When we think of landmarks in rock and pop music, we invariably think of people like Elvis, The Shadows, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd (turn to p52 for the first part of our series on their live sound), the Spice Girls (just kidding). With few exceptions, we tend to overlook those visionary designers whose efforts and imagination bring us the instruments and amplifiers we use every time we step on stage, or as it is for most of us, that stretch of beer sodden carpet between the pool table and the end of the bar that serves as a stage!

To be fair, most musicians know and respect the legacy of Leo Fender, and Jim Marshall's amplification is known all over the world, but what do we really know about the engineers behind the scenes — such as the designer of many of their most successful models, Steve Grindrod (p20).

I suppose everyone has their own landmarks, but as far as live performance goes, the Fender Strat still has pole position in my view, followed closely by all the tube amps out there inspired by the Fender Bassman. And what about the first fuzz box (allegedly Gary Hurst's Tone Bender) or the ElectroHarmonix Electric Mistress flanger — the first box I ever came across that could produce a half-decent approximation of tape phasing live on stage. And no view of British rock history would be complete without a mention of Charlie Watkins, who brought us the Dominator amp, the Copicat tape echo, the Rapier guitar, and the affordable band PA system.

In more recent years, we've finally seen solid-state guitar amplifiers live up to their promise of being able to deliver a plausible rock sound, we have programmable preamps and effect units, MIDI floor controllers, incredibly powerful and compact powered mixers, lighter and smaller PA speakers, and sophisticated effects pedals. Judging from what we've seen at recent trade shows, the future looks to be a very exciting place to be.