The Secret of Leo Fender’s Guitar Amps
There exist lots and lots of different Fender bass and guitar amps and they all sound different. In the aftermath of the second world warr, In the Fender Radio shop Leo thought it beneficial if guitar amps were sturdylike the electronics used during the war. Strong cabinets of pine wood, heavy steel on which to mount the electronics.
And since it was a fact that the guitarists often experienced speaker failure when using their amps, he convinced the Lansing company into making tougher speakers. For without tough speakers, the amp wouldn’t be very trustworthyh.
Though famous as the developer of electric guitars, still recorded in studios around the world, Fender’s eternal quest was electronics. As you may be surprised to discover, though he once played piano and saxophone, he couldn’t play a note on a guitar.
Following World War II, the small band did better in the changing economy. The part of an orchestra called the rhythm section (drums, guitar, and bass) was suddenly the entire band. With increasing competion from radio following the electrical grid extending to farms after 1940, and with the diminishing of the large and extravagant night spots in favor of the smaller roadhouses while the expanding paved highway system reached out, the economics of the small band were obvious.
And how could the guitarist be heard in the noisy roadhouse environment than to simply use a Fender amplifier?
The time was ripe for the guitar and the amplifier, with the right sound, plus the amps held up on the road. He made guitars, and basses and the key to their popularity was probably — Fender’s guitar amps.
—
Traktor Topaz does most web-design and online articles for Mobius Megatar Touchstyle Basses, and for other online music sites.
For anyone interested in how the electric guitar evolved, he has written an online article about Leo Fender’s Guitar Amps, and another article with more extensive history and shopping information, with more details about the Fender Guitar Amplifier.
.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.