Every industry has its handful of people who have completely reinvented it. Henry Ford and the automobile industry, Steve Jobs and the tech game, as well as Joseph Sutter and the airline business. Every field has its innovators, and those innovators created the ground on which the current version of their respective industry stands. This is all applicable to the music industry and the guitarists who help develop it.
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The guitar is the most popular musical instrument on the planet. That being said, the brightest innovations in the music industry typically surround the instrument. Well, those innovations would not exist if it weren’t for these three guitarists. Three guitarists who changed the instrument for the better.
Les Paul
Les Paul didn’t just pioneer the guitar through his music, but also through his inventions. Particularly, Paul was one of the premier inventors of the solid-body electric guitar. His original model, simply called “The Log,” would go on to be the inspiration for one of the most famous guitars of all time, the Gibson Les Paul.
If not for Paul, it is unclear what type of electric guitars guitarists would have played at the height of rock ‘n’ roll, and what they would be playing now. Les Paul knew a need needed to be satisfied, hence, he went on the create the most groundbreaking guitar of all time.
Jimi Hendrix
You surely saw this selection coming. Though, what kind of music publication would we be if we didn’t feature arguably the greatest guitarist of all time on this list? Jimi Hendrix‘s impact on the instrument is insurmountable and truly beyond words.
A better way to capture how influential Jimi Hendrix was for the guitar is to cite who he influenced. The guitarists he influenced: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck, Prince, Slash, and so many others. In other words, contemporary rock ‘n’ roll would sound entirely different if Jimi Hendrix had never picked up a guitar.
Joseph Kekuku
Many of you might not know who Joseph Kekuku is, but you likely won’t forget him after learning about his contributions as a guitarist and creator. In short, Kekuku is credited with perfecting and popularizing the slide guitar method, a method particularly popular in blues and country music.
This creative technique would lead not only to groundbreaking sounds in different genres but also to the creation of the steel guitar and the pedal steel guitar. Kekuku’s method would rub off on the likes of blues legends such as Sylvester Weaver and Elmore James.
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