How Guitarists Got Distortion in the 1950s

#guitar #music #guitarist #shorts
yessir. taking a look at the bizarre tone techniques of the legendary Link Wray. dig it.

[@Vanessa-ru8xw]

«Back in my days, no one was safe from getting stabbed. Not even amps»

[@barbodx9957]

Normal day in London

[@Super.AmmarI0]

Blues players playing a live show in London hoping it doesn't turn into a cannibal corpse concert fr...

[@zeldaaudio2476]

That guitar action is mad high tf

[@lonewolfking4274]

@@Eduardo_3334 how did you know

[@bigsmeggoesgaga]

~👴🇬🇧

[@MrJoeBreezy]

If you wanted to be in a 50s tribute band, this is the most authentic way for sure. Actually sounds cool

[@theofthe2299]

who would want to be in a (non-jazz) 50s tribute band tho lol

[@Quacktivate]

​@@theofthe2299 that would be me

[@kindauncool]

+​@@theofthe2299 wait are you telling me that some people have opinions and preferences that differ from KZbin channel “the of the” ?!?!?! That’s crazy!!!

[@leroysanchino]

@@kindauncool 😂

[@slicksnewonenow]

Just look at it like you now have options with that little amp ... you can easily and cheaply get a replacement speaker for it. Another great experiment would be to buy a similar sized speaker with a bigger magnet on it... as long as the amp has the wattage to drive the new speaker... you could surprise yourself.

[@leifrasmussen1306]

Bro, that has the perfect amount of drive for a clean tone.

[@less2worryabout]

Roland amplifiers are TOUGH

[@wizzfizz6800]

@@less2worryabout it’s a shitty Randall beginnner amp what are you talking about

[@leifrasmussen1306]

@@less2worryabout I KNOW THEY ARE SO GOOD. My dad has a JC-120, AND IT SOUNDS HEAVENLY.

[@less2worryabout]

@@leifrasmussen1306 Those Combos are the reason I use one still today. Yes super amplification

[@erronblack6763]

@@wizzfizz6800seems like nobody seen the huge “randall” sign on it lol

[@Ty1350]

“Telestrat isn’t real, it can’t hurt you” Telestrat:

[@ItsMe-th5rd]

lmao telestrat😂

[@gregorramsundar]

If u think that's hunting just wait when u see a mustang or a jaguar that is right handed but the pick gaurd and the head stock is flipped up side down too look left handed but its right handed now that's haunting

[@DarkPlaysThings]

Honestly, I think the name “Stratocaster” sounds better……… wait

[@ozmobozo]

Bigsby bridge Telestrat HH and glued neck would be the final boss of crimes against Fender

[@andersons470]

Omg it is a telestrat 😂😂

[@justinc7512]

We used to cut our speakers back in high school to get distortion out of them.

[@-TheZilvers-7812]

Thats dopeee even seems I saw this video I haven’t stoped poking all my guitar amps loll

[@-jank-willson]

the best way to do it is to make 500 - 1,000 teeny-tiny little '+' plus marks in the cone, with the majority of them concentrated at the center of the cone

[@SigGuy320]

I had an amp in the 90s that had almost no distortion. One day, the cheap speaker got damaged, and suddenly I had distortion. 14 year old me was thrilled. LOL

[@Lord_Rhoads]

@Walter B wellll. Your not entirely wrong. Just not right either

[@therandomdj124]

😂 epic, I though distortion was when the amp’s speaker had to be removed and put a tiny speaker in its place but then my dad showed me what to do. 9 year old me was dumb😂😂😂😂

[@green_day3901]

Hey that reminds me of when I used some old broken headphones with my first amp and was so happy to have distortion at the time!

[@jeffybezos9517]

That's hilarious 😂

[@florkgagga]

Exactly,, he could have used any damaged cone from a junkyard and donated the good one to some who can't afford it.

[@azragul5449]

Its surprisingly pretty good

[@dylanbowden6810]

Ik right

[@fivemagics18]

Sounded great

[@OligoInsights]

@@fivemagics18facelift is great

[@hureak1456]

@@fivemagics18 yeah

[@Infitenahi]

bence de

[@_panko]

and then 50 years later death grips sampled it

[@smuglef]

I FUCK THE MUSIC

[@_panko]

@@smuglef HIT HIT HIT

[@smuglef]

@@_panko IM ON THAT SHIT

[@alex11v3]

SPREAD EAGLE CROSS THE BLOCK (good omori pfp)

[@memphiskash]

WHAT IS IT WHERE IS IT HOW WILL IT AFFECT ME

[@chong671]

An even earlier example of distortion is on Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" from 1951. Someone dropped Turner's amp and it cracked the cone. They plugged it in anyway and Ike liked the sound so they used it on the record.

[@mailonvakra4904]

This sounds really unique since it IS "natural" distortion and Not caused by an effect pedal. I think it sounds very authentic😊

[@harvey1954]

Ike Turner and Jackie Brenston had an amp that fell out their car. It dislodged a tube in the amp which gave them a fuzz tone.

[@lewisnash9820]

Yep! Stuffed the amp with news paper… Rocket 88 is the song

[@TheUltimateDoorsMod]

@@lewisnash9820 yes! It happened in the early fifties. I want to say ‘51. Link would have done this way after Jackie Brenston and the Bear Cats

[@thatmillionthman582]

Someone else recognized it! 😁

[@5roundsrapid263]

I think it actually fell out on Highway 61, the legendary Blues Highway.

[@TheUltimateDoorsMod]

@@5roundsrapid263 I believe so as well. I know that Ike laughed about the incident years later and expressed it was just a huge mess up. It was said that Sam Phillips offered a working amp but after hearing theirs, he said to give it a try. I don’t know for a fact if that convo took place but I am sure glad they went with their amp anyhow

[@gamergolum]

Wasn't rumble banned from some radio stations for "ensuing bar fights" because of the aggressive tone of the Amp?

[@mokodo813]

Yep.

[@knockoutguitarist087]

Yes sir😂 the fear of widespread aggression it would cause teenagers to have… THE HORROR! Yet rock around caused a literal battle royal at a concert in the 50s as soon as the song started… CHAOS

[@RedDed228]

That's just fantastic. If only they heard some of the stuff used with distortion now.

[@yeppieyay8906]

Not necessarily the tone of the guitar, but because of the title and message of the song itself which is literally "Rumble." And it was gang fights, not bar fights.

[@agreenr6915]

Link himself has said the song was inspired by a bar fight it was banned cause they thought it'd insight gang violence

[@vids_of_nothing]

Leaving the pencil in there for ✨ style ✨

[@Pinstriped5120]

You didn’t destroy your amp, just the speaker.

[@Mordecai_275]

Technically the amp is the speaker, the case or housing box is what he didn’t destroy

[@evmanbutts]

Technically, the speaker is exactly that. The speaker. The amp is the amplifier circuit that drives said speaker@@Mordecai_275

[@adams2203]

@@Mordecai_275The amplifier is what actually amplified the signal, hence why guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets are separate things.

[@A_real_Wizard]

That distortion is gnarly, man, definitely keep that amp around for good!

[@-jank-willson]

the best way to do it is to make 500 - 1,000 teeny-tiny little '+' plus marks in the cone, with the majority of them concentrated at the center of the cone

[@TakNishi]

In 70s Japan, I heard rumors that Eric Clapton played "Sunshine Of Your Love" this way.

[@aidancarlisle6237]

he definitely didnt

[@TakNishi]

​@@aidancarlisle6237 Exactly!! In the 70's, information was scarce.

[@BRoyce69]

Something somewhere here tells me you've got some stories and I should get you some beers

[@zackmano]

It would take a hell of a lot of pokes to get that fuzz! 🤣🤘🏼

[@narc440]

A lot of guitarists were using distortion so i doubt that would have been necessary back then lol

[@smellthel]

I never made the connection that amps with distortion weren’t a thing back then so they had to improvise. Awesome!

[@Acemechanicalservices]

They were tube amps, they had just as much distortion. They just didn’t turn them up enough.

[@-jank-willson]

the best way to do it is to make 500 - 1,000 teeny-tiny little '+' plus marks in the cone, with the majority of them concentrated at the center of the cone

[@DavBotsArcade]

Legend has it the first tremelo was achieved by filling an amp with farts.

[@tylerkrapf5064]

Hahaha

[@andychrist5142]

only one way to find out for sure...

[@Keaton0801]

@@andychrist5142 anyone got 13 cans of beans?

[@darkskinwhite]

tru

[@KleinHeister]

Didint work

[@slowpoke9364]

I think you’ve blended a few different tales from rock history into one here.

[@Chicky_Lumps]

Yeah I'm pretty sure that song was absolutely not the first to have a distorted tone.

[@SongWhisperer]

@@Chicky_Lumps • Bob Wills used a distortion effect on the song “Bob Wills Boogie” in 1946, 12 years before the release of “Rumble”.

[@JudeTheDude44]

What abt rocket 88

[@SongWhisperer]

@@JudeTheDude44 • Rocket 88 is more considered the first Rock & Roll song but not the first to use a distortion effect, there were other musicians trying to break their amps on purpose (before Kizart’s broke his amp) to get the distortion effect and on the first recording of Rocket 88 by Willie Kisart his amp was just broken but he liked the sound so he kept it. It was a happy accident one could say.

[@-jank-willson]

@@SongWhisperer how did he do it?

[@TheWhale45]

Wow this is the first time I have ever seen anyone talk about Link Wray on the internet. very cool.

[@jajcasz6648]

Well, from what i heard from, actually first example of rock song with distortion is Johnny Burnette's cover of Train Kept a Rollin. Later better known by Yardbirds rendition, and I think even more from alternated version called "Stroll On" feutured in movie "Blow Up", which is one of the first examples of hard rock.

[@willoverdoseonmusic]

been wanting to watch that movie for a hot minute

[@jeromewagschal9485]

I always thought it was "Rocket 88" with Ike Turner on guitar in 1951 but you must be right... As for "stroll on" yeah... It's epic... It's definitely hard rock with Page and Beck trading riffs and solos...And Beck destroying his unruly amp with his guitar which ends up in pieces and thrown into the audience...

[@tanssi2145]

^^^ DING DING DING correct it’s rocket 88, the video and this initial comment are not quite true, rocket 88 tone came in 1951 (5 years before Johnny Burnette) from throwing an illegal U turn outside of SUN records, where the amp was damaged as it fell off the roof of the car, once that was established people started trying all sorted of crazy ideas to reverse engineer / improve on / be inspired by this original tone, the few examples that pre date this song are all from experimentation with humbucker pickups, rocket 88 is the first example of amp manipulation despite it being totally unintentional

[@ata5855]

@@tanssi2145 Sun records, I think

[@-jank-willson]

yeah, that song has a doom-metal type fuzz on the guitar at the 1:05 mark of the song... and it's in 1956!!!! i always wondered how he got it.

[@smeemusic]

I've definitely done this before. I found that if you cause tiny tears when you puncture the cone it will distort much better. So perfect holes are less effective than sloppy holes. Also the louder you play it, the more distortion is introduced. This was part of the whole trick. Also back then they would push the amps so hard thebpower section of the amp would distort. In other words you could still get distorted tones without destroying your speaker. Poping holes or slashing the speaker just makes the effect more dramatic.

[@therespectedlex9794]

So have they made them with flappy bits? The flappy holiness increases as you turn up the distortion dial. Tbh that was not a very distorted sound.

[@sethsmusic2326]

With enough skill you can make anything sound good and this guy is a golden case of that

[@Metal_Szlachetny]

You didnt just kill the amp, you also killed me dude

[@zakkarystory2352]

I'm so glad someone else knows about link wray

[@ChronicMetamorphosis]

I think Electro Harmonix makes a pedal that emulates a ripped speaker. Just in case anyone out there doesnt want to kill a speaker.

[@JTanoalegre]

I did the same to my 10w Anderson first amp, it sounded pretty damn good

[@callumcreatesriffs]

“No one else on the internet has tried this” famous last words

[@stefanoartuso001]

Lmao basically everything has already been done

[@ploopy8780]

he said "as far as I know"

[@KickstandOptional]

I always dug this sound. It gets fuzzy if you slash the cone with a razor. That's a fun one too.

[@jay_21_jay]

I am a late 80's born. And as a young player,in the late 90's and early 2000's we used to do this,back where I'm from,one of the place that is less blessed.

[@willprince643]

It actually sounds better than I expected! It was also tried on the internet before, Circle Of Tone recreated "You Really Got Me" tone including cutting the guitar speaker, he got really close.

[@timothy4664]

Lol. I just wrote that same thing. They used knitting needles

[@-jank-willson]

the kinks also used a tiny radio speaker that was waaaay too small for the amp, so that poor speaker was getting way more energy than it was designed for... (it was probably blown-out as all heck)

[@jesse29barton]

I visited Sun Studios in Memphis where we learned that distortion was created when a guitar player put waded news paper inside the speaker.

[@JudeTheDude44]

Whaaaat they told us someone’s amp was shot

[@jesse29barton]

@Jude Foster they told us that Johnny Cash's guitar player didn't strap his amp down and it fell off the roof of his car and he had to fix it with tape and newspaper. I have a pic of it.

[@-jank-willson]

...or was forgoten to be removed after being placed in it to cushion it during a car ride....

[@-jank-willson]

@@JudeTheDude44 Whaaaat they told us someone’s amp's vacuum tube got cracked...

[@JudeTheDude44]

@@-jank-willsonI think you’re right because I remember now that my teacher told me in history of rock and roll class. I always get things mixed up

[@michaelhall5429]

Needed more holes. Link wray is a legend.

[@iggyRS3]

Man I fucking love Link Wray, thank you for posting this at all. A god of musical art truly lost by time

[@agreenr6915]

The holes weren't the only component Rumble was also incredibly loud cause Link cranked the amp (and is probably strumming pretty hard) you can really hear it in the live recording

[@Syddyparrot]

I smashed my guitar into the cone of my amp in concert and since that i have no more working amp, but I believe a few second later the amp was still working and had an amazing tone.

[@ianchesney9639]

Basically the pioneer of psychedelic sounds that later formed in the 60s.

[@Dino3014]

I remember everyone doing this around 1978-1979. It's not lost knowledge.

[@thedangersofoxygen135]

Back in my day, we all used line 6

[@hoodbug7925]

Its my day and we still use line 6

[@untilsomeday8962]

Spider 360 is the amp 😂

[@bikibaws]

Ben Askren's son is a tone nerd. Respect.

[@StuPedassol]

You can just replace the speaker. It's worth the science!

[@Inhumane-official]

I was watching this and was like “was that a Telestrat? Then spun back around and my eyes were right

[@Gatecreeper69]

'No OnE eLsE hAs TriEd It' 'iN CaSe u DiDnT KnOW'

[@randallpinkfloyd]

that is amazing

[@bigchonk6915]

And that little amount of distortion got that song banned from air I believe

[@kattdemko7259]

Desperately trying to convince myself not to do this

[@TacoSupremo]

Do it

[@kyleschneider3147]

I mean. Why. This is dumb. Besides. You could probably get the same tone out of a $50 pedal but better. Or just buy an old reverb amp.

[@heelsurfer2668]

GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS!

[@TheguyfromDetroit]

bro loves strats so much his tele is a strat

[@Emo.mp3]

love the tone, def works well

[@youztuber5000]

Hendrix slashed all his speakers

[@jordanewright2354]

Anyone can bore holes in an Amp, but not everybody knows how to and where to bore it properly to get that right sound

[@deadshot4245]

Razor blades

[@Elijah-r9v9o]

It sounds great!

[@magicjoe3933]

You can also put crumpled up newspaper in the back to help solidly the sound

[@CHEABUDDY42]

I guess no one here has cranked an amp from the 50s

[@Jay-st6sl]

Fr all you need is a tube amp with no headroom

[@tylerkrapf5064]

😂

[@2005LOLZ]

Guys whats the best cheap versatile amp that I can buy? I have a line 6 lv spider but I don't like the digital sound of it. I have a SSH partcaster strat. CALLING THE LEGION OF ALL BEDROOMS GUITARISTS TO ANSWER THIS

[@AshenHollow7]

Honestly fender lt25s kick ass for the money and throw a boost/OD pedal in front of it and sounds even better

[@Ottophil]

Line 6 spider 4 or all tube full stack there is nothing inbetween

[@2005LOLZ]

@Otto Phil I've a line 6 spider 4 already but kinda hate the digital sound of the distortion and I can't really plug no pedals to it, thank u tho'

[@lukewragg8061]

Boss Katana?

[@wakaihana900]

I don’t know how you are with logistics and exchange rates, but as for me, the best amplifier is VOX PATH 10. You won’t find a better one for its price. Well, of course, it is for the home, but its volume is enough to play under the backing track. the vox has the best clean tone and good overdrive. as for effects, I use pedals. sss stratocaster

[@RockinTones]

How they really got distortion in the 50’s was much simpler than wrecking a speaker, they plugged into a low watt tube amp and turned it up.

[@michaelmireles7411]

True, but the original overdrive circuit for pedals and stuff came from damaged speakers, or damaged recording circuits

[@josh661]

I’ve tried both. Both happened to be by accident lol. My first amp was a ion block rocker speaker and I turned it up to learn some AC/DC. It sounded good until the the speaker started smoking out my garage. The ripped speaker was a 1978 fender champ that has a ripped cone. I had better distortion with the ion speaker tbh.

[@bcamp8987]

Almost has a Hendrix type tone after the holes were poked. Particularly that low E string. Sounds awesome!

[@sashaherriott5129]

Far as I can tell, you did that lil thing a justice

[@skukeness6201]

It doesn't destroy the amp, it just destroys the speaker

[@enzyme181]

We know

[@skukeness6201]

@@enzyme181 apparently not the guy in the video

[@enzyme181]

@@skukeness6201 yes he does, the speaker is part of the amp and if you ruined your speaker you still ruined the amp because now the amp won't work without a new speaker. You just wanna be too technical but technically he did ruin it but also, technically, he improved it because it sounds good.

[@-jank-willson]

the best way to do it is to make 500 - 1,000 teeny-tiny little '+' plus marks in the cone, with the majority of them concentrated at the center of the cone

[@veerchasm1]

I’ve seen people do slashes with razor blades to their speakers. It seems to create even more “distortion” since the sliced cones resonate more

[@houseofsolomon2440]

Destroying that tiny $29 Amp was a major sacrifice sir 🤘🏻

[@vincentpritchett1231]

B B King just cranked em until the speaker blew. Same concept. 😂

[@Eyedunno]

"You know these amps don't grow on trees"--L7, "Slide"

[@GAB-vq7re]

Seeing someone of a younger generation just even know this surprised me! I was thinking what bs is this guy going to come up with! Proved me wrong! Respect my dude!

[@n8dahman559]

I’m in love with the telestrat

[@Cyberpanda-ug1bf]

Gives a banjo vibe

[@bk3720]

Paper cones can always be glued back with Elmer’s glue thinned with water applied using a fine tip brush or toothpick, then dried with a hair dryer and the process can be completed till the cone is strong again, albeit functional not pretty. If glue is applied judiciously,

[@Town_Country96]

That worked really well

[@visualsbysenpai]

Imagine doing a concert and poking hundreds of holes in the speakers

[@Bearthalamass]

Link wray also had a tube amp.

[@stonecolddaddyo]

love link wray, love this

[@Harley831]

Pretty cool!! Fascinating how much tech has come along in these times

[@dexterwooten7839]

I think it sounds great. Not heavily distorted exactly, but a great dirty clean sound.

[@austinsellers7489]

Dude it actually sounds really cool

[@angel_foodcake]

“One of” my amps.. THANK GOD.

[@Azazeliblis]

That sounds so sick!!

[@callmestumps6954]

I have an amp that had some water damage and it sounds ungodly but like... In a good way. Gives 90s garage grunge vibes

[@myeyeisnotblue]

That tone is fucking gnarly

[@joethompson2910]

Im a geezer player of >50 years… What many guitarists did was slice their speaker cone(s) with a razor blade to get a fuzzy distortion effect… My guess is it might work better than punching holes… I used an MXR Distortion+ around 71’ & I loved it… Man.., I was 2 years old when Link Wray wrote that tune back in 58’……. Keep up the good work you young whippersnapper…😄

[@jdaddytv3247]

Damn. I really really like how that sounds.

[@Uggabugga07]

THAT SOUNDS SICK

[@cheese_ham52]

Kind of worth it! Sounds pretty cool

[@fresanegra77]

Well, I finally got convinced to do this... when I buy an amp... and a guitar... and practice

[@indiedavecomix3882]

I wouldn't do that to an expensive amp, but that did have a really cool vibe going.👍

[@foot2theballs]

Awesome! I remember hearing about some band putting holes in their amp speaker cones to get an early distorted sound in a music history class, but I hadn't seen it put into practice until now. Really cool stuff!

[@daydreamerpedals6800]

Link Wrey was also the first rock n roll native American

[@-jank-willson]

he was an american indian?

[@ayom3523]

Dude, it sounds classic.

[@raithyohn-lee523]

I like it it sound really 1960s and funky

[@brandenadambutler]

And the first pedal was invented by Marty robins when a capacitor blew during a recording session but they liked the sound.

[@MikeBrunetti]

I noticed this when my old Fender Frontman212 took a tumble off a stand and got punctured. It’s a pretty cool sound and also my excuse for not replacing the cones. Lol

[@rep0rter689]

YO! HE’S PLAYING THE BANNED SONG!

[@radiocage]

I found an old early 90s boom box in my grandpa's garage. It had a 1/4" jack on it for microphones, I guess? Either way, plugging my guitar into it gave me a fantastic distortion that sounds kinda similar to this!

[@cvmoretti]

Better than many digital emulated drives

[@AndrewAmbrose]

It really does make the difference Imagine if they sold amps with intentional holes

[@likemau5552]

I build my own speaker cabinets and it so nice to find trashy, old, crappy, but works

[@Mr6stringchaos]

Another way the distortion was created was by turning a tube amp all the way up, and using the volume knob on the guitar to control the volume. With a tube amp being turned up like that, you’ll get natural distortion.

[@Pharmaster1985]

Sounds amazing man ! Gonna try it with my Vox Ac 😉

[@davep8221]

I read The Kinks slashed up their cones with a razor.

[@saulshine1969]

Dave Davies used a razor blade on his amp speaker to get the tone on You really got me.

[@wutknut82]

as you made the holes in your amp, i died a little inside, but the sound after the destruction is nice! Thx for this experiment 🤘