You can probably thank the big bands of the swing era that bought about the need to place pickups in a guitar to keep up with the high volume levels. Even the rock of the 50′s had the same jazz tone of the previous years. It would take the blues to influence rock guitar to become an explosive cultural phenomenon.
The Fuzz Box introduced by Gibson was used by the Rolling Stones in the song Satisfaction. It took less than a year for the item to be sold out due to the excitement it caused new fledgling Rock and roller guitarists. With the new horn like distortion and a 3 note riff, the world of rock had changed forever.
With the blues in mind, each new rock innovator took his turn with the new devices that streamed into the scene. Jimi Hendrix used the wah wah pedal making a crying sound. Eric Clapton played with extreme volume and new twists and turns on the pentatonic scale. Jimmy Page and Jeff beck added new stretches and funky distortions all encompassing the new blues-rock combination.
While still a young teen, I was taken by these new symbols of the guitar revolution. It seemed like all the kids were getting electric guitars with fuzz boxes and trying to play like these guys. When I found out that it wasn’t a matter of playing fast with speed but tastefully with inflection, I was on my way to learning the blues.
You might suspect that I didn’t sound much like them at all as I found out it wasn’t just the electronics that made these pieces of wood and metal wire sound so amazing, but the people behind them.
Since the advent of digtalized technology, there have been totally new constructions and more variations in the possible sound extensions that a guitar can make. As the years went by, it seemed that speed was the determining factor rather than just getting the right inflection. If you could tap, sweep, or pick as fast as lightning, you were considered good. But this only happened because of the ease of producing sound with less effort.
My contention is, haven’t we had enough loud and fast playing? I would like to hear more melodic lines, more tasteful melodies and less volume. Can you imagine a world where acoustic guitars rule again? Somebody wake me up, I think I am dreaming.
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