The year is 1948, and the Broadcaster the newest guitar by Mr. Leo Fender has hit the market. The Broadcaster (which would later be called the Telecaster) was the first guitar that Leo Fender came up with, a guitar fit for a country musician. In the early 50’s Leo Fender was coming up with great designs for guitar, and his next one would be a precision bass, which worked quite well with the swing bands of the era that wanted that nice walking bass line to fill in their big band sound.

Another inspiring man to the world of guitars is a man by the name of Les Paul. In the early 50’s Les wasn’t making guitars just yet, but the man came out with the first 8 track tape recorder. This device was great for bands to quickly mix down tracks to get a feel of how their songs would sound, and they can pick things apart like how they could fix or change parts. Later on, Les Paul would go on to create solid body guitars and would be marketed by the brand Gibson. Other guitars that Les Paul has come up with is The Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and the Gibson Firebird.

The electric guitar was brought to the United States in around the year 1930. the guitar was comprised with a hollow or solid wooden body with electric pickups installed just beneath the neck. The pickups were the real noise makers for the guitar which sound would be picked up through an amplifier. The guitar became most popular in the 1940’s when guitar creators Les Paul and Leo Fender hit the scene. These two men went on to make some of the best guitars in the world.

Bands such as Guns and Roses, Led Zeppelin and The Allman Brothers Band use the Gibson Les Paul guitar which produces a nice rich, warm tone, great for ripping solo’s and wicked riffs. Guns and Roses guitar player “Slash” has made Gibson Les Paul guitars something a part of him being a big part of the company and only playing Gibson guitars. On the Fender side, the Stratocaster has become quite popular through artists such as Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmore, and Stevie ray Vaughn with a light tone that rocks the awesome blues riffs, and solos.

References • http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/2036786/

fender_Full.jpg • Starlin, Mark, Starlin Mark

http://www.betterguitar.com/players/stats/player_stats.jpg Copyright ©1998-2008

• http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/les-paul © Copyright 2007. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. All Rights Reserved

• http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/leo-fender • Google Image Search : Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Leo

Fender, Les Paul guitars, Duane Allman, Slash, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, David Gilmore, Fender Telecaster.