No instrument is more associated with American music than the electric guitar. It is the major instrument in rock and roll (see entry under 1950s—Music in volume 3), blues (see entry under 1920s—Music in volume 2), and country music (see entry under 1940s—Music in volume 3). It has been played by some of the great musicians of the jazz (see entry under 1900s—Music in volume 1) world as well. Simply stated, the electric guitar is much like an acoustic guitar, except that a magnetic pickup has been added to turn the vibrations of the strings into electrical impulses. When amplified, the electrical impulses produce sound. The electric guitar is more than a piece of technology; it reshaped American popular music in the 1950s and after.

The drive to create an electrified guitar came from the search for a solution to a common problem. Acoustic guitars had...