ABSTRACT
There is a scene in the 1984 cult classic heavy metal band mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap where lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest) is showing director Marty DiBergi (played by Rob Reiner) the tools of his trade, his guitar collection, with all the intensity of a veteran curator. He tells DiBergi about each piece: what makes it special and how he uses it to make great music. They get to a Marshall amplifier, and Tufnel explains that it’s an exceptional amp because the volume knob doesn’t just go to ten, it goes to eleven. When you are performing live and you need that extra kick, you can turn it all the way up to eleven and really knock the socks off the audience. DiBergi tries to reason with Tufnel that you can have amps with a volume knob that goes to ten that make the same amount of noise, but Tufnel won’t have it. He knows he has a magic amp.
