Electric Guitar Design
Encyclopedia
Electric Guitar Design is a type of industrial design
where the looks and efficiency of the shape as well as the acoustical aspects of the guitar are important factors. In the past many guitars have been designed with all kinds of odd shapes as well as very practical and convenient solutions to improve the usability
of the object.
invented the electric guitar
or some may call the lap steel guitar. Initially, electric guitars consisted primarily of hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies to which electromagnetic transducers had been attached.
Electric guitars were originally designed by an assortment of luthiers, electronics
enthusiasts, and instrument manufacturers, in varying combinations. Some of the earliest
electric guitars, then essentially adapted hollow bodied acoustic instruments, used tungsten
pickups and were manufactured in the 1930s by Rickenbacker
. In 1935, a Soviet scientist working separately from his western colleagues was known to have produced an electric Russian guitar
called the "Kuznetsov electromagnetic guitar". It was exhibited at a technology expo in Moscow, but its development was halted since the Stalin regime was hostile to guitar music.
At least one company, Audiovox
, built and may have offered an electric solid-body as early as the mid-1930s. Rickenbacher, later spelled Rickenbacker offered a cast aluminum electric guitar, nicknamed The Frying Pan or The Pancake Guitar, beginning in 1933.
Another early solid body electric guitar was designed and built by musician and inventor Les Paul
in the early 1940s, working after hours in the Epiphone Guitar
factory. His log guitar (so called because it consisted of a simple 4x4 wood post with a neck attached to it and homemade pickups and hardware, with two detachable Swedish hollow body halves attached to the sides for appearance only) was patented and is often considered to be the first of its kind, although it shares nothing in design or hardware with the solid body "Les Paul" model sold by Gibson.
In 1950 and 1951, electronics and instrument amplifier maker Leo Fender
through his company, designed the first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar with a single magnetic pickup, which was initially named the "Esquire
". The two-pickup version of the Esquire was called the "Broadcaster". The bolt-on neck was consistent with Leo Fender's belief that the instrument design should be modular to allow cost-effective and consistent manufacture and assembly, as well as simple repair or replacement.
In 1954, Fender introduced the Fender Stratocaster
, or "Strat". It was positioned as a deluxe model and offered various product improvements and innovations over the Telecaster. These innovations included an ash or alder double-cutaway body design for badge assembly with an integrated vibrato
mechanism (called a synchronized tremolo by Fender, thus beginning a confusion of the terms that still continues), three single-coil pickups, and body comfort contours. Leo Fender is also credited with developing the first commercially-successful electric bass
called the Fender Precision Bass
, introduced in 1951.
and his "log" electric in the 1940s. In apparent response to the Telecaster, Gibson introduced the first Gibson Les Paul
solid body guitar in 1952 (although Les Paul was actually brought in only towards the end of the design process for expert fine tuning of the nearly complete design and for marketing endorsement http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/Stories/LesPaul.html). Features of the Les Paul include a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top (much like a violin
and earlier Gibson archtop hollow body electric guitars) and contrasting edge binding, two single-coil "soapbar" pickups, a 24¾" scale mahogany neck with a more traditional glued-in "set" neck joint
, binding on the edges of the fretboard, and a tilt-back headstock
with three machine heads (tuners) to a side. The earliest models had a combination bridge and trapeze-tailpiece design that was in fact designed by Les Paul himself, but was largely disliked and discontinued after the first year. Gibson then developed the Tune-o-matic
bridge and separate stop tailpiece, an adjustable non-vibrato design that has endured. By 1957, Gibson had made the final major change to the Les Paul as we know it today - the humbucking pickup, or humbucker. The humbucker, invented by Seth Lover
, was a dual-coil pickup which featured two windings connected out of phase and reverse-wound, in order to cancel the 60-cycle hum associated with single-coil pickups; as a byproduct, however, it also produces a distinctive, more "mellow" tone which appeals to many guitarists. The more traditionally designed and styled Gibson solid-body instruments were a contrast to Leo Fender's modular designs, with the most notable differentiator being the method of neck attachment and the scale of the neck (Gibson-24.75", Fender-25.5"). Each design has its own merits. To this day, the basic design of many solid-body electric guitar available today are derived from the original designs - the Telecaster, Stratocaster and the Les Paul.
. Vox guitars also experimented with onboard effects and electronics. The Teardrop won a prize for its design. In the mid 1960s, as the sound of electric 12 string guitar became popular, Vox introduced the Phantom XII and Mark XII electric 12 string guitars. Vox produced many more traditional 6 and 12 string electric guitars in both England and Italy.
GuitarOrgan
In 1966 Vox introduced the revolutionary but problematic GuitarOrgan, a Phantom VI guitar with internal organ electronics. The instrument's trigger mechanism required a specially-wired plectrum that completed circuit connections to each fret, resulting in a very wide and unwieldy neck. John Lennon
was given one in a bid to secure an endorsement, though this never panned out. According to Up-Tight: the Velvet Underground Story, Brian Jones
of the Rolling Stones
also tried one; when asked by the Velvets if it "worked", his answer was negative. The instrument never became popular, but it was a precursor to the modern guitar synthesizer.
as well as Kramer
built guitars with aluminium necks. Danelectro
used masonite bodies. Also plastic and carbon
bodied guitars have been made in the past. The Gittler guitar
was a design guitar made in the 80s. 1991 saw the introduction of guitar designer Jol Dantzig
's first truly workable acoustic-electric hybrid guitar design. The instrument, called the DuoTone, was conceived while Dantzig was at Hamer Guitars
. (Dantzig was also the designer of the first 12 string bass.) Adapted by players like Ty Tabor, Stone Gossard, Elvis Costello and Jeff Tweedy, the DuoTone was a full "duplex" instrument that could switch between acoustic and electric tones. Recently there have been many entries in the hybrid category (capable of both acoustic and electric tones) including the T5 by Taylor, Michael Kelly's "Hybrid," the Parker Fly and the Anderson Crowdster. In the 90s the band Neptune
began building weird looking metal guitar with 3rd Bridge
options incorporated. A predecessor of this type of guitars is the Pencilina. Linda Manzer
designed the Pikasso guitar
with multiple necks.
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
where the looks and efficiency of the shape as well as the acoustical aspects of the guitar are important factors. In the past many guitars have been designed with all kinds of odd shapes as well as very practical and convenient solutions to improve the usability
Usability
Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...
of the object.
History
George BeauchampGeorge Beauchamp
George Delmetia Beauchamp was an inventor of musical instruments and a co-founder of National Stringed Instrument Corporation and Rickenbacker guitars....
invented the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
or some may call the lap steel guitar. Initially, electric guitars consisted primarily of hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies to which electromagnetic transducers had been attached.
Early years
enthusiasts, and instrument manufacturers, in varying combinations. Some of the earliest
electric guitars, then essentially adapted hollow bodied acoustic instruments, used tungsten
Tungsten (music)
A Tungsten or Tungs-Tone is a type of phonograph stylus. They are constructed from tungsten wire, which is held in a metal shank. Unlike a steel stylus, a tungsten stylus has a cylindrical rather than a conical shape, meaning that the cross-section of the stylus remains the same as the stylus wears...
pickups and were manufactured in the 1930s by Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
. In 1935, a Soviet scientist working separately from his western colleagues was known to have produced an electric Russian guitar
Russian guitar
The Russian guitar is a seven-string acoustic guitar that arrived in Russia toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, most probably as an evolution of the cittern, kobza, and torban...
called the "Kuznetsov electromagnetic guitar". It was exhibited at a technology expo in Moscow, but its development was halted since the Stalin regime was hostile to guitar music.
At least one company, Audiovox
Audiovox
Audiovox Corporation is an American consumer electronics company founded in 1965 and headquartered in Hauppauge, New York.Among the domestic brands now owned by Audiovox are: Acoustic Research, Advent, Code Alarm, Invision, Jensen, Prestige, RCA, and Terk. The international brands they own include...
, built and may have offered an electric solid-body as early as the mid-1930s. Rickenbacher, later spelled Rickenbacker offered a cast aluminum electric guitar, nicknamed The Frying Pan or The Pancake Guitar, beginning in 1933.
Another early solid body electric guitar was designed and built by musician and inventor Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
in the early 1940s, working after hours in the Epiphone Guitar
Epiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
factory. His log guitar (so called because it consisted of a simple 4x4 wood post with a neck attached to it and homemade pickups and hardware, with two detachable Swedish hollow body halves attached to the sides for appearance only) was patented and is often considered to be the first of its kind, although it shares nothing in design or hardware with the solid body "Les Paul" model sold by Gibson.
Fender
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...
through his company, designed the first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar with a single magnetic pickup, which was initially named the "Esquire
Fender Esquire
The Fender Esquire is a solid body electric guitar manufactured by Fender, and was the first guitar sold by Fender in 1950. Shortly after its introduction a two-pickup version named the Broadcaster was introduced while the single pickup version retained the Esquire name...
". The two-pickup version of the Esquire was called the "Broadcaster". The bolt-on neck was consistent with Leo Fender's belief that the instrument design should be modular to allow cost-effective and consistent manufacture and assembly, as well as simple repair or replacement.
In 1954, Fender introduced the Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
, or "Strat". It was positioned as a deluxe model and offered various product improvements and innovations over the Telecaster. These innovations included an ash or alder double-cutaway body design for badge assembly with an integrated vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
mechanism (called a synchronized tremolo by Fender, thus beginning a confusion of the terms that still continues), three single-coil pickups, and body comfort contours. Leo Fender is also credited with developing the first commercially-successful electric bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
called the Fender Precision Bass
Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass is an electric bass.Designed by Leo Fender as a prototype in 1950 and brought to market in 1951, the Precision was the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use. A revolutionary instrument for the time, the Precision Bass has made an immeasurable impact on...
, introduced in 1951.
Gibson
Gibson, like many guitar manufacturers, had long offered semi-acoustic guitars with pickups, and previously rejected Les PaulLes Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
and his "log" electric in the 1940s. In apparent response to the Telecaster, Gibson introduced the first Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
solid body guitar in 1952 (although Les Paul was actually brought in only towards the end of the design process for expert fine tuning of the nearly complete design and for marketing endorsement http://www.gibson.com/products/gibson/Stories/LesPaul.html). Features of the Les Paul include a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top (much like a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and earlier Gibson archtop hollow body electric guitars) and contrasting edge binding, two single-coil "soapbar" pickups, a 24¾" scale mahogany neck with a more traditional glued-in "set" neck joint
Set-in neck
Set-in neck is a method of guitar construction that involves joining guitar neck and body with a tightly fitted mortise-and-tenon or dovetail joint, secured using some sort of adhesive...
, binding on the edges of the fretboard, and a tilt-back headstock
Headstock
Headstock or peghead is a part of guitar or similar stringed instrument. The main function of a headstock is holding the instrument's strings. Strings go from the bridge past the nut and are usually fixed on machine heads on headstock...
with three machine heads (tuners) to a side. The earliest models had a combination bridge and trapeze-tailpiece design that was in fact designed by Les Paul himself, but was largely disliked and discontinued after the first year. Gibson then developed the Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic
Tune-o-matic is a name of fixed bridge design for electric guitars. It was designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in the Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar in 1954. In 1955, it was used on the Gibson Les Paul Gold Top...
bridge and separate stop tailpiece, an adjustable non-vibrato design that has endured. By 1957, Gibson had made the final major change to the Les Paul as we know it today - the humbucking pickup, or humbucker. The humbucker, invented by Seth Lover
Seth Lover
Seth Lover is most famous for inventing the humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar....
, was a dual-coil pickup which featured two windings connected out of phase and reverse-wound, in order to cancel the 60-cycle hum associated with single-coil pickups; as a byproduct, however, it also produces a distinctive, more "mellow" tone which appeals to many guitarists. The more traditionally designed and styled Gibson solid-body instruments were a contrast to Leo Fender's modular designs, with the most notable differentiator being the method of neck attachment and the scale of the neck (Gibson-24.75", Fender-25.5"). Each design has its own merits. To this day, the basic design of many solid-body electric guitar available today are derived from the original designs - the Telecaster, Stratocaster and the Les Paul.
Vox
In 1962 Vox introduced the pentagonal Phantom guitar, originally made in England but soon after made by EKO of Italy. It was followed a year later by the teardrop-shaped Mark VI, the prototype of which was used by Brian Jones of The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. Vox guitars also experimented with onboard effects and electronics. The Teardrop won a prize for its design. In the mid 1960s, as the sound of electric 12 string guitar became popular, Vox introduced the Phantom XII and Mark XII electric 12 string guitars. Vox produced many more traditional 6 and 12 string electric guitars in both England and Italy.
GuitarOrgan
In 1966 Vox introduced the revolutionary but problematic GuitarOrgan, a Phantom VI guitar with internal organ electronics. The instrument's trigger mechanism required a specially-wired plectrum that completed circuit connections to each fret, resulting in a very wide and unwieldy neck. John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
was given one in a bid to secure an endorsement, though this never panned out. According to Up-Tight: the Velvet Underground Story, Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
of the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
also tried one; when asked by the Velvets if it "worked", his answer was negative. The instrument never became popular, but it was a precursor to the modern guitar synthesizer.
Other guitars
Also other materials than wood were used. Travis BeanTravis Bean
Clifford Travis Bean was an American luthier and machinist from California.In 1974, he partnered with Marc McElwee and Gary Kramer to start Travis Bean Guitars, which made high-end electric guitars and basses featuring machined aluminum necks. This was an unusual design, departing from more...
as well as Kramer
Kramer
-People:*Kramer , a musician and record producer.Fictional* Cosmo Kramer, a character from the American sitcom Seinfeld, usually referred to as just "Kramer".For other people, real or fictional, with the last name of "Kramer", see Kramer...
built guitars with aluminium necks. Danelectro
Danelectro
Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...
used masonite bodies. Also plastic and carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
bodied guitars have been made in the past. The Gittler guitar
Gittler guitar
A Gittler Guitar is an experimental designed guitar created by Allan Gittler . Gittler felt that sentimental design references to acoustic guitars are unnecessary in an electronically amplified guitar, and designed his instrument with the objective of reducing the electric guitar to the most...
was a design guitar made in the 80s. 1991 saw the introduction of guitar designer Jol Dantzig
Jol Dantzig
Jolyon C. Dantzig is known as an artist, businessman, songwriter, designer, guitarist, luthier, author and one of the founders of Hamer Guitars.-Biography:...
's first truly workable acoustic-electric hybrid guitar design. The instrument, called the DuoTone, was conceived while Dantzig was at Hamer Guitars
Hamer Guitars
Hamer Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars. Founded in 1973 by vintage guitar shop owners, Jol Dantzig and his business partner Paul Hamer. Early instruments featured guitar designs based on the Gibson Explorer and Flying V...
. (Dantzig was also the designer of the first 12 string bass.) Adapted by players like Ty Tabor, Stone Gossard, Elvis Costello and Jeff Tweedy, the DuoTone was a full "duplex" instrument that could switch between acoustic and electric tones. Recently there have been many entries in the hybrid category (capable of both acoustic and electric tones) including the T5 by Taylor, Michael Kelly's "Hybrid," the Parker Fly and the Anderson Crowdster. In the 90s the band Neptune
Neptune (band)
Neptune is a noise music band from Boston, noted for having built their custom-made guitars and basses out of scrap metal. The band also plays custom-made percussion instruments and electric lamellophones.-Band history:...
began building weird looking metal guitar with 3rd Bridge
3rd Bridge
The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on some string instruments , that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges...
options incorporated. A predecessor of this type of guitars is the Pencilina. Linda Manzer
Linda Manzer
Linda Manzer is a Canadian master luthier renowned for her archtop, flat-top and harp acoustic guitars.She received her training from Jean Larrivée between 1974 and 1978 and later studied with the late Jimmy D'Aquisto in New York....
designed the Pikasso guitar
Pikasso guitar
The Pikasso Guitar, or Pikasso I, is a custom made harp guitar created by Canadian luthier Linda Manzer.Its name is ostensibly derived from its likeness in appearance to the cubist works of Pablo Picasso.-Players:...
with multiple necks.
See also
- 3rd Bridge3rd BridgeThe 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on some string instruments , that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bridges...
Guitar - Experimental luthierExperimental luthierExperimental luthiers are luthiers who take part in alternate stringed instrument manufacturing or create original string-instruments altogether. Notable experimental luthiers include Yuri Landman, Bradford Reed, and Hans Reichel....
- Experimental musical instrument
- Fender Jag-StangFender Jag-StangThe Fender Jag-Stang is an electric guitar designed by Kurt Cobain, of the band Nirvana, intended as a hybrid of two Fender electric guitars: the Jaguar and the Mustang. Cobain suggested his idea for an instrument to Fender, resulting in two left-handed prototypes built by former Custom Shop Master...
- co-created with Kurt Cobain- Buddy Guy Polka Dot Stratocaster
- Fender SwingerFender SwingerThe Fender Swinger was a short-lived electric guitar model released by Fender in 1969, with few made...
- Fender BroncoFender BroncoThe Fender Bronco was an electric guitar model produced by the Fender company from mid 1967 until 1981. It used the body and neck from the Fender Mustang, but had only one pickup and a different tremolo arm mechanism...
- Fender CustomFender CustomThe Fender Custom was a short-lived model released by the CBS-owned Fender in 1969. Essentially a six-string Fender Electric XII, the Custom was an attempt to sell off unused factory stock instead of simply writing it off. The guitar was made with unused parts from Electric XII guitars, including...