An electric guitar is a type of musical instrument. The first one was made in 1931 by George Beauchamp. It is a string instrument usually played with a pick and sometimes with the fingers. It uses things called "electric pickups" which are wire-wound magnets that change the vibration of the strings into electric current. This electric current is then sent to an amplifier (amp for short) that changes it to sound. This electric current can also be changed to produce effects. The main parts of an electric guitar are the neck, the pickups, the tuners, the bridge, the input, the body, the frets, the volume knobs and the tone knobs. There may also be other parts that can change other sounds. A normal electric guitar has one neck with 6 strings on it, although there are 12 string guitars and guitars with more than one neck.
Guitars are made and sold in many parts of the world by many companies. They can be hand made or factory made. Some companies that make electric guitars are Fender, Gibson, and Ibanez.