Guitar Designs

The guitar is a member of the family of musical instruments known as plucked chordophones. It probably originated with the Arabs in the early 14th century. There are many different kinds of guitars, used to play all kinds of music from folk and rock to classical. Guitars can be played with the fingers or a pick. Finger picks can also be used, as well as a “bottle neck” for sliding effects.

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1. Classical Guitar

The six-string classical guitar is flat on both the front and back. The characteristics of this guitar have changed very little since it was first introduced in the 16th century. The strings, once made of gut, are now usually nylon.

ELECTRIC GUITAR

Fender Stratocaster Solid Body Electric Guitar This solid body electric guitar is a Stratocaster, made by the Fender company. Unlike acoustic guitars, the electric versions create sound by converting the vibrations from the strings into electronic impulses. The Stratocaster was first made in the mid-1950s and has changed little since then. It is very popular with rock musicians.
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Steel String Folk Guitar...

This Martin D-28S steel-string acoustic guitar is also known as a standard, or 12-fret, Dreadnought. Named after a World War I (1914-1918) battleship, the Dreadnought guitar has a large body cavity and produces a very strong bass response. Thus, the Dreadnought creates a sound especially suited to musical accompaniment. The Dreadnought guitar is popular among musicians who play bluegrass and country music.
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Hollow Body Electric

This guitar made by Gibson is an electric version of the model L5, an acoustic jazz guitar with an arched top that was first made about 1923 and continued to be popular until the 1950s.
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

History of Electric Guitar

Leo Fender (1909–1991), American guitar maker, who created the solid-body electric guitar. Fender began making amplifiers and Hawaiian-style guitars in 1945 and built solid-body guitars for several country musicians. Although guitarist and producer Les Paul was also working independently on a solid-body electric guitar, Fender was the first to get his model on the market. Fender created the Broadcaster in 1948 (renamed the Telecaster in 1950). The design was totally new, with a one-piece neck bolted to a wooden body, and could easily be mass-produced. Its clear high sound was particularly suited to country music. Rock guitarists have generally preferred the Telecaster’s successor, the futuristically streamlined Stratocaster, whose three pickups made possible various electronic modifications of tone and volume. Fender built the first electric bass guitar, the Fender Precision, in 1951. The Fender Stratocaster guitar was introduced in 1954. In 1965 he sold the Fender name, relinquishing control over manufacture and sale of the guitars.

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Picasso's "Guitar Art"

Picasso’s The Three Musicians Spanish painter Pablo Picasso used figures from the circus and the theater in a number of his works. The Three Musicians (1921) features two characters from Italian commedia dell’arte theater—Harlequin in the diamond-patterned costume and Pierrot in white. Some experts believe that Harlequin represents Picasso himself.
Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003. © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.