Amplified: A Design History of the Electric Guitar by Paul Atkinson

Abstract

Reviewed by: Amplified: A Design History of the Electric Guitar by Paul Atkinson John Hajduk (bio) Amplified: A Design History of the Electric Guitar By Paul Atkinson. London: Reaktion Books, 2021. Pp. 272. Amplified: A Design History of the Electric Guitar By Paul Atkinson. London: Reaktion Books, 2021. Pp. 272. One would be hard-pressed to name a more culturally iconic piece of technology produced over the past seventy years than the electric guitar. Perhaps only sports cars, like the Corvette or Camaro, resonate as strongly in relation to youth-centered culture in the late twentieth century. Paul Atkinson's fine overview of how the electric guitar evolved from its humble origins (discovered in an 1890 patent application) to the present certainly bolsters that impression. The book is full of photographs, drawings, and advertisements with richly detailed descriptions of virtually every significant model developed over that span. Atkinson traces how new design elements emerged, whether motivated by efforts to achieve better engineering, better sound, or better visual aesthetics. The broader cultural import of the instrument is mostly incidental to his main focus, but Atkinson's efforts still convey how technological innovations combined with artisanal craft and musical purpose made the electric guitar such a powerful symbol, especially in relation to rock and roll culture. The author covers everything from proto-electric guitars (acoustic instruments fitted with some form of electronic amplification) to fully computerized guitar-shaped synthesizers whose relationship to traditional guitars is mostly visual. Looking beyond the myth surrounding the instrument, Atkinson asserts that the story of its evolution owes as much to inspired tinkerers as to professional designers or engineers, all of whose various efforts made for a mostly haphazard pathway to innovation. Musicians such as Les Paul were just as likely as electronics professionals like Leo Fender to contribute lasting ideas. They are among the names that became part of the myth. Atkinson's account underlines the influence of two companies, Fender and Gibson, that were largely responsible for placing the electric guitar at the center of the emerging youth culture represented by rock and roll. Leo Fender's early designs developed from his interest in country music, while earlier experiments in electrification were more closely associated with Hawaiian and jazz styles. However, mass demand for his fabled Telecaster and Stratocaster models exploded when young people saw early rock guitar heroes such as Buddy Holly and James Burton wielding them in television appearances. Chuck Berry and later Eric Clapton had a similar impact with Gibson models. Atkinson does not develop his reference to the influence of television in shaping the reception of these instruments. For example, he does not follow up with a discussion on the influence of MTV in the 1980s, but his account is provocative enough to suggest a line of further research clearly beyond his stated scope. [End Page 968] Once Fender and Gibson demonstrated the electric guitar's growing popularity, other companies developed their own variations, with rock musicians as a primary target market. While many competitors deviated only slightly from the templates pioneered by the two industry leaders, other designers sought to make their mark, and even customized their designs to incorporate visual motifs of particular sub-genres of rock, like heavy metal or glam. Certain models also became closely identified with star performers, and as with Les Paul before them, some artists took a stab at designing their ideal instrument (for the author, Eddie Van Halen was a prime example). Atkinson draws on a variety of published sources and interviews to augment his commentary, and he tells the story in a clear, accessible fashion. His book nicely complements two other recent works on the same subject: Brad Tulinski and Alan di Perna's Play It Loud (Knopf Doubleday, 2017), which takes a more nuanced look at the cultural impact of the electric guitar, and Ian S. Port's Birth of Loud (Simon and Schuster, 2019), highlighting the rivalry between Leo Fender and Les Paul. Despite the narrow focus on the evolution of technological and design elements, Atkinson's book is a useful and visually striking addition to the literature on the electric guitar. John Hajduk John Hajduk is professor of history...