Models

Every model, most significant first.

8 models

  • Technical line drawing of Fender Stratocaster

    Fender Stratocaster

    Electric guitar model

    Electric guitar

    Introduced by Fender in 1954, the Stratocaster is one of the most influential and widely imitated electric guitars ever made. Its contoured double-cutaway solid body, bolt-on maple neck, three single-coil pickups with a five-way selector, and synchronized vibrato bridge produce a bright, articulate voice that has shaped rock, blues, pop, surf, and country. Players from Buddy Holly and Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton and David Gilmour built signature tones on it, and the design has anchored Fender's line for seven decades.

  • Technical line drawing of a Gibson Les Paul-style single-cut electric guitar

    Gibson Les Paul

    Solid body electric guitar

    Electric guitar · United States

    Introduced in 1952 as Gibson's first solid-body electric, the Les Paul pairs a mahogany body with a carved maple top and a glued-in neck. With its twin humbucking pickups, rich sustain, and thick tone, it stands alongside the Stratocaster as one of the two defining electric guitars of rock and blues.

  • Technical line drawing of ANS synthesizer

    ANS synthesizer

    Optically controlled music instrument

    Synthesizer · Russia

    The ANS synthesizer is a photoelectronic musical instrument designed by the Soviet engineer Evgeny Murzin and completed in 1957, named after the composer Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin. It generates sound from images: marks made on glass plates coated with opaque mastic are read optically and resynthesized as continuous additive tones. A single instrument was built and was famously used by composers such as Edward Artemiev, including for Soviet film scores.

  • Gibson ES-355

    Semi hollow body electric guitar

    Electric guitar · United States

    The deluxe member of the ES-335 family, the ES-355 adds multi-ply binding, an ebony fingerboard, gold hardware, and often stereo wiring with a Varitone tone selector. It is the upscale, fully appointed version of Gibson's classic semi-hollow design.

  • Technical line drawing of Gibson ES-335

    Gibson ES-335

    Semi-acoustic guitar model

    Electric guitar · United States

    Introduced in 1958, the ES-335 was the first commercially successful semi-hollow electric, pairing hollow wings with a solid maple center block. That design blends the warmth and resonance of a hollow body with the sustain and feedback resistance of a solid, making it one of the most versatile electrics ever built.

  • Rickenbacker 325

    Electric guitar model

    Electric guitar · United States

    A short-scale semi-hollow electric most famous as the guitar John Lennon played in the Beatles' early years. Its compact body and bright, jangly voice are central to the band's early sound.

  • Technical line drawing of Fender Precision Bass

    Fender Precision Bass

    Bass guitar

    Electric bass

    Introduced in 1951, the Precision Bass was the first mass-produced electric bass guitar and effectively defined the instrument. Its fretted neck let players fret notes precisely, and the split single-coil pickup adopted in 1957 gives the deep, punchy tone that anchors recordings across nearly every popular genre.

  • Gibson J-160E

    Guitar

    Guitar

    The J-160E is an early acoustic-electric flat-top guitar Gibson introduced in 1954, combining a round-shouldered acoustic body with a single-coil pickup at the end of the fingerboard. It is famous as a key guitar of the early Beatles, used by both John Lennon and George Harrison.