[78-L] electric guitar 1929

[Malcolm Rockwell]

Okay, so what you have here is an amplified acoustic guitar / banjo / 
mandolin / banjo-mandolin, etc., which is a far cry from an electric 
instrument. It's an /electrified/ instrument. The first commercial 
/electric/ instument, where each string's vibrations were used to by a 
transducer to form an electrical signal, which then went to am 
amplifier, was manufactured by Rickenbacker and was a lap-style Hawaiian 
steel guitar.

*The record that is considered to be the first example of the electric 
guitar is* Vi V-92, Noi Lane Hawaiian Orchestra (electric steel guitar 
player unknown), "Dreams Of Aloha", recorded in NYC on Feb. 22, 1933.
Bob Dunn followed suit in 1934.

Malcolm

*******

On 2/14/2014 9:02 AM, Joe Scott wrote:
> Here is a 1929 ad for Stromberg's commercially marketed electric guitar (and other electric instruments):
>
> https://www.google.com/search?q=%22electric+guitar%22+stromberg&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bWDUq2pCKPEyQGq8YHgBw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=799#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=pMTQvdSXCWmohM%253A%3Bc9arDVIcojcp8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.vintageguitar.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F3566%252F01stromberg.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.vintageguitar.com%252F3657%252Fstromberg-electro%252F%3B250%3B349
>
> So any time anyone claims someone invented the electric guitar and that happened in the '30s (such as George Barnes fans claiming he had the first electric guitar in 1931, which he did wave his hands at but to my knowledge didn't actually claim), we know that doesn't add up, and to question that person's research ability (or effort!).
>
> Seems to me there may well be electric guitar on some isolated sweet record from 1930-1932 (even though relatively few records were made during those years) that we don't know about, because collectors of sweet music generally aren't asking themselves electric vs. acoustic on some brief Hawaiianish embellishments or whatever.
>
> Joseph Scott
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