An acoustic-electric guitar is an

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

fitted with a

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

or a

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

piezoelectric pickup A pickup is a transducer that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these to an electrical signal that is amplified using an instru ...

. They are used in a variety of music genres where the sound of an acoustic guitar is desired but more volume is required, especially during live performances. The design is distinct from a

semi-acoustic guitar A semi-acoustic guitar, hollow-body electric, or thinline is a type of electric guitar that was first created in the 1930s. It has a sound box and at least one electric pickup. The semi-acoustic guitar is different to an acoustic-electric guit ...

, which is an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

with the addition of sound chambers within the guitar body. Usually, acoustic-electric guitars are fitted with

piezoelectric Piezoelectricity (, ) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied Stress (mechanics), mechanical s ...

pickups, requiring a

preamplifier A preamplifier, also known as a preamp, is an electronic amplifier that converts a weak electrical signal into an output signal strong enough to be noise-tolerant and strong enough for further processing, or for sending to a power amplifier an ...

incorporated into the guitar body to amplify the signal before it travels to the main

guitar amplifier A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which a ...

. These preamps may also come with an integrated tuner and tone controls of varying types; equalizers with up to six frequency bands may be used. Stonebridge Acoustic Guitar

History

In the 1920s, guitarists like Eddie Lang transitioned the

from a primarily solo instrument to use in

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

s. However, in a big band, the guitar was outplayed by the horn section and drums, and the need for amplification became apparent quickly. Various experiments at electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument date back to the early part of the twentieth century; patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters adapted and placed inside

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

s to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, but these detected vibrations from the bridge on top of the instrument, so the resulting signal was weak. The first person to create the modern electric pickup for the acoustic guitar was

Lloyd Loar Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886–1943) was an American musician, instrument designer and sound engineer. He is best known for his design work with the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the early 20th century, including the F-5 model mandolin an ...

, with his company

Vivi-tone Vivi-Tone was a musical instrument company formed in partnership by former instrument designer for Gibson Guitar Corporation, Lloyd Loar, Lewis A. Williams, and Walter Moon. The company was incorporated in Kalamazoo, Michigan on November 1, 1933, wi ...

. In the early 1930s, Loar split from

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

and founded Vivitone, where he created an early electric pickup for the acoustic guitar. Electronics were mounted in a removable drawer that slid out of the bass rim of the guitar. The signal was then transferred from a wooden bridge to a metal plate which allowed for an electric output and thus amplification. The first commercially available electric pickup however were

Harry DeArmond Rowe Industries was a manufacturer of guitar pickups and other music-related devices, as well as electrical components utilized in the aerospace industry into the 1980s. Owner Horace "Bud" Rowe established a working relationship with budding el ...

's FHC pickups, released in the 1930s. They were widely adopted because they didn't require any modification of the guitar. In 1954, Gibson released the first commercially successful

flattop A flattop is a type of haircut where the hair on the top of the head is cut and styled upright to form a flat profile when viewed from the front or side. Styling In the most classic and mainstream style of flattop for men and boys, the hair ...

Acoustic-Electric Guitars, the J–160E and CF-100E.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acoustic-electric Guitar Acoustic guitars

History

See also

References