Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I History
- Part II Technology and Timbre
- Personal Take II: Ulrich Teuffel
- 5 They Don’t Make ’Em Like They Used To: Electric Guitar Design 1950–2022
- 6 Even in the Quietest Moments: Amplifying the Electric Guitar
- 7 Stompbox Revolution: Electric Guitar Pedals and Tone
- Part III Musical Style and Technique
- Part IV The Electric Guitar in Society
- Part V The Global Instrument
- Index
- References
6 - Even in the Quietest Moments: Amplifying the Electric Guitar
from Part II - Technology and Timbre
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 November 2024
- The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I History
- Part II Technology and Timbre
- Personal Take II: Ulrich Teuffel
- 5 They Don’t Make ’Em Like They Used To: Electric Guitar Design 1950–2022
- 6 Even in the Quietest Moments: Amplifying the Electric Guitar
- 7 Stompbox Revolution: Electric Guitar Pedals and Tone
- Part III Musical Style and Technique
- Part IV The Electric Guitar in Society
- Part V The Global Instrument
- Index
- References
Summary
The electric guitar is often presented as a novel but straightforward solution to a particular problem: amplification. It is remarkable, then, that histories of the instrument focus mainly on the iconic six-string itself. No electric guitar is complete without an amplifier, and no companion to the electric guitar is complete without a corresponding history of electronic amplification. This chapter is about certain tendencies and possibilities that have existed around electric guitar amplification. It covers the historical development of the amplifier, focusing less on a loudness teleology than the instrument’s social and political construction. It also discusses the history of amplification in relation to recent scholarly interests in signal chains and supply chains. The chapter concludes with a discussion of electric guitar amplification and the problem of electricity—suggesting that the power of the amplifier has never been found in loudness alone.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar , pp. 93 - 110Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024