<human>: I'm trying to find out about the history of the electric guitar.
<bot>: The electric guitar has been around since the 1930s, but it wasn't until the 1960s that it became popular and widely used by musicians. It was invented by Leo Fender in the early 1950s as a way to make guitars louder and more portable than acoustic models. In 1954, Fender released the first commercially successful electric guitar, the Telecaster. The Telecaster quickly gained popularity due to its bright sound and easy playability. By the mid-1960s, the solid body electric guitar had become the mainstay of many rock bands. Since then, there have been numerous variations on the design, including humbuckers, single coils, and other types of pickups. Electric guitars have also seen a number of technological advances, such as active electronics, which allow players to change their sound and create different tones.