[QUOTE=Baldwin]
In case anybody hasn’t seen it, the OP is referring to a scene in the great comedy movie This is Spinal Tap. You’re welcome.
[/QUOTE]
Comedy? I thought it was a documentary. 
[QUOTE=DanBlather]
Comedy? I thought it was a documentary.
[/QUOTE]
A rockumentary, if you will.
[QUOTE=Staggerlee]
Isn’t the problem with these amps that at ‘11’ they make an unbearably loud ‘whooshing’ noise?
[/QUOTE]
Yet people here keep trying to explain it. :rolleyes:
Rod Stewart’s reported reaction when it struck a little too close to home was, “I thought it was supposed to be a comedy, not a documentary.”
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
To answer the OP, Tufnel assumed that any eleven is automatically louder than any ten (by the same logic, he would believe that eleven feet is longer than ten miles). DiBergi understood there’s a difference between having more numbers and having more volume. So DiBergi was the one who knew what he was talking about in that scene.
[/QUOTE]
That’s it.
And don’t worry: Boston isn’t a big college town. 
But what I want to know, is has anybody started selling amps that do go to 11 since the movie?
[QUOTE=Hal Briston]
Wuss. I have mine cranked up to at least 45, if not into the 50’s.
Also, my standard link for these discussions.
[/QUOTE]
That’s beautiful. Fucking beautiful!
I read some musician talking about a time when his band suffered some mishap similar to one that had been used in the movie. He said that while there was some amount of coolness if having Spinal Tap imitate your band, there was nothing but embarassment in having your band imitate Spinal Tap.
[QUOTE=Christopher]
But what I want to know, is has anybody started selling amps that do go to 11 since the movie?
[/QUOTE]
There have always been amps that have knobs with different numbering schemes; 10 just is the most common. There are some that go to 12, some that go to 8, 5, etc. Some have most knobs that go to 10, with a few knobs that go to other numbers based on what that knob controls.
Now - is there a specific amp that has knobs that go to 11 based on Spinal Tap? I can’t remember if Marshall - the only amp Nigel would ever play, except perhaps for a vintage Fender or Vox - ever released a Tufnel Stack or anything, but in this world, it’s certainly possible…
[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
To answer the OP, Tufnel assumed that any eleven is automatically louder than any ten (by the same logic, he would believe that eleven feet is longer than ten miles). DiBergi understood there’s a difference between having more numbers and having more volume. So DiBergi was the one who knew what he was talking about in that scene.
[/QUOTE]
Even knowing that, it’s still cooler to have amps that are “one louder.” It’s just more satisfying to know that you’ve got it cranked to 11. Some folks can’t get past the logic. Others are unburdened by it.
The bands reasoning for the 11 setting is the perfect example of their idiocy.
[QUOTE=Christopher]
But what I want to know, is has anybody started selling amps that do go to 11 since the movie?
[/QUOTE]
Not to my knowledge, but according to Wikipedia, the Marshall Company makes faceplates for all of its amps that top the scale at 11, in keeping with the spirit of Spinal Tap. Also, the Allen & Heath DJ mixer model XONE: 92 has a headphone volume control with the scale going up to 11.
The brilliance of the movie is that it’s not really exaggerated all that much. It’s amazing the number of musicians I’ve heard quoted about the film who say “That was us. That happened to us.”
The scene where the band gets lost trying to find their way from the dressing room to the stage is evidently a pretty common real life occurence. Ozzy said it’s happened to him more than once.
[QUOTE=cochrane]
the Marshall Company makes faceplates for all of its amps that top the scale at 11, in keeping with the spirit of Spinal Tap.
[/QUOTE]
And appearantly Nigel later got his own special amp that goes to infinity.
There was an episode of The Powerpuff Girls where Bubbles, tired of practicing with the virtual-reality training system set to 2 (fluffy bunny run amok), sneaks into the Professor’s lab and runs it on her own set to 11.
Later, when Mojo Jojo fires his destructo-ray at her, he uses the same setting…
[QUOTE=Christopher]
But what I want to know, is has anybody started selling amps that do go to 11 since the movie?
[/QUOTE]
As an “almost, but different enough to be effectively useless” answer, before each song on Guitar Hero 1, the loading screen uses amp dials to indicate the progress. They go to 11. It made me laugh the first time I noticed it. 
[QUOTE=Christopher]
But what I want to know, is has anybody started selling amps that do go to 11 since the movie?
[/QUOTE]
Better still, you can now get aftermarket knobs that go to 11 and stick them on any amp you like.
\m/:mad:\m/
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
The scene where the band gets lost trying to find their way from the dressing room to the stage is evidently a pretty common real life occurence. Ozzy said it’s happened to him more than once.
[/QUOTE]
Point of order: Ozzy and “real life” do not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence.
I agree, by the way. The brilliance of the movie is not in having the band do or experience stupid/funny things that a real band wouldn’t. It’s in having them do all of the stupid/funny things real bands do, while any given real band would only be expected to do a few of them.
[QUOTE=WordMan]
There is a legend - documented in the Complete Abbey Road Recordings by Lewisohn - where the studio guys told Lennon that they would “flange” his vocal tracks later to deliver what he wanted. They made the phrase up - but he bought it - and it became associated with a “real” effect that is commonly used to this day…
[/QUOTE]
There’s actually some interesting info on this on Wikipedia. Apparently, the flange effect has been used in recordings as early as 1959, but the “flange” spoken of in the Lennon anecdote refers to something different than today.
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99]
There was an episode of The Powerpuff Girls where Bubbles, tired of practicing with the virtual-reality training system set to 2 (fluffy bunny run amok), sneaks into the Professor’s lab and runs it on her own set to 11.
Later, when Mojo Jojo fires his destructo-ray at her, he uses the same setting…
[/QUOTE]
HARD CORE!!!
Hehe…love that one.
[QUOTE=Hal Briston]
Also, my standard link for these discussions.
[/QUOTE]
The hell?
[QUOTE=Cervaise]
The hell?
[/QUOTE]
Why, it’s the infinite onion ring, obviously!