A Time-line History of the Electric Guitar

Wes Montgomery lays down eight tunes in two days. The result is “The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery”. With this album, he becomes the standard bearer for jazz guitar.

Gibson replaces the Les Paul with the Gibson SG series. Les Paul discontinues his association with Gibson.

Columbia Records releases for the first time, “ King of the Delta Blues Singers " by Robert Johnson. Recorded in Texas over two sessions in 1936 and 1937, Johnson’s phenomenal work on slide guitar combined with his sensational vocals are “the Bible” and inspiration for Eric Clapton and several of his soon to be famous contemporaries.

Dick Dale invents “surf guitar” with the release of his album, “Surfer’s Choice”.

Ernie Ball approaches Fender and Gibson with the idea of making lighter gauge guitar strings for the growing number of bend-happy solos from both rock 'n’ roll and blues guitarists. Both companies reject his idea. Ball goes into business for himself. He calls his new strings “Slinkys”.

Jim Marshall , Ken Bran, and the teenage electronics genius, Dudley Craven develop the first Marshall amplifier - the JTM 45. Pete Townsend and Ritchie Blackmore are among the very first buyers.

Nashville recording engineer, Glen Snotty, invents a circuit and gives the design to Gibson / Maestro. The resulting Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz tone becomes the world’s first commercially available stompbox.

Fender introduces the Twin Reverb combo amplifier. Eighty watts, two 12 inch speakers, and a great reverb makes this favorite amp of country pickers.

Sunday, February 9th. The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. 75 million Americans tune in. By 9:00 PM that night, the world had changed forever. On February 10th, thousands of bands were started by kids with guitars.

The Kinks release “You Really Got Me”. Increased volume, distortion, and the riff brings the electric guitar front and center in England.

Bob Dylan appears at the Newport Folk Festival. The first half of his set is a solo acoustic performance. Then he brings out his band and electric guitars. Most of the audience responds with boos and jeers.

The Rolling Stones record “I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)". Keith Richards plays the riff through a Maestro Fuzz Tone pedal.

Jimmy Nolan on his first session with James Brown combines an E9 chord and 1/16th notes on “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”. Funk guitar is born.

The Byrds guitarist, Roger McGuinn plays a Rickenbacker 360-12 guitar while recording “Hey Mr.Tambourine Man”. The formula of folk harmonies and McGuinn’s jangling 12 string guitar invents folk rock .

Marshall introduces the 100 watt amplifier and stackable 4x12 speaker cabinets. The Marshall stack is born and becomes the standard for high-volume rock.

Eric Clapton records the Bluesbreakers album with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers using a Gibson Les Paul Standard through a Marshall 1962 Combo amplifier. The recording engineer deems the loud distorted sound as “unrecordable”. Clapton refuses to turn the volume down. “Guitar hero” becomes a new phrase in the music lexicon.

Jimi Hendrix purchases his first Fender Stratocaster.

Eric Clapton forms Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. The power trio is born.

Pink Floyd record their first album, “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” at Abbey Road Studios in London as The Beatles complete “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Psychedelic music begins.

Vox introduces the Clyde Mccoy Wah Wah Pedal. Eric Clapton uses it to great effect on Cream’s "Tales of Brave Ulysses”. The wah-wah pedal becomes an immediate addition to the rock guitarist’s “must-have”.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience play their first American gig at The "Monterey Pop Festival” on Sunday, June 18th. On that day, the electric guitar was reinvented.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience debut album, "Are You Experienced” is released . To this day, this album is still considered to be the greatest and most influential rock guitar album of all time.

Kustom introduces their new line of solid-state amplifiers. The colorful, tuck and rolled vinyl coverings gave their amplifiers a totally unique look.

Guitar Player magazine hits the news stands.

Electro-Harmonix debuts LPB-1 linear power booster. It will pave the way for distortion pedals and high-gain amps.

Led Zeppelin releases their debut album in January. Led Zeppelin II will follow later that year. Who knew, at the time, that all of that sound came out of a Supro amp and a Telecaster. Jimmy Page switches to a Les Paul through a Marshall for Led Zep II.

“Santana” is released. Carlos Santana and Latin rock become part of the rock music lexicon.

Three days of peace, love, and music, August 15-17. The Woodstock Music and Arts Fair is attended by 500,000 of the “peace and love” generation. (“the New York State Throughway is closed, man!”) Among the guitar highlights are The Who, Santana, Alvin Lee and Ten Years After, and Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”. It is and will be a defining moment for the times.

John McLaughlinrecords with the legendary, Miles Davis. The results set the table for the fusion of jazz and rock into a brand new genre.

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