. The fingerboard surface usually has a cross-sectional radius that isoptimized to accommodate finger movement for different playing techniques. Fingerboard radiustypically ranges from nearly flat (a very large radius) to radically arched (a small radius). The vintageFender Telecaster, for example, has a typical small radius of approximately 7.25 inches. Some

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manufacturers have experimented with fret profile and material, fret layout, number of frets, andmodifications of the fingerboard surface for a variety of reasons. Some innovations were intended toimprove playability by ergonomic means, such as Warmoth Guitars compound radius fingerboard.Scalloped fingerboards added enhanced microtonality during fast legato runs. Fanned frets intend toprovide each string with an optimal playing tension and enhanced musicality. Some guitars have no frets—and others, like the Gittler guitar, have no neck in the traditional sense.

Sound and effectsWhile an acoustic guitar's sound depends largely on the vibration of the guitar's body and the air insideit, the sound of an electric guitar depends largely on the signal from the pickups. The signal can be"shaped" on its path to the amplifier via a range of effect devices or circuits that modify the tone andcharacteristics of the signal. Amplifiers and speakers also add coloration to the final sound.

Built-in sound shaping

Electric guitars usually have one to four magnetic pickups. Identical pickups produce different tonesdepending on how near they are to the neck or bridge. Bridge pickups produce a bright or trebly timbre,and neck pickups are warmer or more bassy. The type of pickup also affects tone. Dual-coil pickupssound warm, thick, perhaps even muddy—and single coil pickups sound clear, bright, perhaps evenbiting. Guitars don't require a uniform pickup type: a common mixture is the "fat Strat" arrangement ofone dual-coil at the bridge position, and single coils in the middle and neck positions, known as HSS forHumbucker/Single/Single.

Some guitars have piezoelectric pickup in addition to electromagnetic pickups. Piezo pickups produce amore acoustic sound. The piezo runs through a built-in equalizer (EQ) to improve similitude and controltone. A blend knob controls the mix between electromagnetic and piezoelectric sounds.

Where there is more than one pickup, a pickup selector switch is usually present. These typically selector combine the outputs of two or more pickups, so that two-pickup guitars have three-way switches, andthree-pickup guitars have five-way switches (A Gibson Les Paul three pickup Black Beauty has a 3position toggle switch which configures bridge, bridge and middle (switch in middle position) and neckpickups. Further circuitry sometimes combines pickups in different ways. For instance, phase switchingplaces one pickup out of phase with the other(s), leading to a honky', nasal, or funky sound. Individualpickups can also have their timbre altered by switches, typically coil tap switch that effectively short-circuit some of a dual-coil pickup's windings to produce a tone similar to a single coil pickup (usuallydone with push/pull volume knobs).

The final stages of on-board sound-shaping circuitry are the volume control (potentiometer) and tonecontrol (which "rolls off" the treble frequencies). Where there are individual volume controls fordifferent pickups, and where pickup signals can be combined, they would affect the timbre of the finalsound by adjusting the balance between pickups from a straight 50:50.

The strings fitted to the guitar also have an influence on tone. Rock musicians often prefer the lightestgauge of roundwound string, which are easier to bend, while jazz musicians go for heavier, flatwoundstrings with a rich, dark sound. Steel, Nickel, and Cobalt are common string materials, and each gives aslightly different tone color.

Recent guitar designs may incorporate much more complex circuitry than described above: see Digitaland synthesizer guitars, below.

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A Boss distortion pedal in use.

Classic amplifier sounds

In the 1960s, some guitarists began exploring a wider range of tonal effects by distorting the sound ofthe instrument. To do this, they used overdrive — increasing the gain of the preamplifier beyond thelevel where the signal could be faithfully reproduced, resulting in a "fuzzy" sound. This effect is called"clipping" by sound engineers, because when viewed with an oscilloscope, the wave forms of a distortedsignal appear to have had their peaks "clipped off", approximating a square wave. This was not actuallya new development in the instrument, but rather a shift of aesthetics, the sound having not beenrecognized as desirable previously.

After distortion became popular, amplifier manufacturers included various provisions for it, makingamps easier to overdrive, and providing separate "dirty" and "clean" channels so that distortion couldeasily be switched in and out. The distortion characteristics of vacuum tube amplifiers are particularlysought-after, and various attempts have been made to emulate them without the disadvantages (fragility,low power, expense) of actual tubes.

Guitar amplifiers have long included at least a few effects, often tone controls, an integrated tremolosystem (sometimes incorrectly marketed as vibrato), and/or a spring reverb unit. The use of offboardeffects is assisted with the provision of an effects loop, an arrangement that allows effects to beelectrically or mechanically switched out of the signal path when not required. In terms of the signalchain, the effects loop is typically located between the preamplifier and the power amplifier (thoughreverb units generally proceed the effects loop if both are featured on an amplifier). This allows theguitarist to apply modulation effects to the signal after it has been processed through the preamplifier,something generally desirable particularly with time-based effects such as delay.

Effects units

In the 1960s, the tonal palette of the electric guitar was furthermodified by introducing an Effects unit in its signal path. Effectsunits come in several formats, the most common of which are thestomp-box and the rack-mount unit. A "stomp box" (or "pedal")is a small metal or plastic box containing the circuitry, which isplaced on the floor in front of the musician and connected in linewith the patch cord connected to the instrument. The box istypically controlled by one or more foot-pedal on-off switchesand it typically contains only one or two effects. "Guitarpedalboards" are used by musicians who use multiple stomp-boxes; these may be a DIY project made with plywood or acommercial pedalboard.

A rack-mount effects unit may contain an electronic circuit nearly identical to a stompbox-based effect,but is mounted in a standard 19" equipment rack. More recently, as signal processing technologycontinuously becomes more feature-dense, rack-mount effects units frequently contain several types ofeffects. They are typically controlled by knobs or switches on the front panel, and often by a MIDIdigital control interface.

Typical effects include:-

Effects such as stereo chorus, phasers and flangers that shift the pitch of the signal by a small andvarying amount, creating swirling, shimmering and whooshing noises.Effects such as octavers, which displace pitch by an exact musical interval.Distortion, such as transistor-style fuzz, or effects incorporating or emulating vacuum tube

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The Zoom 505 multi-effect pedal.

The Boss GT-8 is ahigher-end multi-effectprocessing pedal; notethe preset switches andpatch bank footswitchesand built-in expressionpedal.

distortion.Filters such as wah-wahEnvelope shapers, such as compression/sustain or volume/swell.Time-shift effects such as delay and reverb.

Modern amplifier techniques

In the 1970s, as effects pedals proliferated, their sounds were combined with tube amp distortion atlower, more controlled volumes by using power attenuators such as Tom Scholz' Power Soak as well asre-amplified dummy loads such as Eddie Van Halen's use of a variac, power resistor, post-power-tubeeffects, and a final solid-state amp driving the guitar speakers. A variac is one approach to power-supplybased power attenuation, to make the sound of power-tube distortion more practically available.

Recent amplifiers may include digital technology similar to modern effects pedals, including the abilityto model or emulate a variety of classic amps.

Digital and software-based effects

A multi-effects device (also called a "multi-FX" device) is a singleelectronics effects pedal or rackmount device that contains many electroniceffects. In the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s, multi-FX manufacturerssuch as Zoom and Korg produced devices that were increasingly feature-laden. Multi-FX devices combine several effects together, and most devicesallow users to set "preset" combinations of effects including distortion,chorus, reverb, compression, and so on. This allows musicians to have quickon-stage access to different effects combinations. Some multi-FX pedalscontain modelled versions of well-known effects pedals or amplifiers.

Multi-effects devices have garnered a largeshare of the effects device market because they offer the user such a largevariety of effects in a single package. A low-priced multi-effects pedal mayprovide 20 or more effects for the price of a regular single-effect pedal.More expensive multi-effect pedals may include 40 or more effects,amplifier modelling, and the ability to combine effects and/or modelled ampsounds in different combinations, as if the user was using multiple guitaramps. More expensive multi-effects pedals may also include more input andoutput jacks (e.g., an auxiliary input or a "dry" output), MIDI inputs andoutputs, and an expression pedal, which can control volume or modifyeffect parameters (e.g., the rate of the simulated rotary speaker effect).

By the 1980s and 1990s, software effects became capable of replicating theanalog effects used in the past. These new digital effects attempted to modelthe sound produced by analog effects and tube amps, to varying degrees ofquality. There are many free guitar effects computer programs for

computers that can be downloaded via the Internet. Now, computers with sound cards can be used asdigital guitar effects processors. Although digital and software effects offer many advantages, manyguitarists still use analog effects.

Synthesizer and digital guitars

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A prepared guitar

The hammeron technique

In 2002, Gibson announced the first digital guitar, which performs analog-to-digital conversioninternally. The resulting digital signal is delivered over a standard Ethernet cable, eliminating cable-induced line noise. The guitar also provides independent signal processing for each individual string. In2003, modelling amplifier maker Line 6 introduced the Variax guitar. It differs in some fundamentalways from conventional solid-body electrics. It has on-board electronics capable of modelling the soundof a variety of unique guitars and some other stringed instruments. At one time, some models featuredpiezoelectric pickups instead of the conventional electromagnetic pickups.

Playing techniquesThe sound of a guitar is not only adapted by electronic soundeffects, but also heavily by all kinds of new techniquesdeveloped or becoming possible in combination with the electricamplification. This is called extended technique.

Extended techniques include:-

String bending. This is not quite unique to the electricinstrument, but is greatly facilitated by the light stringstypically used on solid body guitars.Neck bending, by holding the upper arm on the guitar bodyand bending the neck either to the front or pulling it back.This is used as a substitute for a tremolo bar, although notas effective and too powerful of force use could snap theguitar neck.The use of the whammy bar or "tremolo" arm, includingthe extreme technique of dive bombing.Tapping, in which both hands are applied to thefretboard.Tapping may be performed either one-handed ortwo-handed. It is an extended technique, executed by using one hand to 'tap' the strings against thefingerboard, thus producing legato notes. Tapping usually incorporates pull-offs or hammer-ons aswell, where the fingers of the left hand play a sequence of notes in synchronization with thetapping hand.Hammering on the string with the fretting hand.

Pinch harmonics or Artificial Harmonics, sometimes called"squealies". This technique involves adding the edge of thethumb or the tip of the index finger on the picking hand to theregular picking action, resulting in a high pitched sound.Volume swells, in which the volume knob is repeatedly rolledto create a violin-like sound. Note that the same result canalso be accomplished through the use of an external swellpedal, although the knob technique can enhance showmanshipand conveniently eliminate the need for another pedal.Use of audio feedback to enhance sustain and change timbre.Feedback has since become a striking characteristic of rockmusic, as electric guitar players such as Jeff Beck, PeteTownshend and Jimi Hendrix deliberately induced feedback by holding their guitars close to theamplifier. Lou Reed created his 1975 album Metal Machine Music entirely from loops of feedbackplayed at various speeds. A perfect example of feedback can be heard on Jimi Hendrix'sperformance of Can You See Me? at the Monterey Pop Festival. The entire guitar solo was createdusing amplifier feedback.[13]

Substitution of another device for the plectrum, for instance the cello bow (as famously used by

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Palm muting of the strings usingthe picking hand.

Slide guitar

Paul Reed Smith Standard 22

Jimmy Page) and the e-bow, (a device using electromagnetic feedback to vibrate strings withoutdirect contact). Like feedback, these techniques increase sustain, bring out harmonics and changethe acoustic envelope.Sustainers built into the guitar itself.

Use of slide or bottlenecks. This is a particular method or techniquefor playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of theslide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the originalmaterial of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles. Insteadof altering the pitch of the strings in the normal manner (by pressingthe string against frets), a slide is placed upon the string to vary itsvibrating length, and pitch. This slide can then be moved along thestring without lifting, creating continuous transitions in pitch.Sometimes guitars are even adapted with extra modifications to alterthe sound, such as Prepared guitar and 3rd bridge.

Other techniques such as axialfinger vibrato, pull-offs,

hammer-ons, palm muting, harmonics and altered tunings are alsoused on the classical and acoustic guitar. Shred guitar is a genreinvolving a number of extended techniques.

Types

Solid body

Unlike acoustic guitars, solid body electric guitars have novibrating soundboard to amplify string vibration. Instead, solidbody instruments depend on electric pickups and an amplifier (oramp) and speaker. The solid body ensures that the amplifiedsound reproduces the string vibration alone, thus avoiding thewolf tones and unwanted feedback associated with amplifiedacoustic guitars of the period. These guitars are generally madeup of hardwood covered with a hard polymer finish, oftenpolyester or lacquer. In large production facilities, the wood isstored for three to six months in a wood-drying kiln before beingcut to shape. Premium custom built guitars are frequently madewith much older, hand-selected wood.

One of the first solid body guitars was invented by Les Paul. Gibson did not present their 'Les Paul'guitar prototypes to the public, as they did not believe the solid body style would catch on. Another earlysolid 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.[14] Appleton made contact with bothGibson and Fender, but was unable to sell the idea behind his "App" guitar to either company.[15] Thefirst mass-produced solid-body guitar was Fender's Broadcaster (later to become the 'Telecaster') firstmade in 1948, five years after Les Paul made his prototype. The Gibson Les Paul appeared soon after tocompete with the Broadcaster.[16] Another notable solid-body design is the Fender Stratocaster, whichwas introduced in 1954 and became extremely popular among musicians in the 1960s and 1970s for itswide tonal capabilities and more comfortable ergonomics than other models.

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Gittler electric guitar, abodyless guitar withoutfingerboard or neck

Chambered bodies

Some solid-bodied guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul Supreme, the PRS Singlecut, or the FenderTelecaster Thinline among others, are built with hollows in the body. These hollows are designedspecifically not to interfere with the critical bridge and string anchor point on the solid body. In the caseof Gibson and PRS, these are called "chambered" bodies. The motivation for this may be to reduceweight, to achieve a semi-acoustic tone (see below) or both.[17][18][19]

Semi-acoustic

These guitars have a hollow body (similar in depth to a solid-body guitar) and electronic pickupsmounted on the body. They work in a similar way to solid body electric guitars except that, because thehollow body also vibrates, the pickups convert a combination of string and body vibration into anelectrical signal. Whereas chambered guitars are made, like solid-body guitars, from a single block ofwood, semi-acoustic and full-hollowbody guitars bodies are made from thinsheets of wood. They do not provide enough acoustic volume for liveperformance, but can be used "unplugged" for quiet practice. Semi-acoustics are noted for being able to provide a sweet, plaintive, or funkytone. They are used in many genres, including blues, funk, sixties pop, andindie rock. They generally have cello-style F-shaped sound holes. These canbe blocked off to prevent feedback, as in B. B. King's famous Lucille.Feedback can also be reduced by making them with a solid block in themiddle of the soundbox. Advocates of semi-hollow-body guitars argue thatthey have greater resonance and sustain than true solid-body guitars.

Full hollowbody guitars

Full hollowbody guitars have large, deep bodies made of glued-togethersheets or "plates" of wood, and are often capable of being played at thesame volume as an acoustic guitar, and therefore of being used unplugged atintimate gigs. They qualify as electric guitars inasmuch as they have fittedpickups. Historically, archtop guitars with retrofitted pickups were amongthe very earliest electric guitars. The instrument originated during the Jazzage of the 1920s and 1930s, and are still considered the classic jazz guitar(nicknamed "jazzbox"). Like semi-acoustic guitars, they often have f-shaped sound holes.

Having humbucker pickups (sometimes just a neck pickup) and usually strung heavlly, jazzboxes arenoted for their warm, rich tone. A variation with single-coil pickups, and sometimes a Bigsby tremolo,has long been popular in country and rockabilly; these have a distinctly more "twangy", biting, tone thanthe classic jazzbox. The term "archtop" indicates a method of construction subtly different from thetypical acoustic (or "folk" or "western" or "steel string" guitar): the top starts off as a moderately thick(1 inch or 2–3 cm) piece of wood, which is then carved out into a thin (0.1in, 2-3mm) domed shape,whereas conventional acoustic guitars have a thin, flat top.

Electric acoustic

Some steel-string acoustic guitars are fitted with pickups purely as an alternative to using a separatemicrophone. They may also be fitted with a piezoelectric pickup under the bridge, attached to the bridgemounting plate, or with a low mass microphone (usually a condenser mic) inside the body of the guitarthat converts the vibrations in the body into electronic signals, or even combinations of these types of

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An Epiphone brand semi-acoustic hollow-bodyguitar.

Stephen Carpenter playing a 7-string electric guitar in 2009

pickups, with an integral mixer/preamp/graphic equalizer. These are calledelectric acoustic guitars, and are regarded as acoustic guitars rather thanelectric guitars because the pickups do not produce a signal directly fromthe vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top orbody.

These should not be confused with semi-acoustic guitars, which havepickups of the type found on solid body electric guitars, or solid-bodiedhybrid guitars with piezoelectric pickups.

String, bridge, and neck variants

One-string

Although rare, the one-string guitar is sometimes heard, particularly in Deltablues, where improvised folk instruments were popular in the 1930s and1940s. Eddie "One String" Jones had some regional success. Mississippiblues musician Lonnie Pitchford played a similar, homemade instrument. Ina more contemporary style, Little Willie Joe, the inventor of the Unitar, hada rhythm and blues instrumental hit in the 1950s with "Twitchy", recordedwith the Rene Hall Orchestra.

Four-string

Better known as the tenor guitar, one of this instrument's best-known players was Tiny Grimes, whoplayed on 52nd Street with the beboppers and played a major role in the Prestige Blues Swingers. Multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis (musician) of Dirty Three and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is acontemporary player who includes a tenor guitar in his repertoire.

Normally tuned CGDA some players, such as Tiny Grimes, tune to DGBE in order to preserve familiar6-string guitar chord fingerings. The tenor guitar can also be tuned like a soprano/concert/tenor ukulele,using various versions of GCEA tuning.

Seven-string

Most Seven-string guitars add a low "B" string below the low "E".Both electric and classical guitars exist designed for this tuning. Ahigh "A" string above the high "E" instead of the low "B" issometimes used. Another less common seven-string arrangement isa second G string situated beside the standard G string and tuned anoctave higher, in the same manner as a twelve-stringed guitar (seebelow). Jazz guitarists using a seven-string include veteran jazzguitarists George Van Eps, Lenny Breau, Bucky Pizzarelli and hisson John Pizzarelli.

Seven-string electric guitars were popularized among rock playersin the 1980s by Steve Vai. Along with the Japanese guitar companyIbanez, Vai created the Universe series seven string guitars in the1980s, with a double locking tremolo system for a seven stringguitar. These models were based on Vai's six string signature series, the Ibanez Jem. Seven-string guitarsexperienced a resurgence in popularity in the 2000s, championed by Deftones, Limp Bizkit, Slayer,

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KoRn, Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad, Nevermore, Muse and other hard rock/metal bands. Metalmusicians often prefer the seven-string guitar for its extended lower range. The seven-string guitar hasalso played an essential role in progressive metal rock, and is commonly used in bands such as DreamTheater, Pain of Salvation and by experimental guitarists such as Ben Levin.

Eight and nine-string

Eight-string electric guitars are rare, but not unused. One is played by Charlie Hunter, which wasmanufactured by Novax Guitars, the largest manufacturer of 8- to 14-strings is Warr Guitars. Theirmodels are also used by Trey Gunn (ex King Crimson) who has his own signature line from thecompany. Similarly, Mårten Hagström and Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah used 8-string guitars madeby Nevborn Guitars and now guitars by Ibanez. Munky of the nu metal band KoRn is also known to useseven-string Ibanez guitars and it is rumored that he is planning to release a K8 eight-string guitarsimilar to his K7 seven-string guitar. Another Ibanez player is Tosin Abasi, lead guitarist of theprogressive metal band Animals as Leaders, who uses an Ibanez RG2228 to mix bright chords with veryheavy low riffs on the 7 and 8th strings. Stephen Carpenter of Deftones also switched from 7 to 8 stringin 2008 and released his signature STEF B-8 with ESP Guitars. In 2008, Ibanez released the IbanezRG2228-GK which is the first mass-produced eight-string guitar. Jethro Tull's first album uses a nine-string guitar on one . Bill Kelliher, guitarist for the heavy metal group Mastodon, worked with First Acton a custom mass-produced nine-string guitar.

Ten-string

B.C.Rich manufactures a ten-string six-course electric guitar known as the Bich, whose radical shapepositions the machine heads for the four secondary strings on the body, avoiding the head-heaviness ofmany electric twelve-string guitars. However many players bought it for the body shape or electrics andsimply removed the extra strings. The company recognized this and released six-string models of theBich, but ten-string models also remain in production.

Twelve-string

Twelve string electric guitars feature six pairs of strings, usually with each pair tuned to the same note.The extra E, A, D, and G strings add a note one octave above, and the extra B and E strings are inunison. The pairs of strings are played together as one, so the technique and tuning are the same as aconventional guitar, although creating a much fuller tone. They are used almost solely to play harmonyand rhythm. They are relatively common in folk rock music. Lead Belly is the folk artist most identifiedwith the twelve-string guitar, usually acoustic with a pickup.

George Harrison of The Beatles and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds brought the electric twelve-string tonotability in rock and roll. During the Beatles' first trip to the US, in February 1964, Harrison received anew "360/12" model guitar from the Rickenbacker company, a 12-string electric made to look onstagelike a 6-string. He began using the 360 in the studio on Lennon's "You Can't Do That" and other songs.Roger McGuinn began using electric 12-string guitars to create the jangly sound of The Byrds. Anothernotable guitarist to utilize electric 12-string guitars is Jimmy Page, the guitarist with hard rock-heavymetal and rock group Led Zeppelin.

3rd bridge

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A white Gibson EDS-1275

The 3rd bridge guitar is an electric prepared guitar with an additional 3rd bridge. This can be a normalguitar with for instance a screwdriver placed under the strings, but can also be a custom madeinstrument. Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth plays with a 3rd bridge.

Double neck guitar

Double neck (or, less commonly, "twin-neck") guitars enableguitarists to play guitar and bass guitar or, more commonly, a six-string and twelve-string. In the mid-1960s, one of the first players touse this type of guitar was Paul Revere & the Raiders' guitaristDrake Levin. Another early user was John McLaughlin, but thedouble-neck guitar was popularized by Jimmy Page, who used acustom-made Gibson EDS-1275 to perform "Stairway to Heaven","The Song Remains the Same" and "The Rain Song", although"Stairway to Heaven" was actually recorded using a FenderTelecaster and a Fender XII electric twelve string. Mike Rutherfordof Genesis and Mike + The Mechanics is also famous for his use ofa double-neck guitar during live shows. Don Felder of the Eaglesalso used the Gibson EDS-1275 during the Hotel California tour.Muse guitarist and vocalist Matthew Bellamy uses a silver MansonDouble Neck on his bands' The Resistance Tour.

Uses

Popular music

Popular music and rock groups often use the electric guitar in two roles: as a rhythm guitar whichprovides the chord sequence or "progression" and sets out the "beat" (as part of a rhythm section), and alead guitar, which is used to perform melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and guitar solos.In some rock or metal bands with two guitarists, the two performers may perform as a guitar tandem,and trade off the lead guitar and rhythm guitar roles. In bands with a single guitarist, the guitarist mayswitch between these two roles, playing chords to accompany the singer's lyrics, and then playing aguitar solo in the middle of the song.

In the most commercially available and consumed pop and rock genres, electric guitars tend to dominatetheir acoustic cousins in both the recording studio and the live venue, especially in the "harder" genressuch as heavy metal and hard rock. However the acoustic guitar remains a popular choice in country,western and especially bluegrass music, and it is widely used in folk music.

Jazz and jazz fusion

Jazz guitar playing styles include rhythm guitar-style "comping" (accompanying) with jazz chordvoicings (and in some cases, walking basslines) and "blowing" (improvising solos) over jazz chordprogressions with jazz-style phrasing and ornaments. The accompanying style for electric guitar in mostjazz styles differs from the way chordal instruments accompany in many popular styles of music. In rockand pop, the rhythm guitarist usually performs the chords in dense and regular fashion which sets out thebeat of a tune. Rock and pop chord voicings tend to focus on the first, 3rd, and 5th notes of the chord. Incontrast, in many modern jazz styles, the guitarist plays much more sparsely, intermingling periodic

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chords and delicate voicings into pauses in the melody or solo. Jazz chord voicings are usually rootlessand emphasize the 3rd and 7th notes of the chord. Jazz chords also often include the 11th and 13th notesof the chord.

When jazz guitar players improvise, they use scales, modes, and arpeggios associated with the chords ina tune's chord progression. Jazz guitarists have to learn how to use scales (whole tone scale, chromaticscale, etc.) to solo over chord progressions. Jazz guitar improvising is not merely the recitation of jazzscales and rapid arpeggios. Jazz guitarists often try to imbue their melodic phrasing with the sense ofnatural breathing and legato phrasing used by horn players such as saxophone players. As well, a jazzguitarists' solo improvisations have to have a rhythmic drive and "time feel" that creates a sense of"swing" and "groove".

In addition to the traditional rhythm/comping and lead/blowing roles, some jazz guitarists use theelectric instrument to play unaccompanied, combining harmony and melody to form a complete piece ofmusic, like classical guitarists.

Most jazz guitarists play hollow body instruments, but solid body guitars are also used. Hollow bodyinstruments were the first guitars used in jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. During the 1970s jazz fusion era,many jazz guitarists switched to the solid body guitars that dominated the rock world.

Contemporary classical music

Until the 1950s, the acoustic, nylon-stringed classical guitar was the only type of guitar favored byclassical, or art music composers. In the 1950s a few contemporary classical composers began to use theelectric guitar in their compositions. Examples of such works include Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gruppen(1955–57); Donald Erb's String Trio (1966), Morton Feldman's The Possibility of a New Work forElectric Guitar (1966); George Crumb's Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death (1968); Hans WernerHenze's Versuch über Schweine (1968); Francis Thorne's Sonar Plexus (1968) and Liebesrock (1968–69), Michael Tippett's The Knot Garden (1965–70); Leonard Bernstein's MASS (1971) and Slava!(1977); Louis Andriessen's De Staat (1972–76); Helmut Lachenmann's Fassade, für grosses Orchester(1973, rev. 1987), Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint (1987), Arvo Pärt's Miserere (1989/92), GyörgyKurtág's Grabstein für Stephan (1989), and countless works composed for the quintet of Ástor Piazzolla.Alfred Schnittke also used electric guitar in several works, like the "Requiem", "Concerto Grosso N°2"and "Symphony N°1".

In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, a growing number of composers (many of them composer-performerswho had grown up playing the instrument in rock bands) began writing contemporary classical music forthe electric guitar. These include Frank Zappa, Shawn Lane, Steven Mackey, Nick Didkovsky, ScottJohnson, Lois V Vierk, Tim Brady, Tristan Murail, and Randall Woolf.

Yngwie Malmsteen released his Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in 1998, and Steve Vaireleased a double-live CD entitled Sound Theories, of his work with the Netherlands MetropoleOrchestra in June 2007. The American composers Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca have written"symphonic" works for large ensembles of electric guitars, in some cases numbering up to 100 players,and the instrument is a core member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars (played by Mark Stewart). Still, likemany electric and electronic instruments, the electric guitar remains primarily associated with rock andjazz music, rather than with classical compositions and performances.[20] R. Prasanna plays a style ofIndian classical music (Carnatic music) on the electric guitar.

In the 21st century, European avant garde composers like Richard Barrett, Fausto Romitelli, PeterAblinger, Bernhard Lang, Claude Ledoux and Karlheinz Essl have used the electric guitar (together withextended playing techniques) in solo pieces or ensemble works. Probably the most ambitious and

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An electric guitar store

perhaps significant work to date is Ingwe (2003–2009) by Georges Lentz (written for Australian guitaristZane Banks), a 60-minute work for solo electric guitar, exploring that composer's existential strugglesand taking the instrument into realms previously unknown in a concert music setting.

Vietnamese traditional music

In Vietnam, electric guitars are often used as an instrument in cải lương music (traditional southernVietnamese folk opera), sometimes as a substitution of certain traditional stringed-instruments like theĐàn nguyệt (2-stringed lute) when they are not available. Electric guitars used in cải lương are played infinger vibrato (string bending), with no amplifiers/sound effects. An example can be found here(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgtytFHpgVw).

See alsoBass guitarBahian guitarDistortion (guitar)Effects pedalElectric pipaElectromagnetic inductionElectronic tunerGuitar harmonicsGuitar synthesizerGuitar amplifierKeytarList of guitarsPickupStars and Their Guitars: A History of theElectric Guitar (documentary film)Vintage guitarGuitar portal

References1. Hempstead, Colin; Worthington, William E. (2005). Encyclopedia of 20th-century technology, Volume 2

(http://books.google.com/books?id=0wkIlnNjDWcC&pg=PA793). Taylor & Francis. p. 793. ISBN 1-57958-464-0.

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. Wheeler, Tom (1978). The Guitar Book: A Handbook for Electric & Acoustic Guitarists. Harpercollins.p. 153. ISBN 0-06-014579-X.

4. Smith, Richard R. (1987). The history of Rickenbacker guitars (http://books.google.com/?id=NlscjoFVcs0C&pg=PA10). Centerstream Publications. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-931759-15-4.

5. "Guitar E – berichte und fotos" (http://www.viewgoods.de/allgemeine/guitar-e.html). viewgoods.de.Retrieved 18 May 2011.

6. Evans, Tom (1977). Guitars: music, history, construction and players from the Renaissance to Rock.Paddington Press. p. 344. ISBN 0-448-22240-X.

7. Broadbent, p. 598. Bennett, Ronni (20 March 2011). "ELDER MUSIC: On Charlie Christian's Shoulders"

(http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2011/03/elder-music-on-charlie-christians-shoulders.html). Time GoesBy. Retrieved 13 March 2012.

9. Warmoth Custom Guitars (http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/bodies/options/bodywoodoptions.aspx),(retrieved 16 Dec 2013)

10. "Electric Guitar (Les Paul model) by Gibson, Inc., Kalamazoo, 1952"

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Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related to Electricguitars.

BibliographyBroadbent, Peter (1997). Charlie Christian: Solo Flight – The Seminal Electric Guitarist. AshleyMark Publishing Company. ISBN 1-872639-56-9.

External linksON! The Beginnings of Electric Sound Generation(http://www.museumofmakingmusic.org/on) – an exhibitat the Museum of Making Music, National Association ofMusic Merchants, Carlsbad, CA – some of the earliestelectric guitars and their history, from the collection of Lynn Wheelwright and othersKing 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 theSmithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Electric_guitar&oldid=661120429"

Categories: Amplified instruments Electric guitars 1931 introductionsAmerican musical instruments American inventions Rhythm section

This page was last modified on 6 May 2015, at 16:36.

10. "Electric Guitar (Les Paul model) by Gibson, Inc., Kalamazoo, 1952"(http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Gibson/5916/LesPaulGuitar.html). Orgs.usd.edu. Retrieved8 November 2012.

11. Lembessis, Vassilis (2001). "Physics ... in action"(http://web.archive.org/web/20070225061351/http://www.europhysicsnews.com/full/10/article2/article2.html). Europhysics News 32 (4): 125. doi:10.1051/epn:2001402(https://dx.doi.org/10.1051%2Fepn%3A2001402).

12. Cochran, Russ and Atkins, Chet (2003). Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars, Hal Leonard, p. 124, ISBN 0-634-05565-8.

13. Hendrix's live performance of "Can you see me?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS8NcNnwl9U).Youtube. Feedback begins at the 1:39 mark in the video.

14. "O. W. Appleton Home Page" (http://www.owappleton.com/). Worldwide Filmworks. 2012. Retrieved25 July 2013.

15. Wheeler, Tom (1982). American guitars: an illustrated history. Harper & Row. p. 8. ISBN 0060149965.16. Ratcliffe, Alan (2005) Electric Guitar Handbook, UK: New Holland Publishers, p. 11. ISBN 1-84537-042-2.17. Hunter, Dave (19 October 2007) Chambering the Les Paul: A Marriage of Weight and Tone

(http://www.gibson.com/en-us/lifestyle/productspotlight/gearandinstruments/chambering%20the%20les%20paul_%20a%20mar/).Gibson Lifestyle

18. "Does my Les Paul have weight relief holes or sound chambers?"(http://www.lespaulforum.com/faqpage.html#weighti). lespaulforum.com.

19. Irizarry, Rob (March 5, 2007) Making Electric Guitars That Won't Break Your Back(http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com/2007/03/guitar-building-making-electric-guitars.html). Building theErgonomic Guitar.

20. For more on this subject see Tomaro, Robert (1994). "Contemporary compositional techniques for theelectric guitar in United States concert music". Journal of New Music Research 23 (4): 349.doi:10.1080/09298219408570664 (https://dx.doi.org/10.1080%2F09298219408570664).

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