# Spot the errors (in a book on music)



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I was reading through a book on musical instruments that focused more on classical music & orchestras, but I'm wondering if the poor research in a chapter on rock & pop music is an indication of poor research in the rest of the book--Here's an excerpt discussing guitars. See how many errors you can spot-


> Although the first solid-body electric guitar was built by Les Paul, it was first mass produced by Leo Fender, and became a key element in rock 'n' roll. Fender, a California-based guitar and amplifier manufacturer, had been asked by musicians if he could give more volume and at the same time eliminate screech and feedback from the electrified instruments of the time. He came up with the solid-body guitar that he developed just after World War II. His first model, the Broadcaster, entered mass production in 1948, and its sharpness and attack made it an instant success, especially with country musicians. In 1950 its name was changed to the Telecaster, and it was this instrument that gave the rock of that decade its distinctive sound. In 1951 Fender introduced his solid-body bass guitar and, five years later, his futuristic Stratocaster.


Now some of that is correct, and some is "sort of" correct--that is, it is technically correct, but shows shallow research. Some is just wrong. In the next paragraph he says Muddy Waters used a Fender guitar he bought in 1944.

Kind of amusing in a way--but I wonder how many other examples of this I could find if I knew more about other instruments.


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## Wheeman (Dec 4, 2007)

Hehe, thats way out of whack. Where can I get a Les Paul made by Leo Fender?

Wasn't the first electric guitar literally a plank of wood with a pickup attached made by Gibson? Then, a mandolin luither?

My favourite mistake with respect to music was in a jazz ensemble piece called _Manteca_. I think its this arrangement. Little background: I'm the bass player with a pianist and percussionist as my rhythmic buddies. There is an 8 bar piano solo that repeats with bass and drums backing. On my copy of the music, it was a 5 bar repeat. We played it a couple times before it just didn't groove right. Its an odd bass line to begin with, so once I settled into that groove I noticed this. By the end of the piece I would be 6 bars ahead of everybody. First time I've encountered something like that.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

I thought it was the Rickenbacker frying pan? Or is that just the first solid body? Then there's Les Paul's plank, which was a railway sleeper. Leo Fender did the bandsaw, production line thing first though.


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## peter benn (Mar 29, 2007)

Publishers are too cheap to hire proofreaders.


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## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

there's a few early solid body guitars... as i know it, les paul's was the first to develop the modern solidbody "spanish" electric though... the rickenbacker was an aluminum bodied lap-steel guitar (i've actually played one of these... it was incredibly cool)... bigsby was another important early pioneer (and the first to come up with the famous "fender" headstock, also the bolt-on neck, i believe).... les paul's "the log" was in 45-46, leo fender's esquire started to sell in 1950.


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

I believe Les Paul took his "Log" guitar(which he built in '41) to Gibson in '46 or '47 and Gibson weren't interested. After they saw the success Fender was having with the Broadcaster/Telecaster they called Les Paul in and started working on the Les Paul model. Les Paul was actually more of a consultant with Ted McCarty being the designer. They would build a prototype and give it to Les and he would tell them what to change. Eventually, the first LP production model was released in 1952.

So, Les Paul did make the first solid body electric but Fender guitars went into production first.

_"In 1951 Fender introduced his solid-body bass guitar and, five years later, his futuristic Stratocaster."_

This is the only real error I can see in the excerpt. The strat was introduced in '54 not '56.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I believe the Les Paul reference is in regards to "The Log", but without more context it could be misunderstood as referring to the Gibson Les Paul. SO more clarity needed.
I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt the Muddy Waters 1944 reference is a typo, but the Strat was not introduced 5 years after the P-Bass (which would put it introduced in 1956.)


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