Posted on 06/09/2011 9:14:51 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Google has created a play-along Doodle to mark the anniversary of electric guitar inventor Les Paul's birth. Les Paul (1915-2009), for those unfamiliar, was a jazz/blues musician and inventor of the solid-body electric guitar that kicked-started rock and roll.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Depending on who you talk to, it is either Les Paul (who also came up with about a zillion other things, including "sound on sound" and multitrack recording), Merle Travis, or Rickenbacker (with their Hawaiian steel guitar).
Leo Fender introduced the "Broadcaster" (eventually renamed "Telecaster," after a trademark dispute) and of course, the "Stratocaster." But these were later on.
However, there's no dispute that Fender DID introduce the first Electric Bass Guitar.
Mark
Fender’s Broadcaster pre-dates the Gibson Les Paul by a number of years. It was the first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar.
1949: Fender Broadcaster
1952: Gibson Les Paul
1954: Fender Stratocaster
Denver Smith: I had read that somewhere that you did. When you first invented the solid body guitar, is it true that the first version you made, you called it a log?
Les Paul: No, the first one was a piece of a railroad track. Another one I made at the same time was nothing but a stick. Just a plank, a 2x4 plank, with a string stretched on it and a pick up on it. That was the very first time I ever made a solid body guitar. Everything else was refinements, or making a better block of wood with a string on it.
Mark
Correct, however I believe that Les’ first experiments at making a solidbody guitar were in the 1920s or 1930s. And of course, that Rickenbacker “Pan” is often credited as the first commercial solid body electric guitar.
Mark
SWEET!
Absolutely.
That Ric has that bizarre (to modern eyes) pickup that wraps around the strings.
Yes, and Rickenbacker used a similar looking "horse-shoe" pickup on their early 4000 series basses. It's got a rather unique sound, and is very much in demand. I believe that Rickenbacker created a "reissue" pickup they sold, and of course they installed it in their special edition basses, like the "Chris Squire" and "Paul McCartney" tribute basses.
Mark
I know he hardly ever plays a Rick anymore, but do they make a Geddy Lee model?
No, but then he played a pretty much standard bass (IIRC, the only changed was a Leo Quan "BadAss" bridge).
However, Fender DOES have a Geddy Lee Jazz Bass!
Mark
Julius LaRosa
“However, Fender DOES have a Geddy Lee Jazz Bass!”
That I did know about, and I’ve played one. But IIRC, Ged’s J-Bass was pretty much a standard instrument as well.
Last time I saw Rush in concert (2007), he had a red J-Bass tuned a step down for a couple older songs. He also brought out the Rick during the encore.
Biggest cotton-pickin’ EYES in the universe...and can shred like nobody’s business.
Actually the FIRST Solid Body Electric Guitar was not made by either Rickenbacker Fender or Gibson but was made by Slingerland.
Great Documentary by the Smithsonian: Electrified:The Guitar Revolution
Back in 1980, after TWA broke the headstock off of my custom Rickenbacker 4001 (and paid for it), as much as I loved that Rick, I felt that the sound wasn't as "flexible" as I would have liked... While I was looking for a replacement, I found the exact same year and model Jazz Bass that Geddy uses at Stuyvesant Music on W. 48th street. The neck was really amazing, it felt different than any other Jazz Bass I had played, and it had Bartolini pickups, which sounded awesome. I nearly bought it, but I found an amazing deal on an early Carl Thompson bass that I just couldn't pass up. At the time, Carl's basses were really only known by NYC session players. I still have that bass today.
Mark
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