Tone Timeline
Charlie Christian — Tone Evolution
Charlie Christian invented electric jazz guitar — his work with Benny Goodman in 1939-41 established the electric guitar as a legitimate jazz solo instrument and defined the idiom for everything that followed. He died at 25 from tuberculosis.
1
1939–1942: Benny Goodman / After Hours Sessions
Christian used a Gibson ES-150 (the first production electric guitar with a magnetic pickup) through a Gibson EH-150 amplifier. His tone was warm and single-coil, his lines influenced by the saxophone playing of Lester Young — he thought in horn lines rather than guitar chord-melody. The famous Minton's Playhouse after-hours jam recordings show him with early bebop players (Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk). He died in 1942 at age 25.
Signal Chain
Gibson ES-150 (Charlie Christian pickup)Gibson EH-150 amplifierHeavy flatwound stringsPlectrum (flat pick)