Born in Texas , he played the violin and the lap steel guitar in Vaudeville before going into the business of then manufacturing of electric lap steel guitars , electric guitars , electric bass guitars , electric violins and combo instrument amplifiers . Born in Coleman County , Texas , Beauchamp performed in vaudeville , playing the violin and the lap steel guitar , before he settled in Los Angeles , California . During the 1920s , he experimented with the creation of electric lap steel guitars , electric guitars , electric bass guitars , electric violins , and instrument amplifiers .