The first attempts to produce the electric guitar date back to the early 20th century. In the 1920s, many hobbyists tried various ways to magnify the sound of guitars and other stringed instruments using carbon button microphones on the bridge and tungsten pickups, but this produced weak signals and therefore poor results. . Hollow body acoustic guitars were the accepted form at the time and many luthiers underwent much experimentation throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, any of which may have claimed to be the first inventor. The 1930s saw the beginning of the era of the ‘Big Band’, whose sound was closely associated with jazz and the wind instruments took center stage. Because of this, the guitar needed to gain a stronger voice and this was a great influence on the development of the electric guitar.

George D Beauchamp (1899-1941) was the man credited with discovering the first successful magnetic pickup for a guitar. In 1931 he and his accomplice Adolph rickenbacker (1886-1976) created the guitar known as’Frying pan‘, a lap steel instrument in which this technology was introduced. The body of the ‘Frying pan‘was formed from cast aluminum and featured a pick-up made up of a pair of magnets that curved over the steel strings. Beauchamp did not obtain a patent for his invention until 1937, which allowed other manufacturers to capitalize on his work, notably Gibson Guitar Corp. The ‘Frying pan‘was introduced to the public in 1932 and more than 2,700 were manufactured before the outbreak of World War II in 1939, when production ceased.

The first all-electric guitar, meaning it had individual string pickups instead of a single measure, was attributed to a North Carolina physics professor by the name of Sidney Wilson. In 1940 Wilson presented his guitar at the North Carolina State Engineering Fair and stole the show. He reasoned that the individual pickups would solve the problem of uneven loudness that plagued the single-beat pickup. He also argued that a hollow body guitar was more prone to vibration feedback problems and therefore its award winner was built with a solid body. After the war, the production of electric guitars underwent a metamorphosis when in 1952 the designer of Gibson Ted mccarty, With Paul barth Y The paul, he brought out the solid body design known as the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. This guitar was manufactured in two different models, the first the ‘Gold Top’ in 1952 and the second the ‘Custom’ in 1954. Before that, Les Paul had developed their own solid body guitar known as the ‘Trunks guitar‘because the body consisted of a solid 4 “x 4” piece of wood with an attached neck and two Swedish hollow body halves attached to each side that had no functionality, but made it more aesthetically pleasing. While Gibson and Les Paul introduced their brand, another manufacturer Leo fender (1909-1991), who had a background in electronics, combined his electrical skills with guitar production and in 1951 he brought out his own solid body guitar known as’Announcer‘later renamed the’Telecaster‘. That same year, Fender also released a new base guitar called ‘Precision base‘, because it had a fretted neck instead of the traditional open neck and could be played like a guitar instead of the familiar large-bodied acoustic instrument. From there, Fender introduced the “Stratocaster‘in 1954, which changed the design of its predecessor to incorporate suggestions from professional musicians, Fender employees, and Leo Fender himself. More importantly, he added the new tremolo bridge, intended to give the sound associated with the steel pedal guitar. In addition, it included its third single-coil pickup, which gave it a wider range of tonal possibilities and also a better body design, to allow easier access to the higher registers.

The introduction of the electric guitar was the foundation of Rock and Roll and has had a great impact on jazz, blues, and other forms of popular music.