Touch guitar
 Double-neck, headless touch guitar | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | String |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322 (Composite chordophone) |
| Inventor(s) |
|
| Developed | 1950s—60s |
| Related instruments | |
The touch guitar is a stringed instrument of the guitar family which has been designed to use a fretboard-tapping playing style. Touch guitars are meant to be touched or tapped, not strummed.[1]
History
[edit]The touch or tapping technique was formally codified by American guitarist Jimmie Webster in his 1952 method book called the Illustrated Touch System.[2]
Webster credited pickup designer Harry DeArmond with first demonstrating the potential for touch-style playing.[3] Webster himself collaborated with Gretsch Guitars on a guitar stereo pickup design for the Touch System (which fed the bass and melody output to two separate amplifiers), but the concept was not commercially successful.[4]
Unlike Webster's approach, which was to play on a single-necked instrument, guitarist and luthier Dave Bunker designed, built, and patented (in 1961) the first double-necked, headless,[5] touch-tapping instrument called the DuoLectar.[6] While both guitars employed a two-handed tapping technique, Webster used a single-necked instrument while Bunker used his double-necked DuoLectar guitar.[7]
Webster's tapping technique can be heard on a 1959 record.[8] In 1960, Bunker first demonstrated his double-necked instrument for the Portland Oregonian newspaper,[9] and then on the nationally broadcast television show Ozark Jubilee.[10] His designs ultimately led to his double-necked touch guitar in 1975.[11][12]
Other designs followed. Among them was the single-neck Chapman Stick (developed by Emmett Chapman in 1970 and produced in 1974[13]), the single-neck Warr Guitar (first produced in 1991[14]) and the single-neck Mobius Megatar.[15] Other touch guitars have included the Solene, Chuck Soupios's dual-necked BiAxe[16] (patented in 1980 and produced during the early 1980s), and Sergio Santucci's TrebleBass.
Merle Travis occasionally used a tapping style[17] on his single-neck, strummed guitar, as did Roy Smeck, George Van Eps, Barney Kessel and Harvey Mandell.[18] Subsequent years have seen Eddie Van Halen, Stanley Jordan, Steve Vai, Jeff Healey, Fred Frith, Hans Reichel, Elliott Sharp, and Markus Reuter all feature the use of tapping techniques.
References
[edit]- ^ "Types of Guitars: Detailed Guide". PrimeSound.org. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ Webster, Jimmie (1952). Illustrated "Touch System" for Electric and Amplified Spanish Guitar. New York, NY: Wm. J. Smith Music Co.
- ^ Bacon, Tony (2005). 50 years of Gretsch Electrics : half a century of White Falcons, Gents, Jets & other great guitars. [United States]: Backbeat Books. ISBN 9781476852805. OCLC 974231751.
- ^ Bacon, Tony (2005). 50 years of Gretsch Electrics : half a century of White Falcons, Gents, Jets & other great guitars. [United States]: Backbeat Books. ISBN 9781476852805. OCLC 974231751.
- ^ Dickerson, Deke (2013). The Strat in the Attic: Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press. p. 120.
- ^ Objects for use : handmade by design. Smith, Paul J., 1931-, Busch, Akiko. New York: H.N. Abrams in association with the American Craft Museum. 2001. ISBN 0810906112. OCLC 46385863.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Roberts, James (2003). American basses : an illustrated history & player's guide. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307218. OCLC 52518941.
- ^ Webster, Jimmie (1959). "Webster's Un-abridged". YouTube.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021.
- ^ "New Guitar Tickles Ears When Touched By Maker". Oregonian. 24 April 1960. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ "Dave Bunker - Duo-Lectar". YouTube.com. September 1960.
- ^ "Dave Bunker submits patent application for his dual-necked Duo-Lectar electric "Touch Guitar" to U.S. Patent Office on September 16, 1957". www.historylink.org. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ Seven, Richard (25 June 2000). "Why Dave Bunker Is Not Singing the Blues". Seattle Times Newspaper.
- ^ "www.stick.com - History". stick.com.
- ^ "Info". Warr Guitars.
- ^ "The Megatar".
- ^ The Biaxe. YouTube. 4 January 2009. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021.
- ^ Wade, Graham (2012). A Concise History of Rock Music. Warwickshire, UK: Bill's Music Shelf. p. 314. ISBN 978-16191-1016-8.
- ^ Scapelliti, Christopher (19 June 2015). "Watch the Duo-Lectar Double-Neck "Touch Guitar" in Action Circa 1960". Guitar World.