A solid-body instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electric pickup system to directly receive the vibrations of the strings.
Solid-body instruments are preferred in situations where acoustic feedback may otherwise be a problem and are inherently both less expensive to build and more rugged than acoustic electric instruments.
The most well-known solid body instruments are the electric guitar and electric bass. These instruments were instrumental in creating new genres of music such as rock and metal. Common materials used in the construction of solid body instruments are alder, maple, mahogany, korina, spruce, rosewood, and ebony. Some woods are used more in constructing certain solid bodies more than others. For instance, mahogany, maple, alder, spruce, and rosewood are commonly used in constructing the parts of electric guitars and bass guitars.
Solid body instruments have some of the same features as acoustic string instruments. Like a typical string instrument they have a tuner and a bridge and a fingerboard (or fretboard). Fretboards are a piece of wood that run from top of the neck to the body. Atop the fretboard are the strings. Some fingerboards have frets or bars which the strings are pressed against. This allows musicians to stop the string in the same place. Ebony, rosewood and maple are commonly used to make the fingerboard. All the solid bodies have variations in scale length or, the length of the strings from the nut to the bridge. The action, or the height of the strings from the fingerboard, is adjustable on solid body instruments. Most solid bodies have a form of equalization controls such as a preamp, volume and tone controls. Some might also contain frequency adjustments such as low, middle, and high. These are used to shape the sound along with the aid of amplifier. Amplifiers allow solid body instruments to be heard at medium to high volumes.
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Solid-body instruments
Solid-body instruments do not include:
Electric lap steel guitars without sounding boards are considered to be solid-body instruments by some authorities, and not by others. This has a major effect on some claims of historical priority, as they predate the first models of solid-body electric guitar, which may otherwise be claimed to be the first commercially successful solid-body instruments. While noting this, it will be assumed that electric lap steels without sounding boards are solid-body instruments for the purposes of this article.
A solid-body electric violin was proposed by Thomas Edison.
The first commercially successful solid-body instrument was the Rickenbacker frying pan lap steel guitar, produced from 1931 to 1939.
The first commercially successful solid-body electric guitar was the Fender Telecaster (The early Telecaster models had no model name on the head stock and are now referred to as 'No Casters") in 1950. It was followed by the Gibson Les Paul in 1952.
Solid-body instruments have particularly influenced heavy rock and surf music. Without solid-body guitars, neither of these genres could have developed as they did.
The solid body electric guitar is one of the most well-known solid body instruments. Instrumental in rock, metal, blues, and country music, the electric guitar has been responsible for creating various sounds.
There are some common characteristics of solid body electric guitars. They typically have six strings although there are some seven string and eight string models. Most have at least a tone and volume control. If they have more than one guitar pickup they have a switch that allows them to switch between the different pickups. There are various types of pickups that can be outfitted to a guitar. They can have single-coils, a P-90, or a humbucker. These pickups can be either passive or active (require batteries).
Sometimes guitars are outfitted with pickguards which prevent the guitar from being scratched with a pick (a small device you use for strumming guitar).
The early beginnings of the solid body electric guitar are confusing. Les Paul, a guitarist, invented the first solidbody, but Fender was the first to commercially market a solid body electric guitar. In the 1940s, Les Paul created a guitar called the “Log,” which came “from the 4” by 4” solid block of pine which the guitarist had inserted between the sawed halves of the body that he’d just dismembered. He then carefully re-joined the neck to the pine log, using some metal brackets.” [1] He then put some pickups that he designed on it. He soon went to companies asking if they would buy his guitar. They turned him down. However, after the Fender Telecaster electric guitar became popular, the Gibson company contacted him and had him endorse a model named after him, The Les Paul guitar. It came out in 1952.
While Les Paul was looking for a manufacture for his log, Leo Fender was working on the Fender Telecaster. It came out in 1950. The telecaster had a “basic, single-cutaway solid slab of ash for a body and separate screwed-on maple neck was geared to mass production. It had a slanted pickup mounted into a steel bridge-plate carrying three adjustable bridge-saddles.” [2] Its color was blond. It is considered “the world’s first commercially marketed solidbody electric guitar.” .[3] The Telecaster continues to be manufactured today.
The follow-up to the Fender Telecaster, the Stratocaster, came out in 1954. It had three pickups instead of two. It had a tremolo bar on the bridge. This allowed players to bend notes. “The contoured body with its beveled corners reduced the chafing on the player’s body.” [4] It also had cutaway above and below the fretboard to allow players easy access to the top frets.
In 1958, Gibson introduced the Explorer and the Flying V. “only about 100 of the” Explorer were produced. Very few of the Flying V were produced also. Both were discontinued shortly after. The Flying V did manage to find a few followers and “Gibson reintroduced the guitar in 1967.” The Explorer was also ”reintroduced in the mid-1970s.” Both guitars are still in production today.
In 1961, Gibson discontinued the Les Paul model and replaced it with a new design. The result was the SG (Solid Guitar). It weighed less and was less dense than the Les Paul. It had double cutaways to allow easier access to the top frets. Eventually the Les Paul came back into production in 1968 because Blues and Hard Rock guitarists liked the sound of the Les Pauls. The SG and the Les Paul are still in production today.
Fender and Gibson went on to make more well-known models. Gibson made the Melody Maker and the Firebird. Fender later created the Jazzmaster, and Jaguar.
Many of the designs that Gibson and Fender both created provide the basis for many guitars made by various manufacturers today.
A typical solid body bass guitar has specific characteristics. It consists of four strings (some have been made with more), a 34” scale neck, at least one pickup, sometimes a pickguard, frets, and a bridge. It also has a volume and tone control. Some solid body basses have a 3 band equalizer to stabilize the low frequency of the bass. Woods typically used to make the body of the bass are alder, maple, or mahogany. Rosewood or ebony are used for to make the fingerboard. The pickups are of the same style as guitar except they are designed for basses.
The double bass guitar was very heavy and not as easy to carry as other string instruments. Paul Tutmarc built an electronic bass that was played the same way as a guitar. This bass was called the Audiovox Model 736 Electronic Bass. “About 100 Audiovox 736 basses were made, and their distribution was apparently limited to the Seattle area.” [5] The idea did not catch on and the company folded.
Later in the late-1940s when “dance bands downsized” [6] guitar players who lost their positions playing guitar were told they could play double bass. However, “they did not want to take the time to learn upright technique. They needed a bass they could play like a guitar-a fretted bass.”[7] Leo Fender heard these criticisms and took his telecaster model and adopted it to a bass guitar. The result was the Fender Precision Bass. It consisted of an ash bolt-on maple neck. The scale for the bass was 34.” “It also had “cutaways for better balance.” [8] Now guitarists could double on bass, and the bass player of the band would not have to carry around a huge upright bass. It entered the market in 1951.
Fender’s second bass model, the Jazz Bass, was introduced in 1959. It had a slimmer neck at the nut, a different two pickup combination, and an offset body shape. While it did not become extremely popular among jazz players, it was well received in rock music.
Many companies today produced models based on the body shapes first started by Fender.
Gibson created the Gibson Electric Bass to be introduced in the 1953. The scale, 30 ½” was shorter than the Fender basses. Its body was designed to look like a violin. It had a single pickup. It also had an endpin which allowed the bass player to play it vertically. In 1959 Gibson created the EB-0 which was designed to compliment the Les Paul Junior. In 1961 it was redesigned to match the SG guitar and called the EB-3.
Gibson also created the Thunderbird in 1963, which complimented the Firebird. It had the 34” scale for the neck. This was the same scale as the Fender basses.
Other companies have created designs that are different from the Fender and Gibson models.
Electric Mandolins are similar to electric violins because they traditionally have one pickup. Some manufacturers produce electric violins because they also have a single pickup.
Epiphone currently produces and electric mandolin called the Mandobird IV and VIII. IV and VIII standing for four and eight strings respectively.
They usually have a bolt on neck and a rosewood inlay. Both Mandobird models have a single coil pickup.
The solid body violin is different from the traditional violin because it does not have a hollow body and has a “Piezo Pickup with Passive Volume and Tone Controls.” [9] These features allow it to be amplified. The body is made out of wood, usually maple. The fingerboard is made out of ebony. The top of the violin might be made out of flame maple or solid spruce. The body of the electric violin compared to an acoustic violin has cutaways that allow for weight reduction and a not as heavy body. This is also known as a cutaway
While a regular sitar has 21, 22, or 23 strings an Electric sitar is designed similar to a guitar. It first appeared in 1967 when “Vinnie Bell invented the Coral electric sitar, a small six-string guitar-like instrument producing a twangy sound that reminded people of its Indian namesake.” [10] It is played like a regular guitar. An electric sitar’s electronics consist of “Three pickups with individual volume and tone controls are standard, including one pickup over the sympathetic strings.” The bridge of the electric sitar is creates the sound of a sitar. Like electric guitars, made by Fender especially, the neck of a sitar is usually “made of bolt-on, hard maple wood with an optional mini-harp.” The sitar also has 13 drone strings to located above the six strings that reach from the fretboard to the bridge.
Electric Violas are designed similar to electric violins. They usually have the same features.
Electric Cellos are similar to regular cellos, but they have a smaller body. Some electric cellos have no body branching out from the middle where the strings are. Some electric cellos have the out line of the traditional body around middle creating the feel of a traditional cello. It is played like a traditional cello.
The electric cello contains a volume control. Some have eq controls also. The fingerboard is made out of ebony. A piezo pickup is mounted at the bridge for amplification.
The body can be made out of alder.