|
|
Early Electric Guitars
In the Beginning, the guitar was merely an ambient instrument used merely for accompaniment of a vocalist or other instrument. Not until 1932, when Adolph Rickenbacker invented the Frying Pan, did the guitar come to today's modern style of guitar. Rickenbacker's creation was not unlike the electric guitars of today, as far as electronics and general feel go.
The Frying Pan
By 1930 many people familiar with electricity knew that a
metal moving through a magnetic field caused a disturbance that in turn
could be translated into an electric current by a nearby coil of wire.
Electrical generators and phonograph pickups utilized different
applications of this principle. The problem building a guitar pickup was
creating a practical way of translating the strings' vibration directly
into a current. After many months of trial and error, George Beauchamp
developed a pickup that consisted of two horseshoe magnets. The strings
passed through these and over a coil, which had six pole pieces
concentrating the magnetic field under each string. This allowed the
vibrations of the strings to be turned into an electrical signal, and
eventually into sonic energy.
When the pickup seemed to be doing its job, Beauchamp
called on Harry Watson, a skilled craftsman who had been National's
factory superintendent, to make a wooden neck and body for it. In several
hours the first fully electric guitar took form. It was nicknamed the
"Frying Pan," for obvious reasons. Anxious to manufacture it, Beauchamp
enlisted his friend Adolph Rickenbacker. With Adolph's help, know-how,
ideas, and capital were abundant. The first name of the company was
Ro-Pat-In Corporation but was soon changed to Electro String. Adolph
became president and George secretary-treasurer. They called the
instruments Rickenbackers because it was a famous name and easier than
Beauchamp to pronounce.
Fender Stratocaster
Founded in 1946, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
has been an American icon for over 50 years. In that time, Fender's
contribution to the evolving sound of contemporary music has been
continuous. By introducing the first commercially viable solidbody
electric guitar, and countless classic amplifiers, Fender musical
instruments have left their mark on jazz, blues, country, rock and many
other styles of popular music.
Fender's claim to fame is with their Stratocaster guitar, which was invented in 1954 by Leo Fender, the company's namesake. The "Strat" has become an American icon of sorts, and for good reason. Painstaking details were put into the making of this influential guitar. The Strat was also the first mass produced Spanish style electric guitar that was sucessful.
The Stratocaster was built to be the perfect electric guitar. The main concepts behind the Stratocaster were a Synchronized Tremolo, a Comfort Contour body, six fully adjustable individual saddles, and three single coil pickups with staggered pole pieces. The tremolo system includes a "Whammy" bar that allows the player to lower or raise a note or chord's pitch. The comfort contoured body is shaped so that the guitar is ergonomically held when either standing or sitting with the guitar. The double cutaway of the body helps the player to reach even the highest notes with ease. The six individual saddles were a first in the fact that you could raise or lower the height of each string without throwing off other string tensions. The three single coil pickups provide many more tonal qualities than conventional electric guitars of the time. This guitar raised the standard for electric guitars, and has spawned many "Strat-clones". The Strat is still the most widely used guitar in existence.
