Hank Smith Guitar

Not available for use in Recording Studios

Not currently on exhibit

Artifact TypeGuitar, Acoustic

Date20th Century

This Höfner acoustic guitar was formerly owned by country musician and Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) co-founder, Hank Smith. Smith was born in Germany and moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1957, establishing his first band, Wild Rose Country, shortly after. Smith recorded 10 country albums during his career and had four consecutive #1 hits in 1971. In 1994 Smith was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Following his passing in 2002, the CCMA established the Hank Smith Award of Excellence in his honour.

Operation/FunctionThis particular artifact consists of a solid wooden body, six steel strings, a wooden neck, and accompanying machine heads and metal fingerboard. It employs standard tuning, with open string pitches beginning at the bottom with the highest pitch, the E a major third above middle C, and moving downwards in pitch by a fourth to B, downwards by a major third to G, downwards by a fourth to D, downwards by a fourth to A, and downwards by a fourth to E, spanning two octaves in total. The instrument is referred to as being ‘standard-handed’, meaning it is to be strummed with the right hand while the left hand controls the frets.Cultural SignificanceThe cultural significance of both the acoustic and electric guitar cannot be overstated. Gibson remains at the forefront of guitar manufacture as one of the leading companies. Although the acoustic guitar is perhaps not used quite as commonly as the electric guitar, both have remained throughout the course of the twentieth century one of, if not the most, exploited instruments in popular music.Technological SignificanceBoth acoustic and electric guitars have undergone a number of technological advances that have improved their tone and construction quality, however it is the mere advent of the latter that has had the most lasting technological impact. Les Paul (1915 – 2009) helped pioneer both the design and popularity of the electric guitar, and is considered one of the founders of solid-body technology, having produced a prototype called “The Log” in 1940. Additionally, Paul also conducted a number of experiments in guitar design and recording technology, essentially establishing the revolutionary practices of multi-track recording and overdubbing, as well as delay and phasing effects. Fender was the first company to produce a commercial solid-body electric guitar in 1950 with the release of the Telecaster, and Gibson responded in 1952 with the Les Paul, named in recognition of the fact that Paul helped design the instrument with Gibson’s president of the time, Ted McCarty. Gibson also contributed several other innovations throughout its history, including the Tune-o-matic bridge, which first featured on the Les Paul and remains the standard bridge of Gibson electric guitars, as well as the first semi-hollow-body electric guitar in 1958. Gibson also produced the first commercial humbucker pickup, designed in 1955 and patented in 1959, which eliminated the hum of single-coil pickups without compromising the tone quality. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gibson also premiered several series of electric guitars that featured futuristic body shapes, including the Flying V, Explorer, and Firebird. Although the acoustic guitar is not recognized as having made as significant a contribution in instrument technology, it has also seen many important changes throughout its history. The instrument finds it origins in the lute, which featured a varying number of gut strings and was most popular throughout the Renaissance, and the Baroque guitar, which featured five sets or courses of gut strings and eclipsed the popularity of the lute in the early eighteenth century. The majority of usage of such instruments took place in Europe, however a number of variants of these instruments, such as the Middle Eastern oud, were equally as prevalent. The modern guitar shares the same basic construction approach as its predecessors, consisting of a curved wooden sound box and soundboard, designed to optimize amplification and tone quality, as well as a neck and fretboard across which a series of tuned strings are strung. Although performance techniques and tuning systems have been considerably adapted over the years, the same basic approach of plucking or strumming with one hand and coordinating frets with the other has also been maintained. The modern acoustic guitar was pioneered by the American C.F. Martin & Company, which was founded in 1833 by the German craftsman Christian Frederick Martin. Martin established the body shape and size still used in modern acoustic guitars, which employed a larger lower bout, smaller upper bout, and deeper box than its Classical predecessors so as to produce a louder volume and accentuate bass frequencies. Martin’s design was known as the “dreadnought”, and quickly became the most common body style on account of its ability to project the guitar above other instruments in an ensemble. Martin was also pivotal in introducing steel strings to replace the nylon strings used in Classical guitars. Steel strings significantly altered the structural requirements of the instrument and, along with Martin’s inclusion of a series of bracing pieces in the box and the truss rod in the headstock, further enhanced the tone quality and volume. Most modern pickups come in the form of the humbucker pickup, which employs two coils in inverse phase so as to reduce the amount of extraneous noise or AC hum included in the signal. The first dedicated pickup was designed by Hawaiian steel-guitar player, George Beauchamp, in collaboration with Adolph Rickenbacker in the early 1930s. The use of pickups rendered any need for a hollow wooden soundboard or resonating structure obsolete in associated instruments. Of course, the use of pickups also meant that the conventional tone of the acoustic instruments to which they were applied, such as guitars, pianos, and harpsichords, could be modified through the use of external effects pedals and amplification systems.Users/PerformersHank Smith was born 15 September 1934 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, relocating to Canada in 1957, settling in Edmonton, Alberta. He is often regarded as the father, so to speak, of country music in Canada. His first band, Wild Rose Country, was formed in Edmonton in around 1960, releasing their first album in 1963. Throughout his career, Smith recorded approximately ten studio albums with twelve singles, four of which consecutively reached number one on the charts in 1971. Smith founded the Academy of Country Music Entertainment in Canada, which later became known as the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) in 1976 with Gary Buck, an organization that has widely been recognized for its early support of country music in Canada. Following his passing on 19 October 2002, the CCMA established the Hank Smith Award of Excellence in his honour. Smith was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.

Collection