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bobledrew t1_j2ens53 wrote

I think your terminology is a bit loose here.

Lots of big band guitar players used “electric guitars” — they played guitars that had pickups and amplifiers for additional volume. Most of those guitars were full-depth hollow body guitars with pickups. Think the Gibson ES-175 or a D’angelico archtop. Someone else pointed to Charlie Christian with Benny Goodman in ‘39, but there were other earlier ones.

I think what you’re thinking is electric guitars with more of a rock & roll sound than a jazz sound. You can find examples of that not so much in the big band era, but in the jump blues genre (think Louis Jordan or Louis Prima), where you can here guitar parts that are proto-rock and roll. In fact, Chuck Berry lifted a riff from Carl Hogan, Jordan's guitar player, for Johnny B. Goode.

Here's a sample of Louis Jordan to try out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7M4thNT_EY

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EnderCrystal221 OP t1_j2eoao3 wrote

Yeah that’s what I’m asking for. I don’t know much about guitars so that’s a much better way to put it. It does make sense that guitars would have microphones or other amplifiers in them before the ones played by guys like Les Paul came into common use. They had to be heard over the orchestra somehow lol.

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bobledrew t1_j2es1r9 wrote

For a long time big bands used banjos because they had the volume advantage.

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EnderCrystal221 OP t1_j2es8h8 wrote

That’s fascinating, do you know more stuff by Louis Jordan to try out?

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