Guitars 101.2 the wonderful world of the electric guitar

"Guitar 101.2 " the wonderful world of electric Guitars"
OK we have covered all the things it takes to get started to become a guitar player. We have also covered amps and stomp boxes. Now it is time to step boldly into the world of the electric guitar.
As with the world of amps the world of guitars is very much the same. Divided down the middle between Fender type and Gibson type guitars. It is always funny to me how several people can be working on the same problem at the same time from different locals.
Leo Fender and Lester Paul(Les). The Plank and The Log. Nick names you should remember. In the mid 50's these two guys were experimenting with instruments that would go on to revolutionize the music business. Part of the reason for the electric guitar was one thing, VOLUME. the guys wanted to play loud! They had an entire orcastra to compete with. The electric guitar had been around for years. A pick up stuck to the body of an acoustic jazz guitar ran into a 15 or 20 watt amp. The problem was turn it up loud enough to be heard above the rest of the band and you get howling feed back. Les Paul first took a guitar neck off a jazz guitar ,glued it to a chunk of wood, then affixed a primitive pick up to it ran that to a modified stereo amp and boom the electric guitar was born. The major guitar makers of the day couldn't seem to get past the idea that the guitar didn't need to have all the acoustic properties of prior models to be electrified. Mean while out in Fullerton in this dusty messy shop was this non musician named Leo Fender. Leo made guitar and amps. His greatest saving grace was that he would listen to the local working musicians that would visit his shop and explain what they needed. Let me explain something here. I am not a music historian but I have been at this a long time and have read extensively on the subject. Many of the inovations that Leo came up with came about from conversations he had with working musicians. Les Paul had this deal with Gibson and if you look at the early Les Paul guitars you can still see the "Jazz " mentality craftmenship in his guitars. The use of high end quality tone woods,fine binding and glued in necks as opposed to Leo's designs. Where Les used mahogony and birds eye maple Leo used less expensive woods such as maple, and ash. cheaper and more available in those days. In the early fifties Leo had designed his first pick up a single coil(I'll explain the difference later) and had taken a piece of wood and afixed it to the "plank". One pick up, one volume knob then he took a neck he had made and BOLTED it to the body(not glued) here we have the birth of the telecastor the Les Paul and the Telecastor two guitars that would set in stone all other designs that would follow. Pretty heavy considering the history that would follow. There are some artists whose image is forever intertwined with the guitars they play. Can you imagine Hendrix with out left a handed strat? Jimi Page with out his cherry sunburst Les Paul? Buddy Holly with out a maple neck strat? Angus
Young without a mid 60's SG?
So let me explain the difference between the two types of guitars. We'll start with string length. The distance the string travels from the nut on the neck to the bridge makes this difference. Ease of playing. Tension. On a Fender guitar the length is 25 & 1/4 oy n a Gibson 24 & 3/4 inches. Gibsons are easier to play. Fender are outfitted with "single coil" pick ups. These have a very distinctive sound but they are not a powerful as humbucking pick ups you'll find in Gibsons. Single coil pick ups have a habit of being noisy especially around floresent light bulbs. Humbuckers were developed in the late 50's and are more powerful(louder) than a single coil won't pick up "hum" of any sort, yet there are those who claim single coils have more personality to their sound. I started out on Gibsons but switched to Strats a few years later and have been playing strat type guitars
ever since. As you develop you will naturally lean one way or the other .
The thing I really want to stress about guitars is this. They are organic in nature,each one feels different,even the same model,each one will bring out a different side of what music lives in you,each one has a personality all it's own and each one can bring out a sound,feeling or vibe that may surprize you. I look at my collection more like friends these days than tools.

Ok you been taking some lessons, got your first guitar now you have built your first rig. You know a hand full of chords and you know a few songs, what now? Start looking for players to jam with. And a serious word here, Don't be afraid or intimidated. Even the worlds greatest virtuoso had to start some where.Looking for those at your skill level to play with helps. Most clubs have an open mic night. A great place to learn and gain experience is at church. Plus many are always in need of musicians to help out with the services. At church you will gain experience working with singers, playing with other musicians, as a guitar player you will learn to play in "non" guitar friendly keys because in all likely hood you'll be working with a piano player(they like the keys of F,Bb,C,Eb) so if you are not involved in a church go find one. Or lastly form a band of your own with guys of like tallent just to get together on weekends,grill something,drink some beer and play some music. Rok ON
Next blog and last on the subject.....set lists...songs you must know to play in a band.