Q 01/05

Which 1930s groups drove guitarists to go electric?

A) Jug bands

B) Brass bands

C) Big bands

D) String bands

Answer · why

C) Big bands

Big bands: swing-era brass sections drowned out acoustic guitars, so makers added magnetic pickups and jazz guitarists could finally take single-note ...

Q 02/05

What does a guitar's pickup do?

A) Dampens unwanted feedback from the amplifier

B) Converts string vibration into electrical signals

C) Amplifies the sound acoustically through the body

D) Keeps the strings automatically in tune

Answer · why

B) Converts string vibration into electrical signals

Converts string vibration into electrical signals: each steel string moves in the field of a wire-wrapped magnet, and the tiny current it stirs up in ...

Q 03/05

What was the 1930s 'Frying Pan' electric lap steel made of?

A) Spun brass

B) Pressed steel

C) Cast aluminium

D) Moulded Bakelite

Answer · why

C) Cast aluminium

Cast aluminium: the 1931 prototype was carved from wood, but the Frying Pans sold from 1932 were cast in metal, neck and all, with horseshoe magnets a...

Q 04/05

Which two partners are credited with the first electromagnetic guitar pickup, in the early 1930s?

A) Leo Fender and Doc Kauffman

B) Orville Gibson and Lloyd Loar

C) Paul Bigsby and Merle Travis

D) George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker

Answer · why

D) George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker

George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker put it on a lap steel in Los Angeles, but the patent did not arrive until 1937, by which time rival makers we...

Q 05/05

What did the name of Gibson's 1936 ES-150 refer to?

A) Its Spanish style and $150 price

B) Its 150-watt matching amplifier

C) Its 15-inch lower bout

D) Its first run of 150 guitars

Answer · why

A) Its Spanish style and $150 price

Its Spanish style and $150 price: 'Electric Spanish' meant a guitar held upright rather than flat on the lap like the Hawaiian steels, and about $150 ...