Fact File about the Invention of the Electric Guitar: Date of Invention: 1956 *** Name of Inventor: Adolph Rickenbacker *** Lifespan of Inventor: 1886 - 1976 *** Nationality of Inventor: Swiss-American *** Category: Musical Instruments *** Country of Origin: United States *** Facts about the Inventor, Adolph Rickenbacker and his invention Fact 1: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The Electric Guitar was invented by Adolph Rickenbacker in 1956 during the Rock and Roll era.
Fact 2: Who invented the Electric Guitar? Prior to the invention of the Electric Guitar in 1956, there was the modern "classical" guitar that was invented in 1859 by the Spanish guitarist Antonio Torres Jurado. Most of the acoustic guitars used to this day originated from his designs. Fact 3: Who invented the Electric Guitar? In the late 1800's the Martin steel-string guitars replaced the traditional catgut strings the first step towards the promise of much louder guitars. Fact 4: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The need for electric guitars arose because Acoustic Guitars were too quiet for large venues. Fact 5: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The man generally credited as the inventor of the Electric Guitar was Adolph Rickenbacker, a Swiss-American who was born on April 1, 1886 in Basel, Switzerland died on March 21, 1976.
Fact 6: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The early years of Adolph Rickenbacker were spent in Basel, Switzerland where he was raised by his family. Adolph Rickenbacker emigrated to the United States in 1891 following the death of his parents.
Fact 7: Who invented the Electric Guitar? Adolph Rickenbacker first set up an engineering shop specializing in metal pressing. He then changed direction and went on to learn the skills of a lutheir, a repairer and maker of stringed instruments such as the violin or classical guitar. (The word 'lutheir' derives from the French word 'luth' meaning lute).
Fact 8: Who invented the Electric Guitar? In the 1920's Adolph Rickenbacker became friends with (March 18, 1899 – March 30, 1941) George Beauchamp who played Hawaiian guitar and in 1931 they established an instrument manufacturing business creating metal bodies for resonator guitars called the National String Instrument Corporation. Fact 9: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The aim of Rickenbacker and George Beauchamp was to invent a guitar that was significantly louder than the acoustic instrument. Fact 10: Who invented the Electric Guitar? In 1932 George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker produced the first cast aluminium versions of the electric lap steel guitar, which they nicknamed the "frying pan". Fact 11: Who invented the Electric Guitar? Rickenbacker and Beauchamp patented their "frying pan" in 1934 under patent number 2,089,171. It was a strange looking device and at first the Patent Office did not know whether to categorize the "Frying Pan" as an electrical device or a musical instrument!
Fact 12: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The "frying pan" was the first electric lap steel guitar ever produced, and one of the earliest electrically amplified guitars.
Fact 13: Who invented the Electric Guitar? In 1936 they invented a hollow-body electric guitar, called the electro Spanish guitar and the Rickenbacker company became the world's first manufacturer to produce electric guitars. The Rickenbacker electric guitars featured a single electric pickup with a steel cover that arched over the strings. The steel was soon replaced by bakelite. Fact 13: Who invented the Electric Guitar? In 1940 George Beauchamp tired of the business and sold his interest in the Rickenbacker company to market fishing equipment. George Beauchamp sadly died less than a year later on March 30, 1941. Fact 14: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The Rickenbacker hollow body was prone to feedback and distortions from the body and strings. and other inventors started experimenting with producing solid-body guitars. In 1940, Les Paul (1915 - 2009) created “The Log,” an electric guitar whose strings and pickups were mounted on a body carved from a solid block of wood. Fact 15: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The first modern electric guitar was designed and built in 1940 by an NC State electrical engineering student called William Sydney Wilson. Sidney Wilson put an individual pickup on each string and created the first fully electric guitar but failed to patent his invention. Fact 16: Who invented the Electric Guitar? In 1946 Leo Fender designed the first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar with a single magnetic pickup and in 1954, introduced the Fender Stratocaster, or "Strat" electric guitar. Fact 17: Who invented the Electric Guitar? The early 50’s was a period of major change in the music industry and in 1953 Adolph Rickenbacker sold his company to Francis Cary Hall. Fact 18: Who invented the Electric Guitar? Adolph Rickenbacker died from cancer in Orange County, California in 1976 at the age of 89 years old. He will always be remembered as the inventor of the first electric guitar. Fast Info and Fact File: Name of Inventor: Adolph Rickenbacker *** Nationality of Inventor: Swiss-American *** Date of Invention: 1956 *** Invention *** Lifespan of Inventor: 1886 - 1976 *** Invention Period: Cold War Era *** Type: Musical Instrument *** The Inventor and Invention of Electric Guitars *** | 
