[sotd] From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the Electric Guitar [October 12, 2006]

        Site of the Day for Thursday, October 12, 2006 

        From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the Electric Guitar

Today's site, from the Smithsonian Institute's Lemelson Center, presents an
exhibit on what has become the quintessential element of modern popular
music -- the electric guitar. Gentle Subscribers will discover how this new
instrument came into being and how it transformed pop music.

"This exhibit features instruments that illustrate how innovative makers
and players combined the guitar with a pickup (sensor) and amplifier to
create a new instrument and a new sound that profoundly changed popular
music--blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll--in the
20th century." - from the website

The site traces the invention and development of the electric guitar in the
early part of the twentieth century and includes a copy of the patent filed
in 1944 by Leo Fender for the pickup unit on a lap-steel guitar. From the
early adopters, such as T-Bone Walker, to the cutting-edge performances of
Jimi Hendrix, the exhibit explores the electric guitar's commercial success
as well as considering its innovative designs. Additional sections offer a
look at some of the classic guitars of this genre and an explanation of how
they work, complete with audio clips.

Scroll over to the site for an informative exhibit on the electric guitar
at:

http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/guitars/

  A.M. Holm
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