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The steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that descends from the gut-strung Romantic guitar, but is strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Like the modern classical guitar, it is often referred to simply as an acoustic guitar, or sometimes as a folk guitar.
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and scale length, and typically four to six strings or courses. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music.
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 and rock guitar playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of the electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.
Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar. Ibanez manufactures effects, accessories, amps, and instruments in Japan, China, Indonesia, and the United States. As of 2017 they marketed nearly 165 models of bass guitar, 130 acoustic guitars, and more than 300 electric guitars. After Gibson and Fender, Ibanez is considered the third biggest guitar brand.
A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of eight strings. A variety of string types are used, with steel strings being the most common and usually the least expensive. The courses are typically tuned in an interval of perfect fifths, with the same tuning as a violin. Also, like the violin, it is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and mandobass.
C.F. Martin & Company is an American guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. It is highly respected for its acoustic guitars and is a leading manufacturer of flat top guitars. The company has also made mandolins and tiples, as well as several models of electric guitars and electric basses, although none of these other instruments are still in production.
Zithers are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. This article describes the latter variety.
The fingerboard is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The strings run over the fingerboard, between the nut and bridge. To play the instrument, a musician presses strings down to the fingerboard to change the vibrating length, changing the pitch. This is called stopping the strings. Depending on the instrument and the style of music, the musician may pluck, strum or bow one or more strings with the hand that is not fretting the notes. On some instruments, notes can be sounded by the fretting hand alone, such as with hammer ons, an electric guitar technique.
The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of the fingerboard, and its fretting is generally diatonic.
A luthier is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be used in French for makers of most bowed and plucked stringed instruments such as members of the violin family and guitars. Luthiers, however, do not make harps or pianos; these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame.
Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886–1943) was an American musician, instrument designer and sound engineer. He is best known for his design work with the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the early 20th century, including the F-5 model mandolin and L-5 guitar. In his later years he worked on electric amplification of stringed instruments, and demonstrated them around the country. One example, played in public in 1938 was an electric viola that used electric coils beneath the bridge, with no back, able to "drown out the loudest trumpet."
The Spector Musical Instruments is an American manufacturer of instruments. Spector produces electric guitars, acoustic and electric bass guitars; however, it is best known for its solid-body electric bass guitars, particularly the NS-2. The company was founded in Brooklyn, New York by Stuart Spector in 1976. Its current headquarters are in Long Island, New York.
Orville H. Gibson was a luthier who founded the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1902, makers of guitars, mandolins and other instruments.
An extended-range bass is an electric bass guitar with a wider frequency range than a standard-tuned four-string bass guitar.
A person who is specialized in the making of stringed instruments such as guitars, lutes and violins is called a luthier.
Collings Guitars is an Austin, Texas based stringed instrument manufacturer. The company was founded in 1973 by BillCollings. In addition to acoustic guitars, Collings Guitars manufactures: electric guitars, archtop guitars, mandolins and ukuleles.
Gurian Guitars was a manufacturer of high quality acoustic guitars based in New York City, then Hinsdale, New Hampshire and finally West Swanzey, New Hampshire, from the 1960s to 1981. The instruments were designed by luthier Michael Gurian who also supervised production of the instruments bearing his name. The company was one of the earliest "boutique" acoustic guitar makers in the United States, offering an alternative product to those of the larger, factory-based makers of the day, with instruments characterized by a distinctive shape, features and sound.
Manufactured by Ro-Pat-In Corporation, Rickenbacker, the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts is considered the pioneering "grandfather" to the modern electric guitar as it was the first commercially produced, full-scale electric guitar ever produced. It was the first artist signature model having been named after Ken Roberts, a friend of George Beauchamp. In addition, the instrument was the first electric guitar to provide a stock appointed tremolo arm; designed & patented by Doc Kauffman. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts holds the current world record for the highest price paid for a guitar, after selling in 2017 for $7.5 million.
RetroFret is an American vintage musical instrument boutique and repair shop located in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1983 by luthier Steven Uhrik, RetroFret's early business was primarily musical instrument repair services. In the mid-1990s, the business grew into a moderately stocked showroom that served local, international & professional musicians. By the mid-2000s, the showroom had grown vastly, displaying over 200 instruments & musical artifacts from around the world.
Meredith Coloma is a Canadian musician and luthier from Vancouver.
References
- ↑ Flint-Marx, Rebecca (November 9, 2012). "A Refuge for Guitars and Musicians". New York Times. No. Nov. 9. New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ↑ Lockett, John. "Inside Retrofret, the Best Shop for Guitar Grails". GQ.com. GQ.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
https://www.fretboardjournal.com/podcasts/podcast-362-retrofrets-steve-uhrik-and-peter-kohman-on-paul-bigsby/ https://acousticguitar.com/makers-shakerssteve-uhrik-of-retrofret-vintage-guitars/ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/nyregion/retrofret-in-gowanus-brooklyn-sells-rare-guitars.html https://collections.mfa.org/objects/565366/electric-violin;jsessionid=C07AE648252D156D08870A31B2534BE0?ctx=ba6854c2-78ed-4f44-b359-c84449903be4&idx=2