Electric Guitars

The E-Guitar (Electric Guitar)

Surrounded by mighty wind instruments the stringed instruments (violin, guitar, mandolin, hawaii guitar) had a hard time to be heard during the beginning of the last century. At the end of the 20´s the musician George Beauchamp (Hawaii guitar and violin) was experimenting with spools and magnets when he developed the first pick-ups. In 1932 Beauchamp had his invention patented and cooperated with Adolf Rickenbacker who was very interested in this invention. The first Hawaii guitars with pick-ups were launched and the electric guitar was born.

It didn’t take long for other guitar manufacturers to follow suit, especially Gibson, who was very experienced in instrument construction at the time. Gibson quickly perfected the system and in 1935 offered a lap steel guitar and by 1936 an „F-hole archtop guitar“, the ES-150 (ES=Electric Spanish), fitted with pick-ups. The latter was known as the „Charlie Christian Model“

The advantage of this new pick-up is that it only transmits the vibrations of the strings, unlike a microphone that also picks up other background noise. The vibrations of the electric guitar strings are turned into an electric impulse with help of the electromagnetic induction. Then the signal runs through an amplifier where it can be manipulated before it is released as sound from a speaker. The rather voluminous archtop models that Gibson was fitting with pick-ups at start were loud enough without amplification and could be played with or without the use of pick-ups, that is why the semi-acoustic models we know today have a slimmer body shape.

The next step toward the modern electric guitar followed in 1949 as Leo Fender introduced the Broadcaster and the Esquire (later Telecaster). Made of just one piece of wood with one (later two) single coil pick-ups. In 1954 the Fender Stratocaster followed, new features included a vibrato system and three single coil pick-ups. Gibson needed to make a move and also developed a solid body guitar.

In 1952 the Gibson les Paul was introduced. Lester Polfus had been working on his idea of a solid body guitar since the beginning of the 1930´s. The first Les Paul models had two single coil pick-ups. To reduce the noise and hum Gibson cooperated with Seth Lover to develop the hum bucker, it was on offer from around 1957. That was about it, the following years saw changes in woods and design, improvements to the pick-ups, new vibrato systems were introduced and more stable mechanics. All in all the hardware was improved, no further fundamental developments were made.

Buying Tips

Before you buy an electric guitar there are a few features you should think about and be informed about:

• Solid body or hollow body / semi acoustic
• Neck with fretboard made of ebony or rose wood or a one piece neck made of maple
• Single coil pick-up or humbucker
• Fitted with a fixed bridge or a vibrato system

We have great offers for good instruments for beginners from about € 200. These instruments are usually made by subsidiaries of the big names. They differ from the originals in the use of cheap hardware, simple pickups and budget timbers and are almost always made in low-wage countries. Apart from that it can be said that the guitars sound good and are an excellent choice for a starter.

An instrument made by a classic brand can be purchased from around € 500. Yet, a professional guitar can easily cost more then a few thousand euros. With no top end limit, these instruments prices come from the use of exclusive timbers and excellent pick-ups, also the brand name, the image and the companies’ innovations raise the price.

More tips for beginners

Since the turn of the century the guitar has been one of the most popular instruments. No matter if acoustic or electric, if loud or quiet, as a solo or accompanying instrument, if at home or on stage, the guitar is versatile like no other instrument. There is no unknown style of music that is not playable on the guitar. This is the reason for the huge range of specific guitars in every price range.

Which guitar to start with?

First you must decide if you want a concert, western or electric Guitar.
The concert guitar has the great advantage that the soft nylon strings don’t hurt your finger tips when you are just beginning to play. Furthermore, the fretboard is wider making it easier to use as a beginner and minimizing the risk of touching the other strings accidentally. The concert guitar has a soft sound is very light and is easily playable for beginners. For most people it is advisable to start with a concert guitar. But this is not the solution for everybody, especially if you what to play folk and blues on a western guitar or rock on an electric guitar. If you know exactly what you want, you shouldn’t waist time practicing on a guitar which is not suitable for the music you wish to play and maybe even end up frustrated. Your fingers will soon become used to the steel strings of the western guitars and the good playability of the electric guitar also helps reduce this problem. So if you know what music you will be playing you should choose the right instrument from the very beginning.

What you should look out for

There are a few points to consider when buying a good novice guitar. Thanks to the modern CNC computer lathe, very precisely built guitars are available. If a guitar series doesn’t meet our criteria, it will not be included in our product range. You can be sure that any guitar you purchase through us, will be a quality instrument. Our return rights, the instrument guarantee and the lowest possible price are further features that make guitar buying so attractive. The mechanics should be smooth and tight, the distance of the strings and frettboad should be low. Don’t adjust the height so much, that you cannot play clearly and don’t position it to low making the strings touch the frets and producenoise. With a concert guitar the neck will be adjusted perfectly by the manufacturer, we check this before sales. You can also check this by looking along the neck to see if it’s straight. Western guitars and electric guitars have a metal tube inside the neck which makes it possible to adjust it. Every instrument that we sell is adjusted before it leaves the warehouse.

Accessories

For a normal guitar a gigbag is a very important accessory to transport and store the instrument. Some gigbags have backpack straps that come in handy when transporting your guitar. Premium instruments should be transported and kept in a case. This protects the instrument against hard bashes and from temperature and humidity. At home the guitar should always stay in its case. If you are playing an acoustic guitar you should think about getting a capodaster, with this handy helper it’s easy to transpose songs into other keys without having to change your fingering. A guitar tuner is handy to always be in tune. Every guitar player should be able to tune their instrument without a tuner. Your guitar teacher or an experienced guitar player can show you how to do so. ANd last but no least a guitar stand can help you to become a better player. How? Well, if your guitar is in a stand and easy to access you will pick it up more often to practice. You should never lean your instrument up against the wall or a chair, as it will easily slip and the neck could break.