Who actually invented the electric guitar?
The trusty guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the world, and it’s easy to see why. It’s relatively easy to learn the basics, won’t break the bank, and looks and sounds cool. The instrument has also spawned some of the most iconic and influential songs in music history, from gentle acoustic offerings by Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan to raucous electronic excursions by AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses.
Some of the most influential musicians of history have allowed their sound to be driven by the electric guitar, in particular. Jimi Hendrix turned the instrument into an experience, playing with feedback and effects pedals to alter the classic guitar sound. Queen created some truly iconic riffs and musical epics with the instrument, courtesy of Brian May, and Eddie Van Halen used it to push into the world of metal.
In the decades since the heyday of Hendrix and Van Halen, the electric guitar has continued to find its way into mainstream music and alternative scenes. Glam-rockers paired it with shimmering on-stage outfits. Punks dialled the instrument back before new wave and post-punk artists like Talking Heads and Public Image Ltd. pushed it into more angular territory.
The 1990s gave rise to Radiohead and Nirvana, the former pairing the instrument with electronic production while the latter created a sludgier form of guitar music that would come to be known as grunge. The 2000s allowed a new indie scene to boom, pushing bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes into the spotlight, each wielding electric guitars.
More recent artists to take to the instrument include St Vincent, who has already carved out her place as one of the most talented electric guitarists of her generation, and art-rockers The Last Dinner Party, who have risen through the ranks of the Windmill scene over the last few years with their baroque approach to the genre.
With decades of cross-genre music history under its belt, the electric guitar is certainly here to stay. But when was the instrument first conceived of? And who invented the electric guitar?
Who invented the electric guitar?
The acoustic guitar, made up of wood and strings, has existed for centuries now, but its electronic counterpart has been around for a much shorter period of time. In fact, the electric guitar hasn’t even hit its 100th birthday yet. The beloved instrument was first invented and marketed in the early 1930s by George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker.
Beauchamp was a musician and an inventor, while Rickenbacker was an electric engineer. Together, they invented what would come to be known and sold as the electric guitar, with the product being sold a year later in 1932. This makes it just 92 years old. Since then, a number of other musicians and inventors have contributed to the development of the instrument.
Les Paul has become one of the most well-known names in the guitar world for his contributions to the creation of the solid body electric guitar. DeArmond created the first guitar pedals to alter the sound of the instrument. Physical inventions and additions to the instrument allowed musicians to alter its sound, to push it in new directions and create genres.
Musicians themselves have consistently reinvented the instrument sonically, piling on effects pedals or feedback to make the standard electric guitar sound almost recognisable. From Hendrix to Van Halen, the instrument has been pulled in countless different directions since it first hit the shelves in 1932, lending its strings to everything from grunge to pop to hardcore.
Millions of households all over the world now have all types of electric guitars resting in the corners of bedroom walls or safely stored away in cases, courtesy of Beauchamp and Rickenbacker’s work almost a century ago. The instrument remains an essential part of modern music, in the charts and in DIY venues all over the world.
