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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:34 pm
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So just to be a killjoy, and address the OP's question:

I think had Leo and Co. not launched the Telecaster(and it's predecessors,)
Paul Bigsby would have gotten around to mass producing his guitar ideas, or that Rickenbacker would have probably had an audience for its bakelite electrics.

As much as people debate whether Leo or Les Paul is the father of the electric guitar these companies really were responsible for the first viable commercially produced models.
The Rickenbacker company produced solidbody electric spanish guitars as far back as 1935:
Image
I'm not sure if this one(pictured above,) is quite that old,but it is part of that line, and they predate even Les Paul's 'Log' experiments by 5 or 6 years.

We would probably have threads debating whether the Bigsby was better than the RIC, and have "Why hate the RIC forums?" on the Bigsby lounge!!

Bigsby's guitar designed with Merle Travis(1947-48 ):

Image

Predates the Telecaster(Broadcaster,) by 2 or 3 years. It is hard not to note the similarities.

Now Les Paul, leo fender and Paul Bigsby were drinking buddies, prone top hanging out at Les Paul's house. There is no way they didn't exchange ideas. Rumour has it that Leo borrowed the Merle Travis guitar.

So I guess the point is, more than a couple people had similar ideas. I think it was just a matter of someone putting together a feasible method of mass producing the solidbody. In that way Leo was analogous to Henry Ford. he didn't produce the first cars. they weren't even the most technically advanced, but he found a way to produce them, and get them into the hands of people who wanted them. Gibson resisted the idea of going solid electric, until they realized that that little company in California was taking over vast tracts of sales ground.

We wouldn't all own Strats and teles, and maybe not even Les Pauls, but we would maybe have something very similar. After all these instruments were tailored for the neds of musicians. And really that is the main reason, in my opinion, that guitar technology has remained largely unchanged. The producers got them mostly correct right out of the gate.

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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:14 pm
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I'd be playing either Rickenbacker, Jackson, or Ibanez. RK

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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:05 pm
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flanker35 wrote:
I really can't imagine Hendrix, Clapton or Gilmour without their Strats. Who knows how different our music today would be without Fender.


All three played Gibson's too even Gilmour. Clapton, still plays Gibsons.

Musicians would get by without Fender. Down south, people played slide on one strands on a wall made from broom wire, two nails and a stick, brick, rock or a bottle for a bridge. People played guitar long before Leo. You would just see more Gibson, Gretsch and Guild players.

Nothing would collapse. If as a musician you only play Fender, you're missing out on a lot of other tonal possibilities. When I was a kid, I thought Fender was the end all be all. I'm glad I tried other guitars.


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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:22 pm
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Someone else would have stepped into the void--it may have taken a different path--it may have taken longer--but all I know is, instead of a Mustang--I'd be playing something else.

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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:07 am
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Objectively, folks like Charlie Christian and Les Paul were playing electric guitars. Gibson was making solidbodies and not long thereafter, so were Gretsch and Epi and Harmony and Magnatone.

Swing was meeting hillibilly and blues and jazz because of the proliferation of records and record players entering homes and juke boxes across America. Chuck Berry and Bill Haley began to rock on hollows and semis. The 'need" for incresed production would likely have led to solidbobies becoming the dominant electric, anyway.

In this opinion, there would not have been a "true" Fender sub and therefore Fender culture and mystique, but likely, the other well-knowns and some others who either never made it big or never existed would have "filled in."

Back to the oulde physics sage; "Nature abhors a vacuum."


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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:12 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 1:38 pm
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must likely there would be another giant next to gibson just as cool as fender, maybe a brand we know. who knows if gretsch woulg have became cheaper and/or would have worked with artist who would help design confortable solid bodyes as the start or a nice well rounded like the tele, though my opinion is, the right les paul can sound like a tele.. and though it doesn't feel like it at start it builds the same feeling as it becomes more and more worn out

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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:45 pm
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Yep, National and Supro. :D


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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:12 pm
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I would be were i am at now. Still wanting something good to play.


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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:36 pm
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One thing everyone is forgeting is that Leo is much more the father of amplification than he ever was electric guitar.
My answer is
We'd all be playing some junk with a rubbish sound.

It wouldnt matter what guitar it was. Leo was 'THE DADDY' of amps. If you dont believe me go and plug into a old valve radio from 48.

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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:40 pm
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nikininja wrote:
One thing everyone is forgeting is that Leo is much more the father of amplification than he ever was electric guitar.
My answer is
We'd all be playing some junk with a rubbish sound.

It wouldnt matter what guitar it was. Leo was 'THE DADDY' of amps. If you dont believe me go and plug into a old valve radio from 48.


I remember Ted McCarty's comment when he was president of Gibson--he had been asked about Gibson amps compared to Fender amps--he said something along the lines of-Fender was an amplifier company that happened to make guitars, and Gibson was a guitar company that happened to make amplifiers.

I know many here will not agree completely--but I did find it amusing.

And I like both company's guitars--and I like Fender amps.

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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:39 pm
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any of the other brands like jackson or ibanez ..


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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:25 am
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Where also would the humble bass be?

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Post subject: Re: What if fender never existed?
Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:14 am
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grungedude wrote:
What would we be playing if fender never had existed?

bro , GD (does gd for grasshopper ) , grasshopper do not worry the sky is not falling , the end of the world is not near , mother nature is not mad at us because she can't beleive it's not butter either , fender exists , has existed and will exist , play your fender it will help , write a song that always makes me feel better .

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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:22 am
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nikininja wrote:
Where also would the humble bass be?


Actually there were counterparts of the P Bass before it appeared--it wasn't the first bass of its kind, but the first successful one--and first solidbody--I think.

But there were others before it that were fretted.

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