Evolution of the Guitar

Evolution of the Guitar
By Steve Krenz

Throughout the period of evolution of the guitar, a lot of famous musicians like Beatles or Gibson Les Paul have made very valuable contributions to perpetuate this category of stringed instruments and to promote this art form. In order to learn and master guitar, you need not compulsorily learn about these great guitarists and their contributions but familiarizing yourself with the history of guitar does make it a lot more interesting to learn & master guitar.

Stringed instruments came into existence during the ancient Egyptian civilization when people used bowl harps and tanburns for generating music. Similar instruments were also found in the ancient relics of Sumerian, Babylonian, Persian, Mesopotamian and Indian civilizations. Some of the instruments of this period such as Turkish saz, Balkan tamburitsa, Iranian setar, Afghan panchtar and Greek bouzouki have in fact survived all these years and are still used today.

During the same period, ancient guitar-like instruments have originated. As per available archaeological records, Egyptian singer Har-Mose used a guitar like instrument during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut some 3,500 years ago. From then onwards, these guitar-like instruments became widely popular and were introduced to the European community by Egyptians and Mesopotamians. During early days, guitars used to have a four-course arrangement containing 4 unison-tuned pairs of strings. Four-course guitars were widely used all over the Europe during the late medieval and early renaissance period. In the 16th century, the four-course arrangement gave way to a five-course arrangement. These renaissance-era guitars were much similar to a modern day 12-string guitar and had a richer sound. Gradually, a sixth-course was added in the 17th century that was later replaced by six-string instruments.

The credit of inventing modern and classical form of guitar goes through Antonio Torres, a Spanish guitarist who had introduced the revolutionary fan-braced guitars in Spain. Later, steel strings became available in around 1900. These strings offered more sound but had increased tension. Archtop guitars were introduced at the end of 19th century by Orville Gibson. And finally, electric guitars came into existence in the late 1920s.

There are also different theories regarding the origin of the word "guitar". While some consider the word as an adaptation from Spanish "Guittara", others consider it to have been derived from the Greek word "Kithara". However, the fact is that the name "guitar" has been derived from the ancient Sanskrit language where "guit" means music and "tar" means string or chord. In fact, many stringed instruments originating from Central Asia and India have the word "tar" as a suffix.

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Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitars

Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitars
By Mike Furlong

History
The Fender Stratocaster guitar was invented in 1954 by Leo Fender and others in California. Leo had already created the successful Telecaster guitar.

Body
The Stratocaster, or Strat as it is sometimes known, is a double cutaway guitar. A cutaway is indentation or scallop in the guitar body, where the neck joins the body. Since the Stratocaster is a double cutaway, it has a cutaway above and below the neck where it meets the body. This cutaway provides room for the guitar player's hand to move in when playing notes "high" on the neck. By having a double cutaway the player's thumb can grip the neck area above while the other fingers play in the lower cutaway. The body of the Stratocaster consists of smooth, rounded, flowing curves. Fender called the body design a "Comfort Contour Body".

Neck
The Stratocaster had a one piece maple neck with twenty-one frets. Later a rosewood fret board was used. Today the Strat is available in maple and rosewood fretboard models.

Bridge
Fender used a spring assembly on the bridge to allow it to float with the pull of the strings. Attaching a tremolo arm to the bridge, you could move it up or down to increase or decrease the pitch of the notes you were playing. Some players do not care for this feature of the Stratocaster and disable it, but nonetheless, it was an innovative design.

Pickups
The Stratocaster has three single coil pickups, as opposed to the double coil "humbucking" pickups found on some other guitars such as those by Gibson. The pickup nearest the bridge is mounted in a slanted position. The Stratocaster had a three position switch to select the pickups. Early players discovered you could position the switch in between positions for an interesting distinctive sound. Later Fender added a five position switch to facilitate this setting. This interesting sound has become a distinctive characteristic of the Stratocaster guitar. Musicians and later Fender also experimented with other pickup combinations on the Strat, including using double coil or "humbucking" pickups.

Finish
The first Strats were finished in a two color sunburst. Since then the Strat has been painted in a variety of colors and finishes. Fender used automotive type paints and colors and the Strat is frequently seen in these colors.

Corporate History
CBS went on a buying binge and bought Fender in 1965. They also bought Steinway, the famous piano maker, Rodgers organs, Rogers drums, the maker of the Leslie speaker (best known for being paired with the Hammond organ), and others. The general consensus is that the quality of Fender instruments suffered greatly during this time due to cost cutting measures. Through the years, Fender exported or licensed the manufacture of Stratocasters in other countries. There was also a line of guitars created called Squier that included the Stratocaster. The Squier line consisted of cheaper models designed for entry-level, or student, guitarists. In 1985, led by Bill Schulz, Fender completed a buyout from CBS. Schulz is generally credited with saving Fender by restoring the quality.

Future
Fender prospered. The future looks bright. And today there are numerous models of American Standard Stratocasters available from Fender in various price ranges.

Mike Furlong

I like to play guitar, talk about guitars, and collect them. So many guitars, so little money!

Take a look at the many types of Fender Stratocaster electric guitars that are available!

Electric Guitar Advisor

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Electric Guitar Recording Techniques

Electric Guitar Recording Techniques
By Victor Epand

A guitar is a type of musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It usually has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten and twelve string guitars also exist. An electric guitar is the kind of guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel cored string into electrical current, which is then amplified.

There are various ways to record an electric guitar. The traditional method is to connect to a really good amplifier. The latest option is to plug the guitar directly into the computer and use a software plug-in to handle the amp and the speaker modeling.

When recording an electric guitar, the amp is the important factor as far as the mic is concerned, and thus its position is important. The dynamic mic produces a solid sound with a smooth high end. However its position has just as much bearing on the tone as the mic itself.

One way to capture the sound of a large stack is to set up the stack in a large room, play it loud and put the microphone several feet away so that the combination of all the speakers can be recorded. Using this method, the mic captures the guitar sound as much as the audience would.

One of the microphones can be inverted though that does not produce the best result. Here using a capacitor microphone as the distant one often produces a sense of space, but the ultimate bottom line is that anything that sounds good goes with the guitar.

The biggest problem that many amateur guitarists face is poor tone. In order to solve this problem the recorder should check the amp and guitar combination on microphone level and then should decide where they would be placed. Tone should be adjusted but one thing should be kept in mind. The low end will increase if the microphone is placed close to the source. This is known as proximity effect.

The mic that is used for electric guitar recording is preferably a dynamic microphone because of its capability to endure high volumes. These are the technical things that one should keep in mind. But there are some simple points that will help while recording.

As a first and very basic rule, one should make sure that the guitar is in very good condition, that is, its strings are properly fitted. Tuning must be checked before every take as it is inclined to flow in warm studio.

Equipments containing transformers will tend to cause hum interference on electric guitar especially those of single coil pickups. Computer monitors in particular also cause serious interference problems with guitar pickups, so it is advisable to keep them as far away as possible.

While using different electric guitar types or sounds for recording, two or more overdrive guitar parts should be kept to keep the sounds separate in the mix. For example, using a single coil setting for one part and a humbucker for another.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for music gear, speakers, and microphones. You can find the best marketplace for music gear, speakers, and microphones at these 3 sites: music gear, amplifier, speakers.

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