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History of the acoustic guitar

How far back you can trace the history of the acoustic guitar is something of a debate.  Some point back to ancient Babylonia and painting which show people playing instruments that, arguably, resemble guitars.  However, if we go by this standard, any redneck with a box and rubber bands stretched across it is playing something “like a guitar.”  The idea of frets was likely first introduced by the Egyptians, and the idea of wood sounding boards was first seen in Rome.

Instruments that were very similar to modern guitars continued through the middle ages, but were easily overshadowed by other instruments of the time.  During the Renaissance, however, the guitar started stepping into the limelight.  Then, in the late 1700s, Gaetano Vinaccia made the first ever six string guitar.  This became the prototype for modern guitars.

Before the modern player got his hand on the design, another instrument maker made some big alterations.  His name was Antonio de Torres Jurado, and he put the guitar into the design we would recognize today.  Most of these alterations were meaningful, with the sizing and shaping of different parts being designed to amplify sound.

The modern player continued along these lines, increasing the sound and sound quality, but overall the idea remained the same.  The fine tuning that continues to build the history of the acoustic guitar is not negligible, though, and major guitar companies like Gibson and Fender have had an impact.  One major change seen recently is the development of the acoustic-electric, an instrument that fuses the classic and the modern to create a versatile weapon of music.