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First intentional use of overdrive/gain/distortion.


AeroG33k

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So if I'm correct about electric pickups being developped initally as a means of acoustic amplification with 'overdriving' an amp being a 'problem', who was the first to intentionally use this effect? Or did it just sort of 'happen' from players demanding more volume disregarding sound quality? I believe hendrix was among the first to expand on it, but certainly he couldn't have been the first.

 

Similarly, who were among the first to enhance the sound with transistor-induced 'fuzz' (those pedals have been around for a while...)

-Andy

 

 

"I know we all can't stay here forever so I want to write my words on the face of today...and they'll paint it"

 

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I heard a story that Jeff Beck stuck his guitar through his amp & knocked out 1 or 2 valves (tubes to you US guys). In cranking up to get the volume he 'discovered' tube overdrive. This would be about 1963/64.

 

I remember reading about the 'Gibson FuzzTone' in about 1963.

 

'Satisfaction' *MAY* be the first use of fuzz on record, but I believe there are other claimants.

 

Geoff

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<

 

It's probably lost to history. No doubt many a blues player just trying to be heard with a little underpowered amp developed a liking for the resulting distortion. Link Wray is generally considered the first to have recorded an intentionally distorted guitar sound when a producer asked him to rough up his sound a bit more. Link grabbed a screwdriver, rammed it through the cone, & had plenty of distortion.

 

<< Or did it just sort of 'happen' from players demanding more volume disregarding sound quality?>>

 

I'm sure it was an unintended side effect of playing louder than the amp could handle. Then it became a desired effect.

 

<< I believe hendrix was among the first to expand on it, but certainly he couldn't have been the first.>>

 

Lots of others preceded him. He definitely took it to another level.

 

<>

 

The first fuzz I ever saw was the Maestro Fuzz, made by Gibson, & the first time I ever heard it in use was the Keith riff on Satisfaction, in 1965 I think. I was in a band with a guy who had one, & even back then I thought it was a terrible sounding fuzz. The next band I was in, the guitarist had an Arbiter Fuzz Face, which was the classic sound of 60's rock. I started seeing them around 1967. Great pedal. Erik Brann of Iron Butterfly used to run 2 of these in series around this time & had an awesome live sound.

 

Scott Fraser

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Pete Townshend and The Who are widely acknowledged with the first example of feed back being used on a recording. I'm fairly sure it was on "The Who Sell Out", originally released in 1967. The story goes that Decca Records USA actually shipped the first batch of LP's back to the U.K., thinking that surely the feedback was a mistake!!

 

Townshend is widely recognized in driving the development of the Marshall Stack, and pushing Jim Marshall to develope louder, more powerful amps.

 

There is another story that has circulated for ever, that says that Hendrix changed his live rig to copy the stage set up he saw Pete use the first time Jimi saw The Who live.

 

Clapton also used to play his "Bluesbreaker" (basically a JTM 45 in a 2x12 combo form) with the master cranked all the way.

 

A handful of the "early" rock pioneers all played a part.

 

Don

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I think it was some rockabilly dude, and of course, old blues players. You can hear slight overdrive even in some Wes Montgomery recordings when the sounds seems to break up.

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Ike Turner claims to have been the first to intentionally track a distorted guitar on the song "Rocket 88". His story is that the tubes came partially unplugged on the way to the studio and when he powered it up he just liked the sound and went with it.

 

I wonder if there is an earlier example (or claim) than that. I don't believe that I've ever heard that song.

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Don't forget Paul Burlison:

 

Burlison said that he had discovered the fuzztone sound by accident. In March 1956, just before the Trio was to go onstage at a gig in Philadelphia, he dropped his amplifier backstage and unknowingly knocked loose a vacuum tube. Once on stage, the Trio was surprised by the distorted sound coming from Burlison's amplifier, but kept playing anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Burlison
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No, John Lennon's intro to "I Feel Fine" predates The Who Sell Out by a few years, having been recorded on October 18th, 1964. That's his J160 single coil equipped acoustic plugged in & feeding back.

 

 

Actually, I was wrong...The Who album I was refering to was "The Who sing My Generation"...the feedback was at the end of My Generation....pretty sure that was released in the US in '65. I'm not sure when it was actually recorded, or if it pre or post dates I Feel Fine....

 

Don

Don

 

"There once was a note, Pure and Easy. Playing so free, like a breath rippling by."

 

 

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Wow, the topic seems to be more of a mystery than I thought! Lots of good info here though, thanks everyone. Kind of interesting how it was a "freak effect" at first and now playing "clean" is actually quite rare in modern music. :eek:

-Andy

 

 

"I know we all can't stay here forever so I want to write my words on the face of today...and they'll paint it"

 

-Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon)

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Originally posted by Starcaster:

Does 'Rumble' not count for some reason? 1958... And as to those predating Link Wray I would go with some rockabilly dude and old blues players (Millo's post).

That's what I've always heard as well.

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Originally posted by UnderTheGroove:

Originally posted by Starcaster:

Does 'Rumble' not count for some reason? 1958... And as to those predating Link Wray I would go with some rockabilly dude and old blues players (Millo's post).

That's what I've always heard as well.
Me too.

 

I would say that Link Wray was probably one of the first to use distortion on a top 40 hit, even tho there is the possibility that someone did it before him.

Avoid playing the amplifier at a volume setting high enough to produce a distorted sound through the speaker-Fender Guitar Course-1966

 

 

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First recorded guitar distortion is Ike Turner with Rocket 88 as mentioned before. This is often credited as the first rock n' roll song ever. The amp was attached to the top of a car and feel onto the street while driving. Something was damaged in the amp causing for the fuzz but they decided to do it any way. This is when people started to damage their amps to get distortion, and the Kinks did such by taking a knife to their speakers.

 

First recorded guitar feedback is I Feel Fine as mentioned.

 

First drum loop ever is Tomorrow Never Knows, the Beatles off revolver.

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In interviews I have read with Link Wray in GP "Rumble" was recorded with a loose tube in the amp, he had accidentally knocked a tube loose and liked the sound. I hadn't heard the Ike Turner version of this story and I dont know when "Rocket 88" came out. What about Chuck Berry's "Maybelline". Its not fuzz but that tone sounds pretty broken up to me, my copies of "Maybelline" don't list the date in the credits but I thought it was mid 50's.

 

I guess its hard to definitively answer this question. First intentional use, first recorded use, first artificial use like electronic fuzz or cut speakers. There are differing degrees of distortion. There are probably some recordings that were not released on a national basis with distortion that only a few would even know about. And what about local acts that never recorded. I bet within a month of amplifiers being commercially available some kid was in his bedroom crankin' it up (and I bet his Mom was telling him to turn the damn thing down).

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Originally posted by Dr. Taz:

Don't forget Paul Burlison:

 

Burlison said that he had discovered the fuzztone sound by accident. In March 1956, just before the Trio was to go onstage at a gig in Philadelphia, he dropped his amplifier backstage and unknowingly knocked loose a vacuum tube. Once on stage, the Trio was surprised by the distorted sound coming from Burlison's amplifier, but kept playing anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Burlison
I've always heard that "Train Kept a Rollin" by the Rock-n-Roll trio was the first deliberate use of fuzz. This was Burlison playing through an amp with a deliberately loosened tube.

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Ike Turner's Rocket 88 was in '51

Chuck Berry's Maybellene was in '55

Rock and Roll Trio formed in '56

Link Wray's Rumble was in '58

The Stones' Satisfaction was in '65... Some say it was the first hit with "Fuzz," but definitely not distortion.

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Many of Howlin Wolf's recordings feature quite distorted guitar. Offhand I can't recall if any predate the above mentioned 1951 date of "Rocket 88"

 

On of the distincions possibly passed over here is "intentional"; how many of the examples we treasure may have been the result of either agressive players or unskilled recordists with casual attitudes toward sound ?

 

Burlison's work on "Train Kept A-Rollin'" for instance was, by his version, a deliberate act done to recreate an accidental discovery, as perhaps (see others above) was Wray's, Turner's, etc.

 

Lennon's discovery of feedback was accidental but the act of recording it was definitely deliberate (though the same is probably true of Townshend).

I think Lennon deserves special mention, though, for a couple reasons: (1) EMI was notoriously guarded about the "abuse" of their equipmant & sometimes the Beatles personally had to go to the heads of the studio to get things done that the engineers were reluctant to try, for fear of getting canned; (2) this example ("I Feel Fine") was the first instrumental/non-vocal of their distinctive "sound gestures", i.e., the sort of audio elements that gave identity to many of their songs beyond what the songs themselves carried.

 

BTW,there's a country & western song :freak: that uses a fuzz effect & predates the Stones's "Satisfaction"; check out Marty Robbins's "Don't Worry "Bout Me" (1960) for an ear-openner!

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