From its use in acoustic steel guitars in the 1930s to modern pickups and guitar strings, steel has played a central role in the evolution of popular music.
Thanks to the technological leap that made rock 'n' roll possible, the electrical steel string guitar changed music forever. The unique sound created by the magnetic pickup in the center of the instrument, combined with steel strings, has created a new wave of musical expression.
From rock-a-billy to punk, progressive, hard and straight rock, it was the echoes of the steel-string electric guitar that made all these variations possible and played a role in the creation of iconic songs around the world.
Stainless steel strings, which became widespread in the 1960s, are known for giving guitars a clean, vibrant sound with plenty of sustain.
While the skills of musical luminaries like Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards may seem otherworldly, the true magic of an electric guitar is the magnetic fields that make it work. The key to this is the "pickup" - a permanent magnet with a coil of wire wound around it that attaches to every electric guitar.
The north pole of the magnetic pickup points outward from the guitar body, magnetizing the steel strings suspended above it. The strings, in turn, become magnets themselves; their magnetic field coincides with a permanent magnet. The steel string is absolutely integral to how an electric guitar works, and when it is torn off, the magnetic vibrations of the strings are converted into an electrical signal for the amplifier by a pickup.
Making a Rock and Roll History
The very first pickup was created in 1931 in Los Angeles, when an electrical engineering company wanted to see how they could electrically amplify the sound of a guitar. The steel guitar already existed and was played on the lap, but the sound produced was not loud enough to be heard by a wider audience. Decision? Design an electrified steel string guitar.
The first "electric stringed musical instrument" was patented in the US in 1937 and was the work of George Beauchamp, musician and CEO of the National Guitar Corporation, and Adolph Rickenbacker, an electrical engineer. However, in the early years after the invention of the pickup, electrical steel guitars were played on their knees.
In the early days of the electric guitar, it was mainly played for jazz, swing, folk, Hawaiian and country music. “The idea of the steel guitar has come a long way back in popular music,” says University of Surrey lecturer Dr. John McGrath. The sound of rock and roll is yet to come, but with the introduction of technology, it is not far off.
The magnetic vibrations of the steel strings of an electric guitar are converted into a signal that is sent to an amplifier
A string is a sound
The soul of an electric guitar is its magnetized steel strings, and different combinations of shape and material have a huge impact on the sound it generates. When they first appeared, steel core strings were thinner in diameter than nylon or gut strings commonly used for acoustic guitars. Today's acoustic guitars also use a steel core string, although it has a bronze outer layer to provide a softer sound.
Like any wire, guitar strings are formed by extrusion. Here hot or cold steel is pushed through a die with a hole in its center of a certain diameter, depending on the size of the wire or the required filament. The tensile strength of steel also allows for very thin strings, which can provide a special sound for guitarists.
Back in the 1930s, string manufacturers opted for anti-corrosion zinc coated steel, and this choice of thin steel string material has remained unchanged for decades. In the 1960s, however, artists such as Eric Clapton, who were interested in blues rock, wanted even thinner strings “to bend the note to get more of a rock effect,” McGrath explains, and so they removed the steel strings from the banjo.
Jeff Guilford, owner of JJGuitars, says rock guitarists believe steel strings "provide the cutting tone with the high output levels they need." Higher output power results in a stronger signal sent to the amplifier, and this, along with the type and strength of the magnet, affects the tone produced by the guitar. Popular in the 1960s, stainless steel strings are renowned for giving guitars a clean, vibrant sound with plenty of sustain. They also last longer as they are corrosion resistant.
Steel core
Steel strings with hex cores have become popular for maximum brightness. The hexagonal core is a steel wire
