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Who invented the electric guitar?
The mainstream view is that George Beauchamp filed the patent for "Electrical stringed musical instrument" on June 2, 1934. An alternative view is that Paul H. Tutmarc and Arthur J. Stimson invented the electric guitar in 1931, but didn't file a patent and that Stimson then sold the invention to Beauchamp. Whenever work brings me to D.C. next time, I'm hoping to stop by the USPTO archives to look at Beauchamp's full patent filing so see if there are any clues.
Where was the electric guitar invented?
Well, if it wasn't at Electro String Instrument Corporation in Los Angeles, it was in Tutmarc's basement workshop in Seattle.
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