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Gaetano Vinaccia
Very little is known about life and work of Gaetano Vinaccia, man that is credited with the invention of the Early Romantic Guitar that became famous for its 6 strings. He lived between 1759 and 1831 in Naples, Italy (although his exact date of death was never confirmed), his family that was long before and long after him been famous for their skills as luthiers. -
Federico Moretti
Musical composer, theorist and performer widely acknowledged as a key figure in the development of the modern notational system for guitar, Federico Moretti was born in Naples on 22 January 1769 -
Creation of the first six string guitar
According to the current historical records, Gaetano Vinaccia and his brother Gennaro were responsible for the creation of the first six string guitar sometimes around 1776 in Naples.
Basic design of that guitar was taken from the traditional Italian mandolin, which was initially developed by Vinaccia family. -
Period: to
Production of guitars in Europe
Guitars started being produced across France, Spain, and Italy between 1790 and 1830's. -
Moretti, Federico. Principi per la chitarra
In 1786, Moretti released a first manuscript version of his Principles for the Guitar published in 1792 as Principi per la chitarra by Luigi Mareschalchi. Before Moretti, guitar music had been written either in tablature or in staff notation, with little attempt to separate the different parts and without precise indications of the full duration of all notes. -
Antonio de Torres Jurado
1817 – 1892 was a famous Spanish luthier and guitarist; and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century.
He remains remembered as one of the most important guitar maker in history, and a man who impacted the entire history of modern music history.
He took the traditional European forms of guitars that were popular in that time and create look of the modern classical guitar.
All modern acoustic guitars that were created in 20th and 21st century were derivatives of his designs. -
Salvador Ibáñez
Salvador Ibáñez (1854–1920) was a Spanish luthier. He made guitars, ukuleles, mandolins and other stringed instruments. These instruments were prized for their excellent quality and impeccable workmanship. At eleven years of age Ibáñez became an apprentice in guitar construction at Calle Muela, Valencia. In 1870 he was registered as a guitar maker at Calle Cubells. -
Epiphone
Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908.
After taking over his father's business, Epaminondas Stathopoulos named the company "Epiphone" as a combination of his own nickname "Epi" and the suffix "-phone" (from Greek phon-, "voice") in 1928, the same year it began making guitars. -
Adolph Rickenbacker
1886 - 1976 was a Swiss-American today remembered as one of the co-founders of the Rickenbacker guitar, and one of the key people that were responsible for the creation and adoption of electric guitars that managed to change the shape and sound of the modern music industry altogether. His most famous guitar was popularly named “Frying Pan” guitar, which was the first electric guitar ever to be made and sold commercially. Over 2700 of them were produced and sold. -
1900´s
Guitars were not the most popular instruments in the world until early 1900s -
Orville Gibson
Orville Gibson started making instruments in 1894 and founded the company in 1902 as the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to make mandolin-family instruments. -
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for the Gibson Les Paul.
Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music. -
Hoshino Gakki Ten Inc. - Japan
The Hoshino company starts Hoshino Gakki Ten Inc. and starts to import Salvador Ibáñez acoustic guitars from Spain. -
Rickenbacker Lap-steel Guitar
Diagrams of Rickenbacker Lap-steel Guitar Design From 1934 -
Leo Fender Patent
Pick up unit for instruments Patent -
Fender
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer of instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment, but is best known for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, particularly the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision Bass, and the Jazz Bass. The company was founded in Fullerton, California by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946. -
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares.
The distinctive body shape, which has become commonplace among electric guitars, was revolutionary for the time period, and for the first time a mass-market electric guitar did not significantly resemble earlier acoustic models. -
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952.
The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. -
Ibanez
Ibanez (アイバニーズ, Aibanīzu) is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass-produce the seven-string guitar and eight-string guitar. -
ESP Guitars
In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products (ESP) in Tokyo, Japan, which provided custom replacement parts for guitars. At this time, ESP also began making guitars under the ESP and Navigator brand in the Japanese market -
Schecter Guitar Research
Schecter is an American manufacturing company founded in 1976 by David Schecter, which originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibson.
In 1979, Schecter offered, for the first time, its own fully assembled electric guitars. These guitars were custom shop models based on Fender designs. They were considered of very high quality and expensive, and were sold only by twenty retailers across the United States -
Jackson
Jackson bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.
Jackson Guitars originated in 1980 when guitarist Randy Rhoads approached the company with an idea for an individualized guitar. The collaborative design effort between Rhoads, Grover Jackson, Tim Wilson, and Jackson's masterbuilder, Mike Shannon, resulted in the creation of the Concorde, an innovative revamp of the traditional Flying V.
The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002 -
PRS Guitars
Paul Reed Smith Guitars, also known as PRS Guitars, is an American guitar and amplifier manufacturer located in Stevensville, Maryland. The company was founded in 1985 in Annapolis, Maryland by Paul Reed Smith.