When Was the Guitar Amplifier Invented?

Early electric guitar amplifiers resembled early television sets or oscilloscopes more than modern guitar amps, featuring small horn speakers similar to those found in resonator instruments and producing minimal acoustic output.

These initial guitar amplifiers featured limited controls and only 10 watt speakers – not nearly enough power to give guitarists what they desired in sound quality.

Early Amplifiers

Before the invention of guitar amplifiers, people wishing to play electric guitar had to rely on public address systems in movie theatres or other locations in order to play electric guitar. Early amps were so primitive they barely contained speaker ports if any existed at all; an example being Seattle-based Audio-Vox prototype from 1930s (See Andre Duchossoir’s Gibson Electrics – The Classic Years for more on this topic).

By the 1950’s, most of the kinks in rock music had been ironed out. Amps had started becoming larger and more powerful with features such as reverb and vibrato becoming standard features on modern amps. By 1960’s rock musicians had begun driving their amps hard into overdrive in an effort to create what has since become synonymous with rock music – creating its distinctive sound.

Jim Marshall had already begun making waves in England by customizing his amplifiers to create high-gain models, starting with his JTM-45 which became known as the Plexi; guitarists such as Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen alike would gravitate toward these amps with its Plexi faceplate. Meanwhile in California Randall Smith was ramping up Mesa/Boogie amps; their signature models became famous for their searing distortion and rich features and remain favorites among heavy metal guitarists even today.

The 1950’s

As soon as electric guitars were first released onto the market, amplifiers quickly became necessary to amplify them. Early amplifiers used vacuum tubes to transform mechanical vibrations into electrical signals and then amplify them – not surprising considering these same vacuum tubes were essential in radar, TV, telephone and radio technologies – not surprising either that they also served to make steel-stringed instruments louder!

Early guitar amps could either be standalone wood cabinets that contained just the amplifier circuit (and preamplifier), or combo amps incorporating both amplifier and speaker in one cabinet. Most modern amps can be powered either by AC mains power or batteries, making them portable and ideal for use when travelling or busking; in fact, some practice amps designed specifically for buskers are battery-powered, giving street performers access to play at any time!

From walls of 4x12s to lunchbox heads, high-gain amps have become a cornerstone of guitar tone. Their aggression can be heard across all styles of music; an excellent example of their impact can be heard when listening to Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi play his heavy tones.

The 1960’s

As rock mania took hold worldwide, budding musicians demanded more power and volume from their amps. Once having altered their guitar’s input signal with preamps and generated overdrive in power amplifiers, players needed something capable of driving large speakers and producing sound.

Jim Marshall was an entrepreneurial music store owner from Britain who recognized this opportunity and created an amplifier which revolutionized modern music: his JC-100 used an innovative circuit design rather than Leo Fender’s earlier Class AB tube designs, producing sound with wider bandwidth and greater headroom.

The Vox AC15 and AC30 amplifiers were revolutionized by the JC-100’s Class A cathode bias push-pull output; its class A cathode bias push-pull output proved revolutionary by pushing gain to levels where it could remain stable over a prolonged period. Today it remains an industry standard.

The 1970’s

As soon as a guitar is played, an electrical signal travels from its pickups through its wiring harness to be amplified in order to be heard – this task falls to an amplifier.

Early amplifiers had one major drawback – they only provided limited sound when pushed hard, leading guitar players like Ike Turner, Link Wray, and Dave Davies to purposely destroy their amps to get more of the raw tone they desired.

Jim Marshall responded to this situation by creating a new type of amplifier with more power than its competitors, featuring larger speakers capable of handling greater volumes than its originals. His 50 watt model eventually outshone them all.

An amplifier consists of two main parts, the preamp and power amp. The former serves to transform and shape input signals from your guitar before sending them onward to the power amp, while many amps also include an equaliser or tone control network that contributes significantly to its tone-defining character.

The 1980’s

Before the invention of electric guitar amps, guitarists used sound systems designed for public address to play their instruments. Unfortunately, these expensive and bulky sound systems required batteries for operation while providing too little volume amplification for most players.

Preamps are the foundation of amplifier amplification processes, working by shaping and altering electrical signals coming from your guitar’s magnetic pickups into something bigger and more usable. To do this, these circuitry pieces called gain stages are passed along – often two at least. Each gain stage type provides distinctive tones for guitarists to experiment with.

Once the preamp has enhanced and amplified your guitar’s input signal, it is then passed onto a power amplifier which increases its wattage further before sending it through one or more speakers for conversion into audible music signals.

Guitarists soon realized they could push their amps beyond their limitations to produce distortion and overdrive effects that led to styles such as blues rock, hard rock and heavy metal guitar playing.

The 1990’s

An electric guitar amplifier converts sound waves produced by mechanical vibrations into electrical energy that powers a speaker and emits the acoustic sound desired for output. Amplifiers may also add effects like reverb or vibrato that add dimension and complexity to audio signals.

Early amplifiers relied on vacuum tubes (also called valves) to amplify signals, with electrodes heating inside of each vacuum tube to increase their signal amplification capabilities. Unfortunately, these amplifiers often drew deadly voltages that made their use unsafe.

As technology advanced, amplifiers became safer and smaller. By the late 1970’s transistors (solid-state semiconductors) had replaced vacuum tubes as cheaper, lighter and more reliable sources of power.

In the 1990s, high-gain amps became an indispensable element of metal guitarists’ sound. While their precise origins may be debatable, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath has certainly contributed greatly towards popularizing high-gain amplifiers. Today there are an abundance of amps capable of creating such sounds from wall stacks to lunchbox heads; and some modern amps even incorporate digital modeling technology that enables players to experiment with multiple sounds without carrying around large speaker cabinets.

The 2000’s

High-gain amps have long been an essential element of modern electric guitar. Though its exact source remains controversial, most credit Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi with pioneering its development. Today there is an array of high-gain amplifiers on the market from classic tube designs to digital modeling technology; their ultimate purpose remains the same – to deliver heavy tone.

Even though these amps were an improvement on battery-powered amps from the 1930s, they still presented many risks. Without an installed fuse to protect against an accidental explosion of an amplifier’s contents, their non-polarized two-prong power cables meant anyone touching one of the plugs could become potentially shocked and cause injury or even shocks to passerby.

By the 1950’s, electric guitars had become increasingly popular and musicians had begun experimenting with distortion. This resulted in demand for larger and more powerful amplifiers capable of handling higher gain sounds such as those created by distortion – Marshall JCM800 series was an effective step toward this end but players needed even more gain from their amplifiers; amp-modding technicians like Jose Arredondo saw to it that any remaining gain was squeezed out.