Electric guitars have been around since the early 1930s as steel lap guitars. Regular hollowed guitars were later transformed with crude bolted on pickups and and finally sold body electrics came out in the 1940s and 50s. Leo Fender was one of the first to begin the trend at the beginning.
In California (early 1930s) Rickenbacker made one of the first electric guitars to use electromagnetic principles which could transform any guitar into an electric guitar. In addition, Rickenbacker also made a solid body electric out of a bake-lite material. The guitar had terrible tone but is considered to be one of the first solid body electric guitars to ever be produced. Also during this time Gibson made one of the best hollowed out body style electrics with the ES 175. Leo Fender at the time produced steel lap guitars and electric amplifiers.
The problem with the hollow body electric guitar remained to be the annoying feedback that they gave off. It was around 1950s that the solid body electric guitars were experimented with. Rickenbacker remained one of the first inovators with his bake-lite guitars but they were not popular. Les Paul built a solid guitar out of pine, “The Log” as it is referred to, was constructed in 1948. Also During this time Paul Bigsby made a solid through-neck guitar for country singer Merle Travis and a trend begain.
In 1950, friend of Paul Bigsby, Leo Fender made a new solid body guitar. At first it was named the Esquire, then the Broadcaster and finally was called the Telecaster during the final phase of production. The Telecaster was the first successful commercially sold solid body electric guitar but production numbers were limited.
The Telecaster of the 50's was a simple yet effective electric guitar that had a basic single-cutaway, solid slab of ash for the body and a screwed on maple neck. Easy to put together and even easier to produce. In addition, the Telecaster offered a steel bridge-plate, carried three adjustable bridge saddles and a slanted pick up mount. The body was painted a yellow shade and is known today as a blond color.
Production of the “Tele” began in two of Fenders small steel buildings on Pomona Ave, Fullerton, CA in April 1950. Despite serious money problems Fender decided to add a truss-rod and have a double pickup design. It was then that the Telecaster became the Broadcaster for a short period of time.
When these forward thinking guitars were released, they were laughed at and called names such as Canoe Paddles or Snow Shovels. It was not until later that these amazing instruments (especially the Broadcaster) were realized as one of the most historically significant musical revelation of the century.