Due to artists eagerness during the 1930s to learn about guitar playing, a science of studying impedance problems, microphone techniques, amplifying, and certain speaker and tube kinds, was introduced. It was then that electric guitars were brought in onto the music scene. Alder, mahogany, walnut, maple and ash are the commonly used types of wood used for making the body of electric guitars.

The quality of the sound produced by electric guitars is affected by the kind of wood, the construction, the type of strings, the quality of the components used, and the overall condition of the environment. Electric guitars are used in a wide range of musical stylesfrom country to rock and roll, jazz, and blues.

The electric guitar contains almost the same parts as an acoustic guitar, and is also played by plucking and strumming. In fact, they are easier to play than the acoustic guitar. Playing this instrument requires an electric amplifier to produce sound. Most electric guitars were made of not only a single layer, but of many layers of different laminated good sounding woods. For appearance, the top layer is usually a nicer wood coated with plastic.

There are three main types of electric guitars: the hollow-bodied, solid-bodied, and the semi-solid electric guitar. Hollow-bodied guitars accompany jazz music. Solid-bodied guitars are well suited for rock, while a semi-solid electric guitar mixes the qualities of both the hollow and the solid. It has a center block that forms the pickup. It also has an ""f"" hole design, representing this trait.

Electric guitars have pickups set in them so the instrument can produce the best sound possible. These parts can be used separately or in combination with one another. They are bent to attain the exact volume or effect for either lead or rhythm guitar playing. Originally electric guitars were constructed with only a single pickup. Today they have two or three, creating a more flexible musical instrument. One pick-up is positioned near the bridge, the second just before the bottom of the neck, and the third, is usually added in the middle of the other two pick-ups. The guitarist then, having these supplementary parts, acquires more alternatives for generating a range of musical experiences and becomes more versatile in tonal quality.

Electric guitars have begun a revolution in sound and technology that carries on to this day. They have become one of the most famous musical instruments of all time.