History of the guitar

The guitar can be dated back to over 4,000 years ago and there have been many ideas on its ancestry. Many believe it is a development based on the lute or Greek Kithara. The oldest preserved guitar is over 3,500 years old.. now that's vintage! It was found buried with an egyptian minister, Sen-Mut around 1500 BC. It can be viewed at an archaeological museum in Cairo.




Now for a more recent history of the electric guitar, this is what you were probably expecting. It all started in 1940 by a guy known as Leo Fender, most of you probably recognize his name. He had been building custom amps and guitars for awhile, but he was about to invent something the world had never seen before. An amp with tone controls. In 1951 he showed the world something new. The broadcaster, the original Telecaster or tele. This was the first solid body electric guitar to be mass produced and marketed. In 1951 he had invented the Precision Bass and by 1954 the stratocaster.




In 1952 the Les Paul had come into production, this was gibsons first attempt at a solid body electric guitar. Gibson had decided to use Les Pauls' guitar design after previously turning down his idea, calling it "A Broom stick with pickups on it". They barely even used Les's original design. They just wanted some publicity, associating with a famous player. Thus the Les Paul was born with a Mahogany back and Maple top it provided to be the back bone of Rock n Roll.

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