The History of the Electric Guitar | 1920 - 2019

In this video I take you through the history and evolution of the electric guitar.
This video was made before I started studying history at University and uses poor methodology. Much of it heavily references Wikipedia. This video is not a reliable source of historical information.
Yes the solo at the end is a tad cringe-worthy, but I'll keep it in for your enjoyment.
Special Thanks to Gitarren Total for allowing me to film in their Wonderful Store!
00:00 - Introduction & The Problems with Acoustic Guitars
01:56 - Early attempts & The Frying Pan
02:54 - The Rickenbacker Guitars
04:00 - Hollow & Semi-Hollow Body Guitars
05:55 - Les Pauls Log
07:54 - The Gibson Les Paul
10:39 - The Fender Telecaster
12:42 - The Fender Stratocaster
15:20 - The Frankenstrat and Super-Strats
19:07 - Extended Range & Headless Guitars
19:41 - The Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster
20:12 - Relish Electric Guitars
21:28 - Outro & Guitar Solo

[@LeandroCapstick]

This video was made before I started studying history at University and uses poor methodology. Much of it heavily references Wikipedia. This video is not a reliable source of historical information. Yes the solo at the end is a tad cringe-worthy, but I'll keep it in for your enjoyment.

[@frankhamilton120]

Even so it’s a good video- keep playing bro

[@pa4tim]

I think it pretty well tells it. Somethings are probably a grey area because a lot of the early history is not officially documented and marketing based. Like Gibson telling they made the first professional electric guitar, the L5. The L5 was at that time used by many pros but it is not the first commercial available electric. The first 3 pickup guitar was way the Gibson ES-5 in 1949.

[@qui-gonjim6440]

Thanks so much bro I just credited you for my 5,000-word essay on the entire history of the guitar 👍 You really helped with the last century of development and trends.

[@tomlebron8078]

Amazing video! Made 20 minutes feel like 5.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks a lot! Comments like these mean a lot to me.

[@smitsonavane6278]

Why aren't you famous This is the perfect video It explains guitars properly It's not too long Many models which we we know are explained Nice artist examples And Cool riffs on the side Only one thing You left out Brian May But I thoroughly enjoyed it Keep it up nice work dude

[@fishedhook2697]

youtube isnt about being good.

[@i_suck_at_guitar4884]

The intro is way cooler when showing all the legendary guitarist of the years i love it, it's awesome!!

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you liked it!

[@jozsefizsak]

I'm tremendously impressed by the very logical analysis and overall quality of this video. You're a master!

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks a lot! Very glad to hear you enjoyed it this much!

[@snapdragon6601]

Hell yeah, nice outro! Great video. Keep it up.

[@richm368]

Thanks for the breakdown, and the final solo was awesome!

[@sergeantspam51]

Amazing timeline man. You really covered everything without going way too overboard on detail like I have seen other people do.

[@Hungry_Hunter]

The humbucker is two single coil pickups usually wired in series with opposite magnetic poles one the top. The humbucker was originally made by Rickenbacker about 10 years before Ray Butts patent application for his pickups. For reason's known only to Rickenbacker they didn't bother to apply for a patent.

[@lelandg3805]

RIP Eddie Van Halen

[@ronniemawhinney4160]

I agree

[@fishedhook2697]

you may not know this but he versed god in a guitar battle..... god lost....

[@alexanderismajlvo3016]

🙏✌️🌴🌴🌴✨✨

[@fishedhook2697]

@@alexanderismajlvo3016 wait... van halen is god!!!!

[@fellixbrenden9407]

RIP

[@JayBartlett1975]

Great doc my friend, I have learned a ton. Thank you for your efforts

[@michaelbarbarelli3764]

I have to say that this was a fantastic production. Thank you.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad to hear you liked it :)

[@v0rtexbeater]

Amazing video, thanks for sharing! I played it on my TV as I was cleaning and changing the strings an old electric guitar a friend gave to my dad, I'll start my classes next week.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Great! Hope you're getting on well?

[@unknownerorr2740]

Great video! Loved it and learned alot

[@dan.k7578]

What a great docu! 🤘🤘🤘

[@ElCajondePermann]

this is most underrated video i have EVER seen on youtube, like IT'S SO GOOD!!1!!1

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks :)

[@danierinash7952]

Nice video dude, very informative and some nice playing in there too! I enjoyed this :)

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you did!

[@Simon-oe3xp]

Great video, love it!

[@njapostol]

The strat didn’t have a 5 way switch until later on. People would jam match sticks in the 3 way to get the 4th position without the switch flicking to the middle or neck position. I’ve actually done this on a 54 model

[@KipperSkipp]

Oh my god. Why aren't you famous? This video is really good!

[@theenclaveradiostation5968]

Very high quality, You should do more of this

[@LeandroCapstick]

I might do a History of Bass or something similar in the future.

[@spacemanspliff7844]

Great video man!!

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks:)

[@sandoncrowder7839]

Gibson actually had to convince Les to go with them because he had been playing Epiphone for so long, and the very first Les Pauls were actually epiphone but just had Gibson on the headstock

[@chaimberger5392]

Your ending solo is beautiful 😍

[@harriskhan6438]

Pretty epic video, I managed to watch the entire thing!

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@Charles_Bro-son]

Well done!

[@aldershot8008]

exceptional my dude

[@A7x_Forever]

Dude what an amazing video this is! I honestly got a bit teary eyed, especially when you talked about the monumental impact of the Strat (without which modern Metal wouldn't have existed), EVH (R.I.P) and when you kept mentioning Synyster Gates and his signature Superstrat among the greats of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@Marsupial2]

Very nice video man.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you liked it!

[@billrodrigues3343]

This video is just pure magic

[@mattkaczmarczyk6953]

Agreed a little over my head new to guitars

[@PoloCode68]

Great video

[@Stellarainn]

This video is amazing!!!!

[@TheAnimeist]

That outro .... I could feel it! Nice history lesson.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you liked it!

[@onemoremood2761]

4:25 the full metal jacket clip was perfectly placed!!! hahaha

[@jimobrien84]

This was a very well done video

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@shovelheadseven]

Great documentary! There were a couple of people left out. One being Paul Bigsby who built the Merle Travis solid body in 1948. The other being O.W. Appleton who in 1941 built a solid body electric guitar that resembles what today is a Les Paul. Gibson rejected it when they were presented with it as they did with Les Paul the year prior. These were all before the Broadcaster surfaced.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Indeed. My bad, should have included them.

[@fluff7773]

Thanks man very informative.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad it was helpful!

[@samfxnz]

That was better put together then BBC's doc on guitar. Well done.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks a lot!

[@tian7728]

amazing video

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@matlockcrowl3396]

very cool documentary Mr. Chapstick

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BobLeach_DarkWolf]

Great work.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Fun fact the Frying Pan was actually the very 1st Electric Guitar made entirely out of Metal. Interestingly the very 1st Electric Guitar was indeed a Slide Guitar and you slide the slide up and down the strings while strumming them. It makes a very bluesy sound so it's great for the blues.

[@Xatxitor]

Sorry, I couldn't ear you speak cause of all the masterpieces playing in the background.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Haha

[@aidanclur9141]

Very informative thanks so much :)

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jerryarm4160]

Great job.

[@Whitney62455]

you did a great job. thanks

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you liked it!

[@stealthmonkey3G]

So awesome

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@swordmonkey6635]

Great info. Thanks for the effort. Being a rabid Van Halen fan, I just want to pedantically point out that as the narrator said "gave the birth of the Frankenstrat" the video showed Edward playing his Kramer Pacer "5150" guitar. Now technically it can be said that the Kramer 5150 was the pinnacle of Edward's "Strat experimentation" because he used it from 1983-1988... much longer than he used the legendary Frankenstrat... which was retired from his regular rotation during the 1984 World Tour when the Kramer 5150 and 1984 guitars became his main guitars. The Frankenstrat can be likened to a prototype/laboratory for Edward searching for tone. He swapped out and played many guitars during the first 6 albums. Most people think of the Frankenstrat as being Edward's primary guitar, but he played many others both live and in the studio. It was only after Edward got the Kramer Pacer 5150 that he settled on a single "primary" guitar for live performances. Edward only retired the Kramer 5150 after he signed on with Ernie Ball and played a custom Axis... then Peavy (Wolfgang)... then created EVH Gear (Wolfgang).

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks for the extra info!

[@SheaRecordmetal]

4:18 had me laughing so hard at lunch! Thank you.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Glad I could make you chuckle:)

[@jacobfrancis-burnett6837]

this is the first video of yours I have seen...I don't know who you are... but I'm subscribing..

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks :)

[@Ihatemyusernamemore]

This is such a great doco, it's got demos, a good mix of the grandpa bands and the ones I listen to like Animals as Leaders and Dream Theatre, not biased towards either which is good, not goofy and not boring, nice middle ground Yeah I have a lot of things to say about this doco, all of them good

[@AvocaSingleTrack]

@15:10 Dave Murray, someone has good taste .... Bravo !

[@ZAYAZOfficial]

This is an excellent vid! Shared on my Twitter p.s. it is extremely accurate 🤘

[@LeandroCapstick]

Awesome thank you!

[@lamechnyakoe444]

The video is really good.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@moercus]

Might add that the Gretsch broadcaster was a series of drums.

[@ldgaming4213]

Omg your Stratocaster looks just like mine!

[@joshkleingeld116]

Great vid no mention of bigsby tho and them kick ass early 6 In a line head stocks

[@cadecooldude199]

Do you know a guitar was once a lute, a very old instrument from the 1400 to 1600 around that time, then classical guitar was invented for renaissance music and classical guitar for classical and folk music? Then acoustic guitar came for pop songs and more then electrical guitars for Rock, the guitar had a very vintage history of what it was before,

[@LeandroCapstick]

Yeah, Rob Scallon made a fantastic video on the broad history of the guitar.

[@mikerayco]

I enjoyed this video and learned a lot. Before watching this video, I thought Strat already exist when Tele was created. And I think most people just like me don't know that the first Telecaster has a snakehead style headstock.

[@jimchapman9560]

Just the prototype during development. The first Broadcasters sold had the familiar headstock.

[@ziggy4453]

Hey there, I am writing a paper on the history of the guitar and was wondering what sources you may have used? Either way, I really liked the video, good job!

[@LeandroCapstick]

Wikipedia mostly so I'd look elsewhere for scholarly sources.

[@Ziggy-tm1ih]

Leandro Capstick Thanks so much! You did a very good job on the video.

[@michaelclark4043]

To me they have to look right AND sound right too. There are those which have as much appeal to me as a romance with a porcupine. Then there are those which not only sound awesome but look darn sexy to boot. The 1965 Ventures Mosrite model fits that bill perfectly.

[@lestatmacway892]

Epic

[@sanderwedberg9271]

I like your music taste :))

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks :)

[@thedeucemonkey2331]

How many watched this again because you were listening to all the songs being played and wound up singing along, not paying attention to the narrator??? Lol

[@LeandroCapstick]

I'll take this as a compliment haha

[@edwincancelii2917]

God bless Eddie Van Halen. May he Rest In Peace.

[@larsbengtsson25]

really god documentry for me as a noob!

[@slothyyedm]

i know nothing about guitars and am just watching for a music technology class, can someone tell me what song is playing at 10:39?

[@LeandroCapstick]

Hotel California by the Eagles

[@slothyyedm]

@@LeandroCapstick thanks!

[@slothyyedm]

@@LeandroCapstick got guitar stuff on an exam coming up, had to come back to this video, its stuck with me since 9 months ago

[@despotbasci]

The picture at 2:54 does not belong to Adolf Rickenbacher. It is the picture of Paul Tutmarc, the first to come up with an electric bass guitar (pictured there, years before Leo Fender), not sure about the guitar side though. You may want to check Paul Bigsby and the guitar he built for Merle Travis.

[@Polymerbob]

I don't know one end of a guitar from the other, but this was very good.

[@Peter-sn2wg]

The skinny side is the head. The fat side is the body. No need to thank me.

[@yaboidustin2447]

@@Peter-sn2wg headstock* lmao

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@victorkoropeckyj2771]

this isn’t a correction or anything, but considering that semi hollows aren’t good for high gain, i think it’s weird that tom delonge can get away with using overdriven, high gain pickups in an es 333

[@LeandroCapstick]

Obviously there will be exceptions to the rule, some musicians can really embrace the design characteristics of their guitars and incorporate it into their style, but in general most metal musicians prefer using solid body super strat or Les Paul type guitars. Respect to all musicians who can make it work another way.

[@Imegraced]

Great video!! But for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the song in the intro and its bugging me. Someone please remind me! 😂😬

[@LeandroCapstick]

Money for Nothing - Dire Straits

[@user-mz4qx6cd8l]

i cant find anything about Paul Barth, help

[@bumble9511]

Can you do history of the electric bass

[@Moth_On_Fire]

wasnt the introduction of the semi hollow guitars after the les paul? because as far as I know the 335 was an attempt to sell a modern guitar to jazzers

[@mattkaczmarczyk6953]

Please keep posting!

[@michaelmoenning6366]

Great view very factual

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@scoop993]

hey does anybody knows the song at the intro where keith richards played that riff?

[@LeandroCapstick]

It's Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones

[@scoop993]

@@LeandroCapstick thanks man

[@scoop993]

@@LeandroCapstick is that the song from 0:33 secs?

[@LeandroCapstick]

@@scoop993 well that's Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, and it's not Keith Richards playing it's Mark Knopfler. I thought you referring to the earlier clip.

[@scoop993]

@@LeandroCapstick oh tks man well feel dumb now haha

[@ericpichler3602]

Wow cool but wat is that last guitar at the start

[@LeandroCapstick]

Could you give me a timestamp, then I could better answer your question. Glad to hear you liked the video!

[@mordorkubson2062]

I like the one with strings

[@LeandroCapstick]

Me too

[@mordorkubson2062]

Brother 😎

[@edwincancelii2917]

The Fender Telecaster can also can play jazz mainly on the neck pickup.

[@piglos]

At 2:55 you introduce Adolf Rickenbacher, but I think it may be a picture of Paul Tutmarc, who produced the first electric bass with the instrument behind him

[@LeandroCapstick]

I think you're right, thanks for bringing this error to my attention.

[@illusoataraxia9289]

God tier documentary

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thank you!

[@launches.loops.and.lapbars]

"Nowadays, Eddie owns his own guitar company..." That didn't age well :( In all seriousness though, great documentary. Really helped with my school essay.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Yeah, Rest in Peace :(

[@patrickohooliganpl]

Nice axes ;)

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks :)

[@simonkormendy849]

Bit of fun trivia: Les Paul's real name is Lester Polfus.

[@kushkarma7081]

sickest intro ever

[@LeandroCapstick]

Thanks!

[@indoisGOD]

@@LeandroCapstick i know it from the tip of my tongue but i can’t remember the song at the beginning

[@LeandroCapstick]

@@indoisGOD money for nothing

[@indoisGOD]

@@LeandroCapstick thank you

[@WHAC420]

money for nothing is pure asmr

[@salinagrrrl69]

CHECK ME IF WRONG////BUT Relish didnt invent the interchangable pick-up.. That goes to Zvedizh GOYA 1950s with its > "Mother Of Toilet Seat" fret board design.

[@playtilithertz]

Seems you missed Paul Bigsby in the History and development of the Guitar?

[@chriss2452]

I totally missed what was said about Adolph Rickenbacker

[@LePogger]

Wow

[@chriscomanche3229]

Knew you had to be an A7X fan because I've never heard anyone really talk about Synyster Gates as a major player in the guitar world

[@LeandroCapstick]

Well yes I have to admit I'm a bit of a fanboy.

[@angelduran717]

Syn Gates is the best guitar on the market. Gibson is like buying a high end Camaro but the Syn Gates is like buying the Zack Snyder Justice League Batmobile.

[@TadpoleMusics]

You mean Schecter, right? Schecter and Gibson are companies, Syn Gates and Les Laul are musician-sponsored guitar models

[@jimmydee2024]

Nice wordage. 👍 Yes the solo at the end is a tad cringe-worthy.

[@TARASGUITARS]

And one day the world will discover the full potentials of the instrument.

[@MichaelKing-me5jy]

I’m shocked that this video is still up, The Eagles love to copy right strike. Fantastic video though

[@LeandroCapstick]

Yeah, I count myself lucky.

[@noelanderson4344]

Freddie who co-designed the strat? You mean Freddie Tavares?

[@LeandroCapstick]

Yes, I cringe everytime I watch that section :(

[@lkbakken99]

Damn, i`m impressed that the Eagles hasn`t come to take this video down lol

[@LeandroCapstick]

I know right! I'm pretty lucky so far

[@ryankattner9717]

No double-guitar?

[@LeandroCapstick]

I considered adding it, but decided against it, as it's more of a gimmick to the majority of consumers, and all around not too important.