In this post, we introduce you to 10 amazing facts about guitars that will surely blow your mind. From the stories of Leo Fender, Les Paul, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jim Marshall and others, we believe you will learn something new and interesting about the electric guitar and its history. So if you want to know more about this wonderful instrument, read on!

Gibson was probably the first solid electric guitar manufacturer

In 1946, innovative musician and guitarist Les Paul met Gibson management with the goal of building a solid guitar. To this end, he brought the famous solid guitar called "The Log" as a prototype and persuasion tool. However, the company's president at the time, Maurice H. Berlin, rejected Les Paul's offer, calling the guitar ugly as a broom. In 1951, the company's president and great inventor Ted McCarty took the helm of Gibson, responding with a new guitar named after the artist, Gibson Les Paul.

Fender is a speaker manufacturer on the verge of collapse

Leo Fender is a power amplifier manufacturer that was on the verge of bankruptcy several times because the market was too small. So, in order to expand sales, Leo Fender decided to design and manufacture electric guitars that could be used with his amps. Years later, the guitar he designed and brought to market by Fender changed the history of music.

Les Paul is not the best-selling electric guitar in Gibson's history

And the Gibson Les Paul is the most popular and iconic solid electric guitar of the most traditional guitar brands. This is not the Gibson's best-selling model.

Released in 1952, the Gibson Les Paul was the first solid guitar, but was discontinued in 1960 due to a sharp drop in sales. As an alternative, a more modern version of the Gibson guitar was released in late 1960 and is known today as SG, an acronym for Solid Guitar. It wasn't until 1969 that Gibson Les Paul reissued two editions, one custom and one deluxe with mini dual-coil pickups that were remnants of Epiphone's inventory.

The Gibson SG was released in 1960 and has been in continuous production ever since. In addition, it has a more affordable price than the Gibson Les Paul and has become a bestseller of the brand.

In 1957, Gibson acquired its main competitor, Epiphone. Ted McCarty's original plan was to add the Epiphone Vertical to the Gibson product line. Gibson wasn't interested in making Epiphone instruments. However, Gibson at the time worked with exclusive distributors and official sellers by region. This means that there are some large musical instrument stores that can't sell due to exclusive themes. Therefore, Gibson took a smart business strategy and decided to manufacture and market the Epiphone brand to sell to businesses that could not sell Gibson products. In this way, although not the same model, the Epiphone guitars of the late 50s and 60s are all guitars produced by Gibson, but the Epiphone brand is on the headstock.

The Marshall JTM-45 is an imperfect replica of Fender Bassman Tweed

Jim Schel was a professional British musician, singer and drummer – he opened a music store that soon became a meeting point for musicians such as Pete Townsend, Richie Blackmore, Jim Sullivan Jr., Eric Clapton and more. Given the difficulty of importing guitars and amps from the United States, Jim and service technician Ken Bran decided to build a speaker. As a base, they used the Fender Bassman 4×10 Tweed, using materials available in the UK. Thus, the first Marshall speaker, the JTM-45, appeared, which is one of the most iconic speakers in Rock's history.

For most of 1985, all Fender guitars were made in Japan

Fender in the hands of CBS Group suffered a financial crisis in the early 80s; So the investment group put the company up for sale. So, in March 1985, CBS sold the company to a consortium of investors. However, for some reason, the Fullerton plant was not included in the sales agreement. This forced Fender's production in the U.S. to pause for about 8 months. Therefore, all Fender guitars and birds produced between February and October 1985 were made in Japan.

Eric Clapton's Blackie Strat is an actor

Around 1970, Eric Clapton visited a musical instrument store called Sho-Bud in Nashville, Tennea, in the United States. Slowhand bought six Fender Stratocasters made in the 50s there. At the time, he only paid $200 to $300 per guitar. Upon returning to England, Eric gave the trio to George Harrison, Pete Townsend and Steve Winwood. Then, for the remaining three guitars, Eric Clapton kept trying, putting different parts of each guitar together. Thus, the Fender Stratocaster Blackie is made of a black ʼ56 Stratocaster body, the neck of the ʼ57 instrument, and the pickup of the third guitar.

Red Special was built entirely by Brian May and his father

Brian May's family couldn't afford an electric guitar. So in August 1963, Brian and his father, Harold May, began building electric guitars. With the exception of pickups and tuners, it was all handmade by father and son using rudimentary tools and recycled materials. As such, Red Special is one of its kind, with necks made of old, moth-infested mahogany from old house fireplaces, oak fingerboards painted black to simulate ebony, and oak hardboard with mahogany veneer. The guitar's ribs, vibrato bridges, and other parts were also handmade by Brian and Harold May using recycled materials. Today, nearly 60 years later, the Red Special remains Brian May's number one guitar, almost one-of-a-kind guitar, showcasing the highest build quality.