There are many types of guitar & they fall into a small amount of categories; the acoustic guitar the electric guitar.
The Acoustic Guitar
Modern acoustic guitars are either steel strung or nylon strung, & are generally used for classical flamenco music. Steel strung acoustic guitars are used in all styles of contemporary music, such as folk, blues, jazz & rock styles.
Acoustic guitars are available in an array of designs, shapes, the way they are made the sound they produce, ease of use & their quality & price. The steel strung guitar is a descendant of the classical guitars designed & built in the 19th century by Antonio de Torres Jurado. Steel strung guitars were largely developed in America with companies such as Gibson & Martin.
How Does An Acoustic Guitar Generate Sound?
As you play a string the vibration is sent to the sound box via the Saddle the white section on the bridge that the strings feeds through before they go to the bridge pins to be secured) & the bridge. This alone will not generate the sound that we expect from an acoustic guitar. The sound is generated by the soundboard and out through the sound box (the large hollow part of the acoustic guitar). The sound box amplifies the vibrating notes.
Tone Of An Acoustic Guitar
The better made acoustic guitars offer a superior tone which is produced through the soundboard, the front or top of the guitar sound box). Torres once proved the importance of the soundboard with regard to tone by making an experimental guitar out of paper-mache and placing a quality soundboard on it, the result amazed all who played it. Quality soundboards are made out of pine or spruce that have been quarter sawn, book matched, well seasoned & straight grained. The term quarter sawn refers to cutting from outside to the middle of the timber; Book matched refers to the two pieces of wood used on the soundboard are sawn from one piece of wood that ensures that the grain of the two match perfectly.
The Guitar Bridge
As the vibrations travel through the bridge & saddle to the soundboard they have to be efficient & strong. There are two types of bridge, floating & fixed. The best wood for fixed bridges is ebony as it is high density & great for carrying vibrations through to the pine or spruce soundboard.
TheElectric Guitar
Electric guitars began in America, there are many types of electric guitars such as Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Gretsch...
The story of the electric guitar can be traced back to 1920-24 when Lloyd Loar who worked for Gibson worked on the magnetic pickup... but in was in the 1930's that the first commercially availble pickup was introduced through the Rowe-DeArmond company. The magnetic guitar pickup would clip onto an acoustic guitar, which would then amplify its' natural sound. Gibson took the magnetic pickup to its' next level though in 1935 when they introduced their ES-150 an electric spanish model, so things progressed...
Feedback however plagued these guitars, an alternative way to amplifier the guitar was well underway with many of the big names in pursuit of the ultimate guitar! Then came the answer through a solid bodied electric guitar.
Solid bodied guitars owe a lot to the popularity of Hawaiian music during the 1920's, where in the 1930's the Rickenbacker Fryinng Pan was introduced A-22 & A25, these were powerful Hawiian guitars using 2 built in magnets. By 1946 the Fender Electric Instrument Company was formed & the Broadcaster was born in 1948, - later re-named as Telecaster,- a much sought after guitar that was originally built to try outLeo Fender's new solid body pick up.
Les Paul was also working with the same goal... electric solid bodied guitar. He pursuaded Epiphone to allow him to create his'log' guitar in their workshop on Sunday's. It is said thatthe log was the first true solid bodied electric guitar. In 1952 the Gibson Les Paul went into production & in 1954 theFender Stratocaster (my favourite type of guitar) went into production.
& the rest as they say is History...
Sufficient to say that all guitarists are indebted to the brilliance & commitment of these inventors of the acoustic & electric guitar.
Written & Taught by Paul Gronow of Music Maker Guitar Lessons, Barry, South Wales, UK
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