Quilter 101 Mini Reverb User Manual - page 5

OVERDRIVE: Early guitar amps were generally underpowered, and it was 

easy to push them to the point of breakup or distortion. Again, the purists 

considered this a “defect” but more intuitive musicians began to discover 

new tonal possibilities. For instance, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were 

audibly rocking out by the late 30’s, even in the studio, pushing their amps 

well into overdrive to create a musically exciting sound to energize big dance 

halls. They instinctively realized that pushing their guitars into overdrive cre-

ated harmonics similar to the sound of a hot saxophone or trumpet. Chords 

played at these volumes sounded rather muddled, but thanks to certain for-

tuitous properties of these early amps, the right type of chord could still ring 

loud and clear, and the resulting sound became associated with high-energy 

electric guitar. By the 1950’s, hot players such as Chuck Berry were using 

brighter, more powerful amps to put out as much sound as a big swing band, 

combining dynamic vocals with bold brassy power chords, backed by a small 

combo with bass, drums, and an almost drowned-out piano. 

FEEDBACK AND SUSTAIN: It was quickly noticed that hollow-body electric 

guitars tended to resonate when too close to the loudspeaker, producing a 

runaway howling tone called “feedback”. This too was considered a defect, 

and inventors such as Les Paul and Leo Fender developed solid-body guitars 

to reduce feedback and increase string sustain. The mid-to-late 1960’s saw 

rapidly increasing overdrive levels and development of early fuzz pedals, and 

musicians discovered that with enough gain, even solid body guitars would 

feed back. But they also discovered that the feedback could be controlled, 

and pioneers such as Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton learned to 

“tame the beast” and produce controlled feedback sustain. This provided the 

final missing link in the guitar’s capabilities. Today, a modern electric guitarist 

with a good amp can generate sweet clear tones, aggressive harmonics, and 

even prolonged sustained notes at will. 

EFFECTS: Once the guitar was routinely amplified, additional effects such 

as tremolo and reverb augmented the available tone colors and allowed 

studio performance to have a “big hall” sound. Modern amps typically include 

Effects Loops for easily adding effects.

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