How Spinal Tap Changed Volume Controls Forever
As the release of Spinal Tap II nears, we look an hilarious moment in the original film and how Spinal Tap changed volume controls forever.
How Spinal Tap Changed Volume Controls Forever
by Bobby Owsinski via Bobby Owsinski Music Production Blog
We all remember the Spinal Tap movie and how much we all laughed, and almost cried, from some of the all-too-real scenes. One of the most famous is the “It goes to 11” scene (you can see it below) that actually ended up influencing certain guitar amp models by a number of manufacturers. In fact, Marshall actually made the custom amp that went to 11 for the movie.
We all got a laugh at that scene, but some amplifier manufacturers took the “goes to 11” scene seriously.
For instance, Marshall’s JCM 900 20 watt amplifiers that were released six years after the film’s release came with two different distortion knobs, “one that went from 0 to 10, and another that went from 11 to 20.” And the $1,300 Friedman-Runt 20 amp goes to 11 on each control.
But it’s a lot more than just guitar amps that go beyond the traditional 1 to 10.
- Alexa understands the command “Turn it up to 11”
- “Up to 11” is an official phrase in the Oxford Dictionary
- The BBC’s desktop iPlayer was designed to go up to 11
- A modified Porsche included a tachometer that, you guessed, went up to 11
- 11/11 is Nigel Tufnel day
- And on the Internet Movie Database, This Is Spinal Tap is the only movie that’s rated on a scale of 1 to 11 stars, rather than 10.
Now all these years later, the glorious Spinal Tap movie is finally getting a sequel called “Spinal Tap: The End Continues” opening on September 12th. Yes, most of the characters from the original movie make a reprise here as well. I’ve heard the premise from some insiders and it’s hilarious, although I’m sworn to secrecy. Trust me, you’ll laugh.
One thing I can tell you is that they have new amplifiers that do indeed go beyond 11. This time they go to ∞ (infinity)!
Bobby Owsinski is a producer/engineer, author, podcaster and coach. He has authored 24 books on music production, music, music AI, the music business and social media.
