The evolution and maturation of the electric guitar as a system
M. Torben Pastore, Nikhil Deshpande · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2022
The electric guitar came to its initial prominence in the 1940s when its volume allowed jazz guitarists like Charlie Christian to step out in front of the rhythm section like other soloists, competing with the brass, wind, and piano. Further changes in the playing and design of the instrument came with exploitation of the interaction of the electric guitar, tube amplifiers, and analog effects as a larger system. Especially in the rock and funk idioms, the playing and construction of the overall instrument evolved and expanded rapidly with the mainstream embrace of digital technology. This talk will consider the evolution of the electric guitar as a system up through today and consider why it seems the instrument has fully evolved and is unlikely to experience further seismic shifts, especially as the overall thrust of music has shifted to digitally-manipulated sound that is often entirely independent of the physical playing of any instrument.