While amplified guitars were around as far back as the 1920s, it was the early K&F designs made by Clayton ‘Doc’ Kauffman and Leo Fender, followed by Fender’s original ‘Woody’ series of combos in 1946, that paved the way for the guitar amplifier as we know it today.
Back then, all amplifiers used electron valves (known in the USA as vacuum tubes) – because if you wanted to amplify a signal, there was no other option. The arrival of rock ’n’ roll in the late 1950s produced an explosion in popularity for electric guitars and amplifiers, coinciding with the peak years of valve production.
