History of Guitars Guitars have been around for nearly 5,000 years. Old carvings depicting people playing guitar like instruments were found in the old Iranian capitol, Susa. The first 6-string acoustic guitar was built in 1779 by Gaetano Vinaccia in Naples, Italy. The word guitar and the Spanish word "guitarra" are derived from the Greek word kithara. All modern guitars - both acoustic and electric - have their great-great-grandfathers in the Spanish quitarra and its European cousins. The name has evolved into "guitar", "guitare", "kitara", "gitarr", "gitarre", "chitarra", "qithara", etc., in the different languages.
The first electric guitar was made by George Beaumont (whom founded the Rickenbacher guitar company) in 1936. Danelectro was the first company to make guitars for the wider public.