User:OnBeyondZebrax/sandbox/Electric guitar

Electric guitars were first developed in 1931 and one year later it was commercially available. Early proponents of the electric guitar on record include: Les Paul, Lonnie Johnson, T-Bone Walker, and Charlie Christian. Electric guitar design and construction varies greatly as to the shape of the body, and configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. Guitars have a fixed bridge or a spring-loaded hinged bridge that lets players bend notes or chords up or down in pitch, or perform a vibrato. The sound of a guitar can be modified by new playing techniques such as string bending, tapping, hammering on, using audio feedback, or slide guitar playing.

Unlike acoustic guitars, solid body electric guitars have no vibrating soundboard to amplify string vibration. One of the first solid body guitars was invented by Les Paul. Some solid-bodied guitars are built with hollows in the body. Some guitars have a hollow body (similar in depth to a solid-body guitar) and electronic pickups mounted on the body. Full hollowbody guitars have large, deep bodies made of glued-together sheets or "plates" of wood, and are often capable of being played at the same volume as an acoustic guitar. Another variant is the seven-string guitar, which typically adds a low "B" string below the low "E". Twelve string electric guitars feature six pairs of strings, usually with each pair tuned to the same note. The extra E, A, D, and G strings add a note one octave above, and the extra B and E strings are in unison. George Harrison of The Beatles and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds brought the electric twelve-string to notability in rock and roll.

Popular music and rock groups often use the electric guitar in two roles: as a rhythm guitar which provides the chord sequence or "progression" and sets out the "beat" (as part of a rhythm section), and a lead guitar, which is used to perform melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and guitar solos.