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Scott S. answered the question. Guitar amps were used as P.A. systems with every conceivable impedance microphone; they were used with accordions, and the pickups on those were wildly variable; they were used with primitive pick-ups for electric and acoustic guitar, some of which were like De Armond pick-ups, others like a contact mic, Some were high impedance, some were very low level.
I had an old Gibson tube amp that wasn't that loud with a guitar, but with a high Z microphone, it was surprising. I've also heard wimpy pick-ups from the 40s get a clear full tone when cranked through a 12 watt amp.
Since mic and pick-up technology was so primitive and non-standard, and folks were using 10, 20, and 30 year old gear back then, too, amps had to have a big range of input gain.
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