Surf music emerged in the late 1950s as instrumental rock and roll music, almost always in straight 4/4 (common) time, with a medium to fast tempo.
The sound was dominated by electric guitars which were particularly characterized by the extensive use of the "wet" spring reverb that was incorporated into Fender amplifiers from 1961, which was meant to emulate the sound of waves.
The outboard separate Fender Reverb Unit that was developed by Fender in 1961 (as opposed to reverb that was incorporated as a built-in amp feature) was the actual first "wet" surf reverb tone.
 This unit is the reverb effect heard on Dick Dale records, and others such as "Pipeline" by the Chantays and "Point Panic" by the Surfaris.
  It has more of a wet "plucky" tone than the "built in" amp reverb, due to different circuitry.

Guitarists also made use of the vibrato arm on their guitars to bend the pitch of notes downward, electronic tremolo effects and rapid (alternating) tremolo picking.
Guitar models favored included those made by Fender (particularly the Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Stratocaster), Mosrite, Teisco, or Danelectro, usually with single coil pickups (which had high treble in contrast to double-coil humbucking pickups).
Surf music was one of the first genres to universally adopt the electric bass, particularly the Fender Precision Bass.
Classic surf drum kits tended to be Rogers, Ludwig, Gretsch or Slingerland.
Some popular songs also incorporated a tenor or baritone saxophone, as on the Lively Ones' "Surf Rider" (1963) and the Revels' "Comanche" (1961).
Often an electric organ or an electric piano featured as backing harmony.
Surf music emerged in the late 1950s as instrumental rock and roll music, almost always in straight 4/4 (common) time, with a medium to fast tempo. The sound was dominated by electric guitars which were particularly characterized by the extensive use of the "wet" spring reverb that was incorporated into Fender amplifiers from 1961, which was meant to emulate the sound of waves. The outboard separate Fender Reverb Unit that was developed by Fender in 1961 (as opposed to reverb that was incorporated as a built-in amp feature) was the actual first "wet" surf reverb tone.  This unit is the reverb effect heard on Dick Dale records, and others such as "Pipeline" by the Chantays and "Point Panic" by the Surfaris.   It has more of a wet "plucky" tone than the "built in" amp reverb, due to different circuitry.
Guitarists also made use of the vibrato arm on their guitars to bend the pitch of notes downward, electronic tremolo effects and rapid (alternating) tremolo picking. Guitar models favored included those made by Fender (particularly the Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Stratocaster), Mosrite, Teisco, or Danelectro, usually with single coil pickups (which had high treble in contrast to double-coil humbucking pickups). Surf music was one of the first genres to universally adopt the electric bass, particularly the Fender Precision Bass. Classic surf drum kits tended to be Rogers, Ludwig, Gretsch or Slingerland. Some popular songs also incorporated a tenor or baritone saxophone, as on the Lively Ones' "Surf Rider" (1963) and the Revels' "Comanche" (1961). Often an electric organ or an electric piano featured as backing harmony.
Surf music