An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities from that of an acoustic guitar via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz, rock and heavy-metal guitar-playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of the electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range of electric guitars and basses.
A twelve-string guitar is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in octaves, with those of the upper two courses tuned in unison. The gap between the strings within each dual-string course is narrow, and the strings of each course are fretted and plucked as a single unit. The neck is wider, to accommodate the extra strings, and is similar to the width of a classical guitar neck. The sound, particularly on acoustic instruments, is fuller and more harmonically resonant than six-string instruments. The 12-string guitar can be played like a 6-string guitar as players still use the same notes, chords and guitar techniques like a standard 6-string guitar, but advanced techniques might be tough as players need to play or pluck two strings simultaneously.
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typical design features a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top and a single cutaway, a mahogany set-in neck with a rosewood fretboard, two pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and a stoptail bridge, although variants exist.
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars.
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Fender Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.
Hunter Benedict Shepherd is an American musician best known as the bassist of rock band Soundgarden. Shepherd has won two Grammy Awards as a member of Soundgarden.
Brian Helicopter is the stage name of Gareth Holder, an English musician, based in the United States. He is best known for playing bass guitar for the UK punk rock band The Shapes. He also played for many other bands, the most notable being the NWOBHM bands Rogue Male and HellsBelles. For a short time in the early 1980s, he was also a member of British R&B band The Mosquitos, with guitarist Steve Walwyn of Dr. Feelgood and Eddie and the Hot Rods, and can be seen on the cover of The Mosquitos only single "Somethin' Outta Nothin'". A prolific session player, he appears both credited and uncredited on many releases throughout the 1980s and early 1990s under both his real and stage name. He was one of the first bassists in the nascent UK punk scene to adopt the Rickenbacker bass guitar which he still uses to this day. He was also one of the first bass guitarists in the world to use Trace Elliot amplification. His bass playing style is characterized by a very fast precise pick attack, and fast runs. Unusually for a bass guitarist, he sometimes utilizes an overhand tapping technique more common to six string players. He continues to play professionally, reverting between his real name and his stage name as the fancy takes him. He is also a professional skydiving coach and instructor, currently holding seven world records in the sport. He can be seen in an episode of MythBusters aired on the Discovery Channel taking presenter Kari Byron skydiving whilst testing the falling airplane blue ice myth. He is also a vegetarian. He can be seen in the independent film Six Sex Scenes and a Murder, in the role of the bounty hunter. He currently resides in California, where he plays bass for the San Francisco Bay Area band Ghosthookers. Ghosthookers released a record in 2008 which features Brian Helicopter on bass under his real name.
The Gibson Thunderbird is an electric bass guitar made by Gibson and Epiphone.
The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous Fender instruments; the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.
Sergio Lorenzo "Serge" Pizzorno is an English musician, best known for his work with the rock band Kasabian. He is Kasabian's primary songwriter since the departure of co-composer Christopher Karloff in 2006, and also the band's co-lead singer, and later being the sole lead singer following the 2020 sacking of Tom Meighan. He is also a member of Loose Tapestries alongside Noel Fielding and fellow Kasabian member Tim Carter, a group put together to produce music for Fielding's TV series Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy.
Michael John Prendergast, known professionally as Mike Pender, is an English singer and guitarist. He was an original founding member of Merseybeat group the Searchers. He is best known as the lead vocalist on many hit singles by the Searchers, including the song "Needles and Pins" and "What Have They Done to the Rain?".
Tacoma Guitars was an American manufacturing company of musical instruments. It was founded in 1991 as a division of South Korean company Young Chang. Instruments were manufactured in Tacoma, Washington. The company and brand name were later acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Tacoma plant closed, and production ceased, in 2008.
The Rickenbacker 620 is a solid-body guitar manufactured by the Rickenbacker International Corporation (RIC). It is part of the 600 series of guitars which all share the distinctive "cresting wave" styled body. The Rickenbacker 620 features triangular fret markers, a thick rosewood fret board, a maple body with neck-thru construction, maple neck, and the Rickenbacker signature, an 'R' style floating tailpiece. The 620 also comes standard with a stereo output jack. The guitar's pickups are twin single coil 'Hi-gains'. There is a twelve string version of this guitar available, the Rickenbacker 620/12. The Rickenbacker 620 comes in fireglo, mapleglo, jetglo, and midnight blue finishes from the factory. The 620 is less popular with big recording artists than its siblings the 330 and 360, however some guitarists have consistently used them including Christopher Owens of Girls, Caleb Harper of Spacey Jane, and Chris Urbanowicz of Editors. Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers acquired the first 620/12 12-string in 1977, and has used it on hits such as Listen to Her Heart and Here Comes My Girl.
The Rickenbacker 360/12 is the Rickenbacker company's 12-string variant of their 360 electric guitar model. Mainly known for producing "jangly" sounds, it was among the first electric 12-string guitars. The 360/12 was given worldwide attention when George Harrison used it on many Beatles recordings, introducing the distinctive new sound of this guitar on "I Call Your Name", which the band recorded in March 1964. In the late 1960s, the company made alternative models such as the Rickenbacker 370/12, which became the favored instrument of Roger McGuinn of the Byrds.
The Fender Elite Stratocaster is an electric solid body guitar that was manufactured by Fender in 1983 and 1984. The name was revived from 2016 to 2019 with the Fender American Elite Stratocaster Series.
John Lennon's musical instruments were both diverse and many, and his worldwide fame resulted in his personal choices having a strong impact on cultural preferences.
The Rickenbacker 4001CS is a limited-edition series electric bass guitar based on Chris Squire's 1964 Rickenbacker 4001. Only 1,000 were made between 1991 and 2000. The 4001CS is another instrument from Rickenbacker's Limited Edition Series. These instruments, commissioned by and for prominent artists who favored Rickenbacker instruments, incorporate features which are favored by the artist or reminiscent of their most famous Rickenbacker instrument.
The Rickenbacker 400-Series was a line of lower cost solid body electric guitars that Rickenbacker introduced in 1956.
