Iconic Gear - let's start a Hall of Fame

[markb]

I mentioned my late 70s guitar in another thread and it occured to me that that instrument had two of the absolutely iconic upgrades of the 1970s.

1. The Leo Quan Badass bridge. A combined tune-o-matic and stop tail made for Les Paul Juniors and Specials. The first of its kind and the start of "hot rod" parts. They're cast from zinc alloy these days but then they were just carved out of a solid lump of brass.

http://www.leoquan.com/html/guitardetails.html

2. The DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker. The pickup that started the whole replacement pickup industry.

Without the success of these items, we'd have no GFS, no boutique pickup industry, etc.

So, what are your nominations for the gear that revolutionised guitar playing?

[Robert****]

Plexi Marshall. Tone 2 da Bone!

[sunvalleylaw]

I would say first the Telecaster, then the strat.

[MAXIFUNK]

Who ever invented round wound Bass strings!

[markb]

Who ever invented round wound Bass strings!

Jim Howe trading as Rotosound

[guitarhack]

The Wah pedal

[Katastrophe]

The "Log" guitar.

Multitrack recording.

The "lespaulverizer".

Modern music would sound much different without these inventions. Thanks Les!

[wingsdad]

The first electric 12 String guitar: the Rickenbacker 360-12

More specifically (or iconically) , the 2nd one of them actually produced that was put into George Harrison's hands gratis by Rick's owner, F.C. Hall, at the Plaza Hotel in NY City, Feb. 1964. (the first one went to a female guitar player from California...name escapes me).

Here's a version of the Harrison 360-12 story, a bit in need of updating, but still:

George Harrison & the 360-12

Once 'that sound' came alive, others (Fender, Gibson) came up with an electric 12 model. But the ballgame was already over.

[marnold***]

A brilliant man with a funny name: Floyd Rose. He didn't invent the whammy bar, but he may very well have perfected it. Every double-locking system out there begs, borrows, and/or steals from him in one way or another.

[rylanmartin]

I LOVE a tele, but I think the yin-yang of guitar is the Strat-Les Paul. I also am entirely unable to make up my mind between the two.

However, as this is also the most generic comment I can make towards this topic, in a small effort to be original I offer up:

The Uni-Vibe.

As an effect junky, I appreciate the evolution of modulation effects. Whenever I feel like I want to sound "vintage," the uni-vibe is my go to sound.

(Shameless plug: I'm selling a Dunlop Uni-vibe right now, as my M13 does a decent job recreating the effect...)

[oldguy]

Jam a piece of hose over a speaker driver, stick the other end in your mouth, power up, and mic it.
Voila!
The talk box.

[wingsdad]

The Fender Precision Bass...the 'P-Bass'. The FIRST electric bass guitar.

Imagine how popular music -- specifically, Rock N' Roll and all its progeny-- would have developed be without its invention.

[Tig***]

In 1969, Randall Smith, as a joke, modified Barry Melton's Fender Princeton amplifier. He removed the standard 10 inch speaker and modified the chassis to fit the larger transformers that were needed by the 4-10 tweed Fender Bassman, the circuit that he had added into the tiny 12 watt Princeton. Finally, Mounting a 12 inch JBL D-120, a popular speaker of the time, Smith had created what would be the first Boogie.

Randall Smith, needing to test his creation, took the "hot-rodded" Princeton into the front store, where Carlos Santana was present. Santana "wailed through that little amp until people were blocking the sidewalk". Impressed, Santana exclaimed to Smith, "Man, that little thing really boogies!" It was this statement that brought the Boogie name to fruition.

Born is the highly customized, high gain amp, soon the be followed by what would later be labeled as, the boutique amp. The rest is history!

[FrankenFretter***]

I would add the Ibanez Tube Screamer 808, the standard by which other overdrive pedals are measured. I believe that the TS is the most emulated OD pedal out there.

Also, Seth Lover's mighty fine invention sure did change the sound of the burgeoning electric guitar. I am, of course, talking about the humbucking pickup. Imagine a world without humbuckers...

[sunvalleylaw]

I would add the Ibanez Tube Screamer 808, the standard by which other overdrive pedals are measured. I believe that the TS is the most emulated OD pedal out there.
.

I thought of that one myself as well. Just the cottage industry of tubescreamer knock offs, not counting the various commercial versions and mods available, is huge.

[MAXIFUNK]

Ampeg Bass amps

Mutron Bass Pedal

[markb]

Ampeg Bass amps

The Portaflex was a work of genius (the genius being a guy called Jess Oliver).

[wingsdad]

The Wah pedal

'Iconically speaking', that would be the original Vox Crybaby, as employed by Clapton with Cream and then by Hendrix after befriending EC while managed in England by Chas Chandler, former Animals bassist.

Before that mid-60's invention, the first stompbox effect pedal I can recall was the Gibson Maestro FuzzBox, hitting the market so players could try for, at the tap of a toe, the mesmerizing effect of the Stones' Keith Richard's intro riff to (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction or the Kinks' Dave Davies' raunchy opening power chord riffs to You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night.

The legend of how those 2 guys got 'that sound' - I think it was Keef trying to ape or outdo DD-- was that they, intentionally or not, poked a hole in their amp's speaker with a screwdriver. It was a well-accepted theory; a couple of my friends doing the teen garage band thing actually wrecked their little Silvertone's or Fender Deluxe's and Princeton's speakers -- the Maestro couldn't quite 'get it' for them.

So it would follow, logically, that a screwdriver-ripped speaker ranks as 'iconic'...as the first distortion device....

[markb]

...So it would follow, logically, that a screwdriver-ripped speaker ranks as 'iconic'...as the first distortion device....

Or a blown tube in Grady Martin's desk on White Rose. Or the amp that fell off the roof of the car used on Rocket 88. The stories are endless.

But here's an ad from simpler times. All the effects you can possibly need! Gosh!