The history of the guitar is longer than most people probably imagine it to be. The modern classical guitar is older than contemporary flat-top “steel string” guitars, but even it is a comparatively recent development. Unfortunately, the history and roots of the guitar are shady and very complicated. This isn’t surprising considering how many different types of guitars have been developed over the years, and the vast amount of instruments that are closely related to the guitar that have influenced its evolution.
The guitar traces its roots back to the ancient stringed instruments of India, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. Some of these instruments and their relatives eventually found their way to Europe. Important for the eventual development of the guitar were various foreign four-string instruments, which were present in Europe from at least the 3rd century. There are examples of written music for these four-string instrument which date back to 16th century Spain, while in contemporary Italy, a five-string instrument replaced the four-string one. These early guitars typically had no more than 8 frets, but this number increased over time.
By the 17th century, the six-string guitar was created, and quickly became the most popular model of the archaic guitar. Around 1850, the larger-bodied modern classical guitar was developed, which improved the sound quality of the guitar and quickly become the new standard. The classical guitars available in music stores today are still the same shape and size of this 19th century creation.
Flat-top “steel string” guitars were developed around 1900, and are today typically referred to as “acoustic guitars”. Soon after, arch-top guitars were created with the purpose of increasing the volume of the guitar. With the continued search for more volume, guitar pickups began to be developed. The first pickups date back to the 1920s, but pickups didn’t become very successful until the 1940s under the hands of Orville Gibson and Christian Fredrich Martin.
As amplification technology developed, the first solid-body guitar appeared. As to who was the first to invent the solid-body guitar, this is still a controversial and murky topic with no clear answer.
Rickenbacker Electro’s 1931 “Frying Pan” Hawaiian guitar is generally considered to be the first electric guitar put on the market. Other electric guitars from the 1930s include those made by companies such Gibson with their ES 150 model.
Fender introduced the Broadcaster (now known as the Telecaster) in 1949, and the Stratocaster in 1954, while Gibson introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. Another important development was the creation of the humbucking pickup in 1954, which the Les Paul model began to use beginning in 1957.
While many new companies and guitar models have emerged since the 1950s, there have been few innovations between then and now. The development of the electric guitar reached its epoch mid-century, and many of the classic models developed at this time are still highly regarded and valued today.
