Paul Tutmarc
Encyclopedia
Paul Tutmarc was a Seattle musician and musical instrument inventor. He was a tenor singer and a performer and teacher of the lap steel guitar
and the ukulele
. He developed a number of variant types of stringed musical instruments, such as electrically amplified double bass
es, electric basses
, and lap steel guitars. He was married to his former student Bonnie Buckingham, known as Bonnie Guitar
.
In the very early 1930s, Tutmarc began teaching guitar and experimenting with the electrification (and amplification) of various instruments including a piano, zither, and a Spanish-style guitar by using a wire-wrapped magnet as a "pickup" that could be amplified through a modified Atwater-Kent brand radio.
Tutmarc's Audiovox Manufacturing Co. was one of the very first firms to produce an electric lap steel guitar, and Tutmarc himself was often the demonstrator and promoter. He invented an electric upright "bull-fiddle" in 1935 but it mainly served as a publicity tool. His real claim-to-fame was the marketing of the fretted and solid-body (Model #736) "Electronic Bass Fiddle" which was designed to be used in a horizontal position. That then-radical instrument is considered to be history's earliest electric bass guitar—and one that preceded the far more famous Fender Precision Bass
by a decade and a half.
Tutmarc continued performing until the late 1960s, and he kept on teaching until he died of cancer on September 25, 1972.
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
and the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
. He developed a number of variant types of stringed musical instruments, such as electrically amplified double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es, electric basses
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and lap steel guitars. He was married to his former student Bonnie Buckingham, known as Bonnie Guitar
Bonnie Guitar
Bonnie Guitar is an American Country-Pop Singer. She is best remembered for her 1957 Country-Pop crossover hit "Dark Moon"...
.
Career
As a child, Tutmarc sang in a church choir. As pre-teen, he sang and played guitar and banjo, and in his teens, he played Hawaiian-style acoustic steel guitar. He worked with a traveling vaudeville troupe. In his early 20s, Tutmarc moved to Seattle to work in the dock-area shipyards. In the mid-1920s, Tutmarc became known for his tenor voice. In the late 1920s, he performed on the radio and in a variety of theaters.In the very early 1930s, Tutmarc began teaching guitar and experimenting with the electrification (and amplification) of various instruments including a piano, zither, and a Spanish-style guitar by using a wire-wrapped magnet as a "pickup" that could be amplified through a modified Atwater-Kent brand radio.
Tutmarc's Audiovox Manufacturing Co. was one of the very first firms to produce an electric lap steel guitar, and Tutmarc himself was often the demonstrator and promoter. He invented an electric upright "bull-fiddle" in 1935 but it mainly served as a publicity tool. His real claim-to-fame was the marketing of the fretted and solid-body (Model #736) "Electronic Bass Fiddle" which was designed to be used in a horizontal position. That then-radical instrument is considered to be history's earliest electric bass guitar—and one that preceded the far more famous Fender Precision Bass
Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass is an electric bass.Designed by Leo Fender as a prototype in 1950 and brought to market in 1951, the Precision was the first electric bass to earn widespread attention and use. A revolutionary instrument for the time, the Precision Bass has made an immeasurable impact on...
by a decade and a half.
Tutmarc continued performing until the late 1960s, and he kept on teaching until he died of cancer on September 25, 1972.