Electric Guitar Trends

In the early 1950’s guitar amplifiers were low powered tube amps.  These amps were louder than a big acoustic guitar, but only by a small margin.

As the 1950’s progressed, guitar amplifers became more powerful. By 1959, Fender was manufacturing the Vibrasonic and Concert models, both of which were rated at 40 watts RMS.  Still electric guitarists wanted more power for some venues.

One outcome of this, is that players often played their amplifiers at or near full volume.  At full blast, the sound from these amplifiers would suffer from distortion and compression.  And players liked it.

In the 1960’s, amplifiers became more powerful.  However, electric guitar players had already learned to play at high volumes, to induce the distortion and compressed sounds they craved.  Public address systems were not as powerful and sophisticated as they are today, and therefore mic’ing an amplifier was not practical.  So, you needed a powerful amp to play the gig, and you played loud to get the sound you wanted.  Artists like The Who, and Jimi Hendrix are just two examples of artists who performed in this manner.

If you played in a band in the 1960’s or 1970’s, it was the electric guitarist who set the volume level which everyone else in the band had to match.

In the 1980’s guitar amplifiers began featuring a gain control, which would separately adjust the pre amplifer volumes.  This meant that a guitarist could get his sound, without playing at full volume.

Those vintage low powered guitar amplifiers that were overdriven, and the introduction of the guitar amplifier gain control, has led us to smaller, less powerful electric guitar amplifiers.

Today’s smaller amplifiers are easier to move around, use less energy and still provide the amount of distortion and grind most players need.