Story of the Instruments Strings

The very utterance of the word ‘guitar’ conjures a series of varying and fleeting images in one’s mind. Though mostly associated with the long haired, head banging rock stars, guitar also conveys or signifies various other connotative meanings as well, mostly above all the Freedom of Expression. Despite the fact that this string instrument in the modern times is perceived as a symbol of articulation of free thoughts, it has been now confirmed that guitar has its history and origin sometime in the first century in the Roman Civilizations.

In spite of its germination in first century, it was not until around 1200 AD that this instrument started resembling its present day counterpart in terms of the shape, appearance and functioning, for the first time and this feat is generally credited to the Hispanics, Moors and the Norse. The saga of the modern day guitar more or less starts with Gaetano Vinaccia, a resident of Naples who lived in the mid 18th and early 19th century. Another set of important names that have been historically associated with vintage guitars are those of Antonio Torres Jurado and Louis Panormo, both having significant contributions in the make or construction of the instrument. All these were howbeit, facts related to the traditional, classical acoustic guitar. It was George Beauchamp of Texas, USA along with Adolph Rickenbacher of Switzerland who jointly founded the guitar manufacturing company “Rickenbacher” and patented Electric guitars; though the mass production was first started by “Danelectro”.

The chronicles of vintage electric guitars witnessed an era of emergence and development of various new ideas in terms of style, design, etc. in and around the time of the Second World War. One of the pioneering names from this period is that of American jazz guitarist and inventor Les Paul. Among his groundbreaking contributions are those of striking the correct balance with a pickup, bridge and neck of a guitar leading to the solutions of problems involving the sustaining and feedback of sound. He also experimented with the effects such as phaser and delay and made important innovations which were to be popularized by musicians in decades to come. His model of guitar, manufactured by Gibson Guitar Corporation became known as the “Gibson Les Paul” and went on to become one of the most familiar instruments in different genres like jazz, blues, rock, metal and have been associated with figures like Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore, Slash, Adrian Smith and Ted Nugent among others.

The only other name that appears in the same row as Les Paul in the story of vintage guitars is that of Leo Fender of USA. His model of “Esquire” and “Broadcaster” (later changed to “Telecaster”) was nearly synonymous with early popular music like boogie woogie, R&B, swing, honky tonk, etc. It was however with “Stratocaster”, launched in the early 1950s, that he struck gold. With its solid body and bolt-on neck joint, the very name invoke names of its eminent users including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray to mention a few.

Gear-Vault Classifieds is an eBay alternative. Come sell your music equipment with us, for free!

Finding the Right Guitar Amplifier - Amp Wattage

I have a Pignose Hog 20, and every time I jam with other players, the drummers drown me out. I’m 15 years old and don’t have a lot of money. I’m wondering what size amp I should by so that I can be heard above the drums without the amp distorting. Also, how are amplifier wattage ratings determined?

Johnny
xxxx@gmail.com

Let’s tackle your last question first Johnny, since this will help us answer your question about what size amp you should buy. Amplifier watt ratings are determined by a calculation called “root mean square,” or RMS. It simple terms, RMS is a measurement of the average, or “effective,” voltage your amp can produce continuously under normal playing conditions without clipping (what happens when you crank up your amp and it starts to distort). Some manufactures give their amps a power rating that’s closer to the peak output—that is, the highest wattage that the amp is capable of producing. This isn’t a very accurate way to measure wattage, because amps don’t operate (or shouldn’t be operated) at peak levels for an extended period of time. If you were to operate an amp at its peak output, I assure you, not only would your tone suffer but the amp itself, including its speaker, would burn out very quickly.

Let’s look at an example. If you have a 50-watt amp and it starts to distort, or “clip” as the output approaches 35-watts, is it a 50-watt amp or a 35-watt amp? To put it another way, if you want an amp that can produce 50-watts of continuous power, don’t buy an amp that has a peak power of 50-watts, because the amp will start to distort well before it reaches the 50-watt mark.

Without knowing you or what type of music you play, I’d recommend that you try a 1×12, 2×10 or even a 2×12 combo with a power rating no less than 30 watts RMS. You might even be safer with an amp rated at 40 or 50 watts RMS.

In addition, keep in mind that a solid-state amp and a tube amp of the same wattage will sound different due to the nature of their circuitry. To my ears, tube amps always sound louder and more powerful, but that doesn’t man solid-state amps aren’t cool. It’s just a matter of personal preference.

Fender, Peavey, Crate and Marshall all make reasonably priced, quality amplifiers in tube, solid-state and hybrid designs for players on a budget. You might also consider buying a used amp. Most trustworthy dealers will check out an amp and fix any defects before they sell it, as well as offer free repairs on the product for a limited period of time.

Whatever you do, be sure that you really like an amp before you buy it. Research and try a lot of different amps before you choose one. And since volume is so important to you, I’d suggest that you twist every knob just as far as it will go, to found out exactly how the amp is capable of performing. Best of luck.

Gear-Vault Classifieds is an eBay alternative. Come sell with us!