Dr. Harvey C. Rentschler: Unsung Hero Of The Post world War II Electric Guitar Revolution?

Even though his work is largely devoted to energy efficient UV lamps for zapping dangerous microbes, does Dr. Harvey c. Rentschler’s other discoveries pave way for the post World War II electric guitar playing revolution and Rock N’ Roll?

By: Ringo Bones 

Unlike Albert Einstein, Dr. Harvey C. Rentschler never became a household name for much of the 20^th Century, and yet without his important discoveries, contemporary popular music and electric guitar playing after World War II would have been very different. And music recording via mixing desk like those in the iconic Sun and Abbey Road studios would never had existed without his discoveries and the world would also had never heard of Elvis Presley or The Beatles without his discoveries that led to the more efficient, smaller and cheaper thermionic vacuum tubes. 

When he told his findings to a meeting of the American Physical Society which was then published in the July 1943 issue of the Scientific American magazine, Dr. Harvey C. Rentschler told the attendees about what he had found out in experiments which he conducted eight years before. It led him to conclude that atoms of gas – oxygen, hydrogen or nitrogen – actually dissolve in the crystalline structure of some metals just as salt dissolves in water. These gas particles then “loosen” the electrons in this structure, causing them to be emitted from the metal more readily when heat is applied. This explanation, according to Dr. Rentschler, should result in longer-lasting thermionic vacuum tubes and accomplish important savings to the size and number of batteries, generators and other apparatus needed to supply the filament power. 

Without discovering the then unknown principles that led to the advanced thermionic vacuum tube design principles that led to smaller, more energy efficient thermionic vacuum tubes by Dr. Rentschler, Rock N’ Roll would never had existed and electric guitar playing would be a rather expensive hobby dominated by large inefficient vacuum tubes and ultra-expensive gear the average kid from the 1950s could never afford. Dr. Jim Marshall would probably use something else entirely when he developed his now iconic Marshall Amplifier back in 1962. Thanks to Dr. Harvey C. Rentschler, we have 12AX7 preamplifier tubes that can operate with anode voltages as low as 45 volts DC – making the now 48 Volt DC phantom power de rigueur in the modern post World War II recording studio when Les Paul invented it.