C.10 History of the Guitar
Primary Source: Online article A Brief History of the Guitar by Paul Guy. www.guygitars.com/eng/handbook/index.html
Most of the information given here must be credited to Paul Guy, though it was also
supplemented by extra online research.
The ancient stringed instrument that stands-out as the forefather of the modern-day 6-string acoustic guitar was called a “tanbar”, originating in ancient Egypt as far back as 4000 years ago. Of course, the basic harp is the oldest of all stringed instruments.
Imagine a time when hunters using bows and arrows observed that the string on a bow made a sound when plucked with no arrow set to it. Then someone set several strings to a bow to get more sounds, and hence the first harp was made. Next, setting the low end of a bow-harp on bottom of an upturned clay pot caused the pot to vibrate, due to its enclosed air acting as a resonant chamber, amplifying the sound. Thus, the bowl-harp was invented. Next, it was discovered that a straight neck with frets on a bowl-harp allowed players to depress the strings on the neck to get more notes, bringing the tanbar into existence.
Archaeologists say the bowl-harp and tanbar are among the very oldest of all stringed instruments. A basic tanbar has a straight neck, a pear-shaped body with a round back,
and a flat top. The top acts as a soundboard; typically made of stretched hide, while the strings are set into a bridge at the bottom of the body, go across the top, pass through a notched nut, and are affixed to the head using tapered dowels inserted into holes. The
tanbar, of course, is the forerunner of many instruments (lute, kithara, violin, guitar, etc.).
Tomb paintings and stone carvings prove that the tanbar existed in Egypt, Turkey, the Balkans, Iran, Afghanistan, and Greece in distant times. The oldest preserved tanbar was found in the grave of an Egyptian named Har-Mose, who was an architect for the Queen Hatshepsut. This tanbar has three strings, a cedar body, rawhide soundboard, and can be viewed at the Cairo Archaeological Museum. Apparently, therefore, a very ancient proto-guitar was developed by setting frets into the neck of a tanbar, flattening the back, and curving in the sides of the body. Indeed, there is a stone carving found in Alaca-Huyuk, Turkey, showing a Hittite, of all people, playing what looks like a guitar. The carving was dated as being 3300 years old.
The name “guitar” itself comes from the ancient Sanskrit word “tar”, meaning “string”. Many ancient stringed instruments from Central Asia are named using the word tar, usually together with a prefix indicating the number of strings. Examples: The Persian dotar (“do” = two) has two strings, the setar (“se” = three) [which preceded the Indian sitar] has three strings, and a chartar (“char” = four) has four strings. And it was the Persian chartar which constitutes the earliest version of an actual guitar, because it was basically a guitar with only the first four strings; constructed completely of wood, with strings made of animal intestine (e.g., cat-gut).
The Spanish, much later, doubled each string; giving their version four courses of strings (a “course” is one pair of unison-tuned strings). They also altered the body, making it closer to the Spanish-style acoustic guitar we know today. It was called a “guitarra”, from the older “chittara”, their translation of the Persian chartar. Thus, the acoustic guitar’s ancestor came originally from ancient Egypt via Mesopotamia, then Spain; at first having only three or four strings, but then four courses of strings. Still later on, the Spanish added another course of strings, making five altogether, and named that version a “guitarra battente”, where “battente” means “to be beaten”; referring to the fact that it was designed as a percussion instrument; the top was slapped by the flat hand and/or struck by the palm, like a conga drum, while the strings were sounded in a staccato fashion. This is perhaps a historical reason why the guitar has been relegated to the rhythm section in orchestral settings the world over for centuries, which relegation continued into modern times.
The first known music written for a guitarra was composed in Spain in the 16th century, during the early Renaissance. However, when the 5-course guitarra battente appeared, it replaced the 4-course guitarra as the most popular early type of guitar everywhere, and so established the standard tuning we still use today, with respect to the first five strings of the 6-string guitar (1st string at E, 2nd string at B, 3rd string at G, 4th string at D, and 5th string at A). In common with the ancient lute (which usually had many more strings), early guitars had short necks, extending only eight frets from the body. Later guitars went to ten and then twelve frets beyond the body, though all of them had frets extending onto the top. No early guitar had cutouts where the neck joins the body, and few, if any, had more than a just few frets beyond the 12th fret.
Interestingly, the famous violin maker Antonio Stradivari made 5-course guitars with small bodies shaped like that of a violin. Five still exist, with one still playable, and each is worth millions! Indeed, the Italians became experts at making guitars, and were the first to add a 6th course of strings (tuning the 6th string to E two octaves below the 1st string E). Later still, they quit making 6-course guitars and started the 6-string type we are used to now, and which soon became a favored guitar type; so much so that it caused a trend in which 6-course, 5-course, and 4-course guitars were converted to 6-string, 5-string, and 4-string versions.
By the beginning of the 19th Century, 6-string guitars were starting to be recognizably like the acoustic guitars we use today, though they all had smaller bodies. But in 1850, a Spanish luthier named Antonio Torres (Antonio Torres Jurado) began using a design that established what we call a “classical” guitar these days, and which has never changed. It had a larger body, altered proportions, and a fan-like bracing pattern under the bridge, so such guitars are traditionally called "fan-top" guitars. These alterations improved volume, tonality, and projection, and the Torres design is still viewed as having set a standard in classical guitar construction, which remains valid to this day.
In the later 1800s, a German immigrant to the U.S. named C.F. Martin started the Martin Guitar Company, which used an x-shaped bracing-pattern instead of a fan-brace pattern. Thus, when steel strings came on the market circa 1900, it was found that the fan-brace design could not handle the stress (resulting in warping and/or damage), while x-brace designs stood up to the stress. So, the Martin Guitar Company set an industry standard of their own, for all steel-string “flat-top” acoustic guitars. And, by the way, Martin guitars are reputed to be some of the consistently best sounding mass-produced acoustic guitars today.
Also, early in the 20th Century, in the U.S., Orville Gibson, who had been making the arch-
top type of guitars with oval sound-holes, made a steel-string model having a body similar
to a cello, so that the strings no longer exerted lateral force on the top, but force straight
down, due to a “floating” bridge and a tailpiece like that of a cello. This allowed the top to vibrate more freely, increasing loudness. And this type became very popular with guitarists.
In the 1920s, a designer named Lloyd Loar teamed up with Gibson to create what was soon to became yet another standard for arch-top guitar designs, with f-shaped openings instead of an oval sound-hole, though keeping the floating bridge and cello-style tailpiece. It was also in the 1920s that the true electric guitar was born, when pickups were added to Hawaiian steel guitars, at which Jazz guitarists started installing pickups on their arch-tops. However, electric guitars did not become popular until 1936, when the Gibson company released its first ES-150 model semi-hollow-body guitar, which guitarist Charlie Christian made famous (among guitarists) through playing with a wide array of popular musicians on the radio, and even worked exclusively with the Benny Goodman Orchestra from 1939 to 1941.
Hence, with electric guitars becoming more popular among guitarists, and accepted by the listening public, it became clear that hollow bodies on guitars were not necessary. Thus, solid-body 6-string electrics were made by numerous manufacturers starting in the 1930s.
In 1930, the first Rickenbacker model A-22 electric lap-steel prototype was created; going into full production in 1932, spurred by the rising popularity of Hawaiian music at that time. This guitar was made entirely of brass, with a body like a deep frying-pan, and with a deeply scalloped neck, where the raised parts acted like frets. It was marketed as a lap-steel guitar, but its frets were so precise that it was advertised as playable like a “Spanish” style guitar. Consequently, it stands as the very first purpose-built solid-body electric guitar, apart from other lap-steel and/or Hawaiian steel guitars (which are not played as fretted instruments).
In 1941, a wise inventor named O.W. Applegate created one of the first 6-string solid-body electric guitars that we would still recognize as such, because it was a design that Les Paul copied when coming up with the Les Paul model guitar produced by Gibson ten years later. The Applegate guitar had an arched top and general shape similar to the Jazz guitars of that era, but with a lower cutaway at the neck, for easier access to the upper register, along with the floating bridge and cello-type tailpiece. However, it had only one pickup. And looking at a photograph of Applegate’s guitar, it is evident that this was the forerunner of the Les Paul guitar produced by Gibson, in consultation with the accomplished inventor and guitarist Les Paul, who, along with his guitarist wife Mary Ford, sold millions of Jazz recordings. However, as one can easily look up online (search O.W. Applegate), Applegate presented his design to Gibson early on, though they rejected it. Yet, some years later, it is said that they wrote to Applegate admitting their error, and that they should have begun making electric guitars back then, but they also had the audacity to encourage him to purchase a Les Paul guitar, instead of giving him credit for proof of concept in coming up with the design copied for Les Paul.
Nevertheless, to give Les Paul his due, in 1940 he built a solid-body electric guitar of his
own, called “The Log”, at the Epiphone factory. [Online, search Les Paul.] So, he must
be counted among the early inventors of the modern solid-body electric guitar.
In 1948, mechanic and inventor Paul Bigsby built a custom solid-body electric guitar as
visualized by the then famous country singer and accomplished guitarist Merle Travis.
That guitar influenced a number of manufacturers, including both Fender and Gibson,
so much so that Bigsby is called “The Father of the Modern Electric Solid Body Guitar”
in a hardcover book by Andy Babiuk, available on Amazon (see book The Story of Paul Bigsby, published in 2009). Viewing a photograph of that guitar, one can clearly see the resemblance to Fender’s Stratocaster.
In 1950, Leo Fender released the Esquire, with one pickup, which was renamed a year
later as the Broadcaster, with two pickups, but later renamed yet again as the Telecaster.
That guitar soon became a favorite of Country & Western guitarists, and remains one of
the most popular of all electric guitars. In 1953, Fender released the first Stratocaster,
which was destined to become the most popular and most copied electric guitar in the
world; favored by guitarists in all genres where electric guitars have become ubiquitous.
To get an idea of the impact the Stratocaster has had on the music scene, guitar greats such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Beck, and many others clearly owe their fame, at least in part, to their reliance on the Fender Stratocaster guitar.
There are many good guitar brands available these days. My recommendations are;
(1) Acoustic Guitars: Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Fender, Ovation, Guild, Ibanez.
(2) Semi-Hollow-Body Electrics: Gibson, Godin, Gretsch, Ibanez, Epiphone.
(3) Solid-Body Electrics: Fender, Gibson, PRS, Ibanez, Schecter, BC Rich, ESP.
These are not promotional recommendations. I have hands-on experience with each brand, and can vouch for their playability, with proper setup.
Naturally, an electric guitar requires a power-amplifier, to be heard properly, and most of an electric-guitar’s timbre depends on pickup design, the guitar’s circuitry, and the inherent sound of the amplifier. Thus, a discussion of modern guitars should include some mention of guitar amplifiers, as they have become essential equipment for guitarists of all stripes, as electronics technology has advanced so much that guitar-amps today are available specifically for the kind of guitar you prefer. And many of them can make any guitar, even an expensive one, sound better than it would with an amplifier not designed for that kind of guitar. Amplification also includes preamps and effects devices. And, just as with guitar-amps, these are available for all types of guitars, and offer many desirable sounds, and enhancement of raw sound.
The first primary difference in guitar-amps involves the choice between one designed for the acoustic guitar or one made for the electric guitar. Many acoustic guitars today have built-in pickups with built-in battery-powered preamps. And some have built-in tuners. What is more, there are pickups that can be installed on acoustics not so equipped. The second choice is whether a solid-state or an all-tube amp, or hybrid of the two, is preferred. Amps for acoustic, semi-hollow-body, and bass guitars are typically solid-state (meaning, no electron-tubes), while good-sounding amps for solid-body electric guitars can be either type, although the all-tube amps remain the most popular, but can be among the most expensive guitar-amps around.
The first guitar-amps were designed for Hawaiian steel guitars in the 1930s, and were little more than repurposed low-power public-address amplifiers, or else home stereo amplifiers. These were therefore used by guitarists who put pickups on their arch-top guitars. Thus, it later became clear to electric-guitar makers that they should make amplifiers to go along with their electric guitars. Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, and other manufacturers (including Wards, Sears & Roebuck, and other stores selling guitars) produced amplifiers designed specifically for electric guitar; some of which were loud enough to give guitarists a means of keeping up with the loudness of the Big Bands of the Swing era. And because those were still the days of vacuum-tubes, most such amps sounded good. Yet, with the advent of solid-state electronics (using transistors instead of electron-tubes), some guitar-amps began to appear with all solid-state circuitry. Unfortunately, most sounded terrible. So, among guitarists, solid-state amps gained a bad reputation which lasted for many decades. These days, however, electronics technology has advanced to the point that all guitar-amps built today sound relatively good, regardless, and many come with built-in digital effects.
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