The electric guitar first took several different shapes. Electric pick-ups
were placed on acoustic guitars in the 1940's. Problems with feedback and
resonance led to experimentation by two key people in the development of
the electric guitar. In 1944, Leo Fender fitted a new pick- up he developed
into a solid body hawaiian guitar. Intended to demonstrate only the pick- up,
the guitar became popular and in demand. In 1946 he formed the Fender Electric
Instrument Co., and introduced the now legendary Broadcaster (Telecaster). Around
the same time, Les Paul was toying with the idea of a solid body guitar design
when he heard that Thomas Edison had made a solid body violin. He, too, was
convinced that the only way to avoid body feedback was to reduce pick- up movement-
and the only way to do that was to mount it on a solid piece of wood. His guitar
was created by cutting an acoustic guitar down the middle and inserting a 4
in. by 4 in. block of solid maple on which were mounted 2 single- soil pick-
ups. In 1952, the Gibson guitar company approached him and the "Gibson Les Paul"
went into production.