59es Gibson Electric Guitar
The electric guitar is a guitar with steel or nickel strings. The vibration of these strings is picked up and converts into an electrical current by so called pickups, and then amplified.
In 1931 the Rickenbacker company was the first to make electric guitars, this were normal hollow bodied guitars with tungsten steel pickups.
The first solid body electric guitar was made by Les Paul, but the first successful solid body electric guitar was the Fender Esquire, made in 1950.
The electric guitar played a major role in the development of musical styles such as blues, rock and roll, rockabilly and blues rock.
In the Guitar Classroom you will find electric guitar lessons