The first electric guitar was a lap steel guitar and the inventor was George Beauchamp. If you’ve been reading this series, you should recognize George… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1934 – First Electric Guitar
Banjos were a popular instrument in the 1920’s because they were loud. Guitars were replacing banjos in popular music and some banjo players were switching… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1929 – 14 Frets
When we last left our heros, the inventors of the resonator guitars, George Beauchamp had patented the single cone, biscuit bridge resonator guitar. It is… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1929 – Single Cone Spider Resonator Guitar
Who invented the first single cone resonator guitar? The answer to this question led to considerable anomisity among the likely candidates and even law suits.… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1928 – Single Cone Biscuit Resonator Guitar
I own a Style O restonator guitar and have been fascinated with this strange style guitar ever since my father came home with a reso-glass… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1927 – Tricone Resonator Guitar
Lloyd Loar, like Orville Gibson before him, took design principles from the violin family and applied them to mandolins and guitars. He designed the first… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1922 – F-hole Archtop Guitar
The Hawaiian Steel Guitar was invented in 1889 by Joseph Kekuku. The innovation that made the steel guitar possible was simply to raise the strings at the… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1889 – Hawaiian Steel Guitar
Martin developed the dreadnought style guitar in 1916 for the Distson Company. Martin’s history credits Frank Martin and Harry Hunt with the development of the… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1916 – Dreadnought Guitar
Orville Gibson applied lessons from violin construction first to mandolins and then to guitars. Solid wood tops carved to an arched shape without bracing that… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1902 – The Archtop Guitar
![By John and Alan Lomax Collection [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/danlovesguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/256px-Blind_Willie_McTell_LOC.jpg?resize=256%2C278&ssl=1)
Another innovation relating to increased volume was the 12-string guitar. The use of double courses of strings to increase volume is quite old. Because Renaissance guitars… Read More »Modern Guitar Innovations – 1900 – The 12-String Guitar
