Getting Great Guitar Sounds Book of Guitar Effects!

8/6/2019 Getting Great Guitar Sounds Book of Guitar Effects!

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A NON-TECI-IN]CAL APPROACH TO SI-tAP]NGYOUR PE ,RSONA ~OUN{)

by Mich ael R oss

-IHAL.L'EONARD'~'~COftPORATIO'N

eop".rl~ C , a e a , 100& tr y HA L lE~AFlC c a F l . ' P O F I A T I 1 O N

In iem llllO n81 CO iI)'rlg lrt ~ IIlI Rights Rooorooed

N o P IlI ! 0 1 ! Inb , p l fl ll lca ti oomay 'M rep~ ~ I I l1 l1 l iln fr l Oi rb : i any moans- wMoWlllile pniDrwriltem pOlI I'Iisslorl

of !he'~ubliBher.

V l s fl l: 'l o i L e G : O a l lt ! OnllnBaiJ (1 I ! I . " i ! W , - ' :~haIJJutn._....cJUTl'_~ ...:J..__ ___J



Contents

J'1t'rodtf,ction to theSeccmd Edition " , ", "" ,.., " "" 6-l;ttl 'o,clucrio·,," Whoa ' ; Is "O:J'C,( l l ,n ;Gu,l t«l ·So~:rul.... 7

PART ONE,;: THE GUITAR

c.1.?a:p~e,·O nl: ~ T be B{eclr~c ,G' lt i tar as ,eu' lAoaf4,s , t ic l1 l;5 'tl":u,'·',~(m t , "•. " ".....• " , ...•.,H

Ho, ,¥ " . an Inectric GuitnrWorks ".." , " " ".." ".11

flea.dstoc.ks . i ~.i ti ! ! ""~ """"••• '1011 •• ~I " ••• ' " 1111 ~ " if; I iI !!! " , 11 •• , •••• ,"" •• ~ "II = " " '" ~ 't!!I ,! II •• " ~ <ilii i i i " , , , . iooE,,! Ii !! I '!! .,.."" •• 'III ••• , •• ~ ~ " 1~2

" fu :n ing l \' [ac ltLn( ;; s and Tuning ".." "" ,.." , " " , 13

'.fh·{:' 'Nut "..••...•.••••• , " "•.••••.--" ,••••••." ·~ 4

Feets "i il.i~·1 ; ~"+;;;;;; ! ~ ••••• ~" ••• 11,•• II·.·iiiill,~ ..a ~='! ~"lIn ~.. "..r",,·; .iil! ~_ ~ ' ! • • " ·" ; ,io.j.~~,, , . . il l ~iI!~"" ~ ! • • " •• 11"•• ,;; .."~.",, ..i.tl!! 14

: N : , e i I C k s ;0 , u " " ;; ~ 1 1 ~ •• , ,,",,,.,, ., ,., ••• i , , ,, ~ ~ ~ . " " . ; ;; ; i i .. ~!!!''' ~.,",,,,,. '"u •• ' , .. ~ i.·"' ",.. ;;iif ~! ~..," , ,~ ","~" i- I!!!''' ~" 1 ,6

Oodies .."..".".tI ..,t;i~~'I·! . .~ ~~".'IIII".~ "••" ,..iii,I.t!! .... !o" . . ~ " •••• , .... ,., •• ,; . . ",,~ "" .. ;"!~! !i ~".."••••, ;••~"". "•.;''!! ,!i ~.."••,. .... ".Ii "i~ 18

Picks and S tl"il1gs "...•••.•.••.•• , " " ,." ' " ••••.19

1ii1~11e5~~tup'.,~. i ''''.i~t - . . i ll ~ It",!! ~ "" ,••• " " , ",,",,ii~''+i~ .p! .lfI!!!.'" '''' u , • • • , . , iii, •• ~....,.. i ~ ,.1~IIOIIi.. ' I i " " n ,•• Ii , iI .. ,, , , . ' ' '~ . . -FII~"!."I ,••• ,.22

CbQ;pter nt.\'()-Tbe lile;r::.fJ·lcGl,dtar .a'Sem, Electr ic Instnm'lfm,t, ,••, 25T11'e Pickups i,t;t!!;e "~""~!,!,!,!,,, ••••. ~•• "·i',,.,,. ~iiili t!!iI;e."t't,~.,!·!n "••• ,j ·r ,; 'iii ~",a..".,,=t! !!' ." " r ." ..' " ill ~I!I !,Ii".~"." ""lOl l' .' " " • • , ;", ,25,

''''iring S S ' · s t e l1 m l i " . . . • • . . . • . . . • • . • , , . . • • . • • • . . . . . " , . 2 8 ·

l · m l l C Am ,p !li fi le r ' '' ." ; ;; i~~ !! '' '.~. '' '' .' ! " •• ""•• Ii i I •• ~ . . "" . . ;i!iil t! ..~.~,,~,! " • • " ••• " • • ~ j ,.·~"i,l,i~! ,"!!,~+"a~,!,",,, " ,.~ .·",+Fil F! "..~"•• , , : 3 10

Sp- eak,e.r.s, .~~..,..~,, ;p.~~."'' '' ''~ . .. " ' ' ••• . ,. , ••• ' ' i' • • ''''I1r.~,;.''i~";e;" .... ~ ' '' !! ' . .. .. . . " ' '~ • • , ,~ •• • ' '" . . ' '' ,. . .• ~~~~ !> '", .~ ••• ,,~ •• .,, •••• "" •• ''''''''''''.;,;;~iI''t ....... ~.''' ••• ,••• I • ' • . . 3 r 4

C f : ) '( . 1 !p ' l. .j !" T h ' Ic : e e ' - 1)Is;t:o.~,;tiO'l '1 , a n , r l SI;~sta i1'1 , .•....••. , 37

C om pression ~~,,, ,,, ,· ii "i~"';'''~'' i'!!!'! II.~ •.II.II " ""i~~ ~+~;;;~ ~t!!~ " ~.••• " •• '" "" .. Ii itii t o ~ - ~ , , , , , ; ; ; ~ I ~!!" "•• ~ ' ,."Ii,;ii , ,3,7'

D',isE,onion ."'.... , . ,...·. , ' ii1li,.ii~~"oi;;;;;;.I!!!!'"·~ ... '''·"•• , I O J • •• . . " • • • oio,jjii".·""",oi;;~!f~!!."·"."''' •• .,'' •• ."•• i."ii;O.""",''oi~~!I!t!"'" .••• ,., ..... ,••• .,";;ii""~;;;,-.-,,,;..E~!!!391

CI:UJpll!1" Pbu:r ~ AUlbte:nt lW'ects •." " " 43,

"'Iltpe D elay ..,.".....,,.....I·,.,i ii.... o 4. ' " ~ " +"";0 ~ . '' !' •• ~ " •• ~ '•• • II il"'.",;, iii ~",~" +iI! ! ~ILI I. ~ " , ." . , II·ft·• Ii >i i i i ~ +; ~~"!!! ~"•• ,.. , "•••" ,. .. ,. ,,"~ iii' ", ~ '" • . • • ~,4,4

Aualog De]a}' .., , '.., ".., 45

Dii~ilta~l el ay . .. •. .. " 4 ·5

A,pp]iCiUions , 46

Revelf.'b, ' "' i "~!i i o ~ ~, ~.! !J"" • ••• "" ••• ., " i ih,1~~ = = " , ~ ., . . , 'r.", m.i i ~I ~ ii m .. ' e ~! ,~ ,••• " ,•• ",;;"i i ii ';e;!!>"oi ~ ~,,,,~ ~.,~ ,•• 48

: S l ) : r -m g lte\?'erb! '! ''' ••• ,''M• ''' '. niil~ h~"~ ~=~~ ~!!~"••• ,•.••• '''r.~"".1i i ,~~~'' '~~' '. ''~~!~ , . " ,••" n.~ ..''.';; hi!! ~~~ "~~~~ "'.II".~ "' '~'ft •• h~~ 4 8

D jg .itaJ R everb ' " . ,• ." . 4 8A .pp~ii.ca!rion ,. , ., " ' " " 4 '9 '

Chorus Flanging and other Pitc.h/Delay E ffecltS i , - 50,

I C l 1, O fl lJ 1 . S L • •• • " ', ., • •• , ;,Ii. ;t.+.~.~~~+!!!! ~"""•• '". .. . ",••• '."•• iii,,. i! ~ ~ _ _ ~ . ..",.~!~ ' !I '• • ~. " • • ~ ,•• • " , .. .. n,i i ....... "......~~~,~! ~~.•~...,~•• ,.,.... ",••• ~"i.';;."~~....

! ~ ~ 'I!" ",•• ~,, ,. .. ,,

. '50

PjilCh Sliliftin g , " ,.. . . .• . . . 52

App~jcati:ons , ," , , 52



]PARTmImE: TRICKS OF l'HEl'RADE

CbajJte'1"Five - Puttiug It All Tqgetber ,.,.,. , " .. ,..,. -, ,. , , ",.,,5S

The "Chein of Command" ."..,", , , ,..",.." .. " .."a"a , , ,',••"" ;6

Stereo "'" """ """'" ".,,'"" "'" '''' """ """ ""'''''' '''' '"'' """ """ """"""'" ,.,,"" "'" .,," """ ,"'" """ """ " , ,.. ,,'",,,,57

Advanced rugs ', , ., , - - ,,' .._".- .59

When Not To Use Effects ,.,,' ' " '''' ,." '"''''''".,''''''''' """"'" '''''' "" '" '''' "" ,,,. "'" '"'' """" """,61

ChajJter Seven. - Tbe Vintage Advaluage '" '''' , , , , ,", , , , , , , , 65Vlntage Guitars, ."", , , .." ,.......•................. , ,.. ,., , ,, , ,.,.,'.,.. ". ,.,.. ".. "".,6;

VbttageAl1l1ps. "" " " "'" """ '"'''''' "., "" " "" """ "'''' "" '''' """ "". ,,,. '''''''''''' ""'" ", ,"., , ,, .. " .. "" ", 66Vintage Effects ', ""','",","'" " ' " ', , , , ,. " ,' ,." ' ' ', ",..,. 66

A, ,Pinal Note "..,,'""" '''', ..,'''' "" """'" "..,'''''' ""'''' ,,,.,,"'" """"""""'"""'"'" "'" .,'".,,' ..",... ,... ,,.,,',... ,67

AftfJeudix I -How Did Tbey Get ThoatSound?, , , ,,, ,,, ..,' """" " .." ..,'''' ",.." , 6 9

Abou« the .ftu.rh o:1 ' "" '"'' """ "'" "" """ "'" "" '"'' """ """ """ ""'" '''' ,,,., ."., .,,' ,,,.. "'" ... , ." .... , ... , ... , ... , .... ,77



Ackno~ledgelllents

I d tid not m ake up aU this information n or learn it all fliom m y own experience so

I would liketo gnl~eftd~.yacknowlec:)gethe peoph~ who generously nUowed me e od r::a rw from U iJ J .I;:U 'nowledge tlnd e:x;,peden:ce:: M~k:e:Mat'h.ews" RuclilPeli1Jsa.,, john S'iJi i 'wr,

lGa~' B:m~:ver"an.d P : i J l d IC~lI~:ndl,er:.

This b ook would have been all text b u t fo r ~ he kind 1 ' :1 e 1po f t h e : lb l .[ oWil lJ lg eop~~

who provided phmos and ilh]strnt~ons:~mt WiIliilUllS, nob BenJl:( l leUo. St,e\reKaufmn:m

at lE.S.P. . '1:C. Bectronics, Line 6, Tech 2L. rom WaH,ers :at Seymour Duncan, D~gital

Musl ,c Corp., .Hash ino USA,Pro Co ' S ou n d , Roland US, A sp en P lnm an ar Groove'Iubes,Rock t£o :n , Tube WOlrks" A l e s i ! S , . D un lop " an d Zoom .

F!iJJl Ial ly; would llke to thank,all the guitilirists,whose sound has inf luenced and

inspked me over rh e years. In no pml'i1:lcuJnl.' OKI~r they are; J ; 1 1 1 1 , e 5 Burton, Steve

C m p 1 I U ! Ji ',J~m ~_~.:al"13:ric:c.rn~ljit:{)in" P eter G .re eu " Bucfdy G!Iil,r~Com,c]11 Dup[~e th e K ~ n g

f3i!fnily (B .:O .." F r ed d y , a n d Albert), Amos IG.rett, B'lIIz,zy fdltC:Il,RI,o!bbenforo, m~~nPriseU,

A dd all B elew , R ob bie R ob ertson , Billy Bm l e .r ,R iH y G ib bo n s, Alan ,Mu('phYt an d ~ a:stb ut

nor least, my h ro th er N or m an .



For my brother Norman who has it ~nhis fingers



Intro,duction to

the S,econd Ed.ition

It has been leu. reimrs si l tceGer t i rng G r:~ al ,G u ita r S O Il!J ln d sw as fast pub.~isheil.. U~tck

th el1 M I D .I (f 'Of g:t rI 'i '~l risl :s) was .O lew! t l' lc ' Jn t eme t W:JISscience fictioll" m wa s .m ~ u l 'f fie d .

an d Stev ie Rny Vaughno MlS ~l~~.v'e.ow M ID I Is mnt~erof l'1.K:I,.~ c;m 't Uve withou~

emi.llH,Mr:.Vaughan ~ s :no ~O r llQ le rlirith us (thougb dozens of clones UnfQlitWil~,'td)' laurel.and ~am nolonger married,

Wb en l fir stw oo !t'e t1ile'li:Ioot Ifl: l( ' ld.e~1!. a pomt to stick to [b e bM~CS ,m r ' three re'.!ISOM'

I) n'swhflt people need ,_ Don't: gi,v(;:them fish, giveth-em. f i! shu : il g rods , If you

1 ,11 l l de r~ ' t ~ l ndhe b<!SlCS you can teach yoursem f the rest.

2} TIle b asics d on 'r ch ange - Tile b ook has. b een seU~ n g , 5~e l rudUY 'for t en y c. :iJ l.r s

b ecause eeverb rem aln s reverb , d ela \) ' is s tUl delay~an d a kiss is ,sliU ;1 kiss,

3 J , ) ~t'sid~I:bm w. I am agurutaF" p1aycr .0 ( ) [ a s ct em i s t. E v : e l 1 ' 1 t a : l i n , g , : ~ know about ,gUitK

'tone I learned for myself. not 'to tnvent anythingor sell anybody : :mydl ing . ~f.I

1!.mde(jSf~Uld.it YOll.l!e ..m ullders(9!_nd it 'm . not: tha t smart .

.~ h a v e revtsed it because':

I)11u! ' ptctures 'we're m~u·{ ;d)·.o f effects 'tllal are n o lo ng er :arv aii:lab le .

2) I know a little more now, and I am a better wdter.

3), So~e things do inf;tct' change ..

The old section en the .iRock.nl!Ul Revolution ~ seemed :ab.itqua:iiU s~nc e the

Rm: :kl l'UUli s n o l()(fl . igerma d e aD d has W on gsince b een rep ,laced b~ ' th e San sAm p as a

(W I ! I :i ! c k an d easy d irect f e lC o £ i d u lg a i d . Mul l .t i- e : ff ec t: s ,an d rack g ear h!avc ' p rn crh ::fllly com e

and gOfn: ill terms of fad and fi~sh:ionbut are stiII imponantenongh to ex:p!md OG,Mye ~r s h {tr veopc '1 ' lI cd to some 'new sOlUnd ls ,as, bemg ~'gre~tt~'Jld ~ :hope Y'OU:fS h~n re f ,nQ '.

H a vjl'lg s aid 'c ha t, I wtsh ] could . s a } r that nlfmy m ore new ,guUa:l '.is~shave a.ppelu-cd

on the scene with f.lb!!.!:tous new mn,es-f can't, To, .m y ears" no' guitarisElike' Jim.

l ietndrmx or mil fr iseUbils c o1li l_.C:aklng,e o revoiutrorli:2ie tile WIli}'W,e listcn~o th e Instru-

nllent through the strength of th~i:r u n ~ q l ' i . i . e 5t}r[e and sound. Maybe you caa takt:, 'theb:lS~1bi<:nowlledgc a~'3 i l~l IbWei tnthlisbook an d b ec om e ~ b atg uil~ U :is t.



What ls"!Great" Guitar Sound

"Great" sound ~scbvionsly a subjective term, What you.m~ght consider a great sound

someone else (your parentsr) might caB an ~lwfu[ noise. So, If we ~ttegoing to spend an

entire book discussing great guitar-sounds we shmdd begin by dellnlng wh~~twe mean.

For O :U1 'pueposes, great sound c-onld be described as souadthat allows the gu:it .lrist

to express ru m or herself as f l lUy aspossible, P'at M~thelley and Edward V;;11lHalen

sound not at aUalike, but each has developed a personal sound that alows him to corn-

m t uticate h ru smuslcal ideas a n d fe elin g s WJd~maximum eJfidency; It is unlikely thai!V-a:nHalen's distorted sound would be appropriate for Metheny's I}neal excursions, nor

would Pat's spacey chiming be' right fnr Eddie's hell-bent-for-leather boogk.Both sui-

(;aris~sare vtrtuoso te,chm:ticifuiS~lYllt!t~s.more thanfast fingers and great; [deas that set

them above the crowd - it is the proper 'Use of modern electrontctechnology that has

helped thelt musk c~~ptuI'e the imagination of millions of Iilisteners.

We could say then thst great sound. is controlled sound -distorted when you

want it,dean when that ~scalled for, up front when you need 1(.,distant and spacey

when appropriate ..It is (he purpose of this book ItO l/leWpou control your soundand

sha pe it to your needs as an individual,

Once you understand the prlnctpals of sound herein you should be able to

a.chieve my guitar sound you desire. You will know whil!t equtpment you needtocopy almost any guitar sound that you hear on record. It is my profound hope,

however; that copyiD,g records will not be your goal I would rather that you use the

~nformation tf l this book ItO help you develop a sound tha!t isuniquely your own.

Bxperience will show you (if it hasn't alleady) th1llt when yon hear yourself play witha sound dun: youconslder "great," you will J>layyour best - which Is after all, whitt it

is all about.



P A R .T- -

ONE

The Guitar



CIHAP i'ER , 1

The Electric Guitar'as an Acou,stic In;strutIlent

ItLsa COI:nmOIlmisconceptlon that an elec-

uric guitar ~s "[ust a frame holding SO,Olepickups. It is . the pkk.ups that create the

sound," Ifthis were true we cousd begin our

discussion of great guitar sounds with,chapte:r two. In f e : J i 1 i t : y , this is not the ease, A

great seunding guit:.'li.fmust sound great

before being plugged in, Of for that matter

before any pickups are ins,taUed.

G.E. Smith (guitaris~ for Hall And Oates;

Dob Dylan . , Satn~da)' Night live; M~ck.Jaggel ' .

etc.) once came into it ll!lu$ic store where I

was working to buy some strings and other

ne c e ss a ri es . ..~lJ.likI was calling. In h.i:screditcard for an. approval code, he asked 'to see a

guitai l : that was on d isp lay . H e strummed it

once, listened, and said. "'P'u~n o n . the card".

This W<IS not to Impresseveryone with I n swealth. It was because as an ex-guitar

salesman and experienced collector, he could

td from ahat one \.u]JampJ:ifi,e(l, serum that the'

gu~tar sounded great acoustk ..lUIy;and there-

fore had the potential to sound great electri-

cally+I say "potentlal" because obviously bad

pickups could dimjnishthe sound, but it is

hnpormar to re rn em eer - a ;:n e te ct rt c g u it a; !"

that does not smmd greatacottstically will

neuer sound great electrlcaIJ)~ WUh great

pickups; a luulUtude of effects,,:lOd :N great

amp, a guitar that sounds bad aCQustic:aUy can

be made to sound good, but not g~'e{;zt-alJ[d

great sound is what we are after.

\Vby? The elusive ch:u:acteristics of a great

soundiog gu~tar- tone, sustain, warmth. reso-

n an ce.p resen ee (rheabW m :y tocu t truoug h the

sound of' the rest of the band 01[' tracks) - all

start with the acoustic Ulsu·ultI. 'ent Themate-

rials cnosenand m e waly they are puetogetherwill deterrntnemany of the sound characterls-

tics of the guitar,

H O W A lN .E L !E IC T IR l r CG U IIT A R W O R K S

Ba.5~ca!l1yjan eleceric g:n~~:Ji1"ransmtts the

sound of vibrating serings through the

pickups to an amplifier, out of the speakers

and to your ears. The most obviOUS part of

the sound that is transmitted is tile pitch,

\Vhethe,f and where tile string is fretted will

determine the note chait is heard ..Less obvi-misty, the v~b1"aUng string rransmas tonal

qualities, Some of these qualities are deter-

mined by the pickup type and placement,

and some by the makeup of the strlag ~ u s e ] f +

But- and this is important - it also ti~(ms.

~;nit:s.the .tonal quaUty of the guitm' as an.

acousticin$trume~1t.. I f you strum au

unplugged electric guitar ~hat sounds thtn,

with notes mat decay and die rapidly, this is

how it wiU sound when plugged m . Con-'Ve,r .se~y.if it sounds full and fat acousttcally

wi.th notes. that seem to' ring endlessly, this.will cont~~lb'i.ilteo the sound. coming out of

th e a m :p U fic r.

M~Uly factors ~lffec~theacoustic tone 01

anelecrrtc guitajf. The fotlowmg is : < 1 . discus-

sion. of some: of them, WhUe abSiOrbblgthis

informarion keep one thing. ]1 1 mjnd:When a r n l

is sasdand done, guitars are like people. Thinkof identical twins - same parents" same ellv~·

ronment, but they can be as dufe;!';;e'llt ~I:Snight

and day.Guitars are the same - you can have

1 1



th e :m rne Jj)lerroilll i b u r u r u d l tw o g.l)liiilmn m it of the

same materhd.· and tbCl' w ~ m ~soundvery dilf·

ferent, Why this is so should become clear as

} 'OIU, ren d o n.ikfor,e V-"C' get into specmcs. kit: m e reveal

ill. bias on my part. Over rh e '¥ea![s g l l I 1 i 1ulr ' man-

ufacturershave come' up with necks andbodies made o,fgraphite compollinds (Modu ..

Ious Gmphire. S~ei:nberger) and nile;:ca'iGit~er.

'fntvis Bean), These marerlals offt:l' some

advantages over wood. Graphlte camp ounds

are m ove slab We than wood and are less likely

to : s hm· O\i,cr 'Ute }"'C3!'1'Sor with seasonal,

regional, or adler teml,erature extremes.

Mef;:lI!gujt'lr.5C~Ul offer unique des~gns" like

the tl.bul.~r Q,ill:lc'f' curr:cl iuEy on. disl)bl}1 iJlt theNew \fork. Museum 'O f M.odern Art. Do:th mare ..

rials offer an eveness of frequency response

and n,o, "dead" spots; ([,,:I;ICe:5, on, dle neckwhere the note decays 'C ' !Uiddy) . Ne,~erthe-

less, it is Ill} op in ion tha t w~fl}a ll it s fi!uU s. f or

ind:ilrkluaUl1i' of tone and maximum personal

exP:['C~sjoll noone has conilc up wlrh al1y-

~hhlgthar .! i i l l~)msse$ the wef l made l'!I,I'l(');oden

electric guitar;

Th~s,is not mere Illl,SUtJgia on n i l y pan" nor

f);:(11y personal preiudkc. lnmrenfiewmer~n~e rv ,k~" . rw ,~~h ~n'{Jfessi 'olml m u ste tan s U keMnrcusMil[er (b~ssist with Miles D'{v~s).orBruce l'lilOIJ;'Iilmi, (b~S5~5;rwith ElMs Costello~.

Ome } 'm m k . abou t bu U dL"G th eiir s l:} ]es a rou nd~he dead spars 0 1 1 1 their hlstnune.l1'bi. Bven

Stel 1 1b er ge r h as b [(!,u g 1l:t ou t ~ilwooden mod e l

"for dl:05cwhio! pir~'leli"tbe fe'e:l of wood",

G, rnp .bmte eorapounda am] metal tubin:g

1 1 1 m } ' be wonders of man's technology, bur

"ani)' God cen make a . tree", like SI. l() ,wfl~kesj,

no two t reesere ::d&e - I i 'It)lt even ·two parts of

the same tree a re ,ex:ac~l)l~IUk~.These varia-

tions result tneach wooden guitar having its

own perSOl'mlil1',~tRd the combin;i~'ion .o r it'sper'SO:mdity and l'oum$ is what nlhJ\:\fS :grelln

music to be made,

letiie,s) to ['eel the 1jI i I :u l l , t~ons,.'h1!Jls"wooden

~1~eadl'eSis'"gl!liwrs~!'acrif'i,oe a s,ignificant

amount of sustain (g l71phi l :e compound ones

likl';"the S£~inbergt:~· n1aJkeU U t' ~n the p!mp-

e rt ie s o f t hem 1 llt et :i: jl~ ~tself).

That ~id, the act~~:1I~.SrnThlilpC(If the head-

stock has little effect on the tone. More

Empormm. js hO,\1l 'the headstock affects the

~cns lon 'O f (h e s 'I ..r tn i!:sc ro ss th e n u t.l~or the first fifty ye~u:s ,oJ~he twt!n t : iech

ae'ntul'}f, most guitaL's ha.d he:rudswcks with

111ree t u n ii ll lg , g .e3 if S p e r .id e'.l·h c:'s c headstocksw e re a ls o t~m re da t a n!lln gl} e ;3IWJt, from the fin-

gerboard in order to mainrai I,,] 'the flU nnpor-~~uu ~C ' t 1 si ,0 1 iltC[OSS,the m a. oro h!e..lr how 'this,

te ns io n a ,ffe cls {he sound one need only take

the high E string on a vintage Pender S~f"atout

from under the stf'jug tree dun holds it down.

(Tillu.e 5lttdli lg tree' is ,~ocj~~edall, 'the hem.llStoc:kn ea r ~ !h etuning ge~~r~1 )OSr5 ) . t !U ! ! le t h c : : strff ing,

toplrch, Listen clu'dldJy tn the sound as you

pluck tile open st rLng.Now toosen the string

rep];;lce il 'under ~he string rree and refune it

t o pioch ..: P 1 . u c l k : f f i t , o , [ ' l I c n a:g1~in a n d ~isben."fh'e

sound wUl be much fuller and Jess dnHi}l,

This "three on a sfde" h ea ds to ck c o.n ~ fig n ·ration srin exists on most .u:; 'llUstic and Gibson

,style e te cm c g u ffi~ a'I'5 .but it has 'tw o tm s ic d ls-advantages:

One ; ; InaddUion to bdn,g p uUed a t an .angle back from the nut (wbh::h ~s

g oo d,) ., ,th e str in g is also belng pulled at

9111angle ~g.1~nls,t ehe side m dle' nut slot

('l!\'hkh ~s bad), 'I1llis laner angle can

cause tuning problems, especially

when beo(Ung stdngs ..(Thnt is one

r ea so n , n ;a d ~ ~i.o n a sff id e . t h ~ u Ihis SiIJ '~e

remains popul~r om. acouetic gJU~~ml'.s

where string bending ws le ss preva-

Went.)

TwO: The p]aY'fr must 'turn the

bottom tuners in a,dlffe ren t directlo n

t .bnt thetop ones to achieve the same

cfibct. This cnnpreve conJf11 ls ing f fin 'the

mtdd le of : ' 1 . song when a qulck tuning

touch up ~S, requirea

Much of the guitar's resonance is trans-

mitted througn the' hendseock .vou need oilll)"

In gliip rhe headstock In ,rour I~ft:hand and

strum the s t li 'm n g s wIth }iOUiI ' r~gln (reverse for



.< l betl'uHfi:llly #Il"kl ard.?' Io jJ1xi( 'Jdst(>r:;k " : p i lMtlJ.iel"fJob . l J e . n e , r ; l e U o . ,

A~ol1gcame teo Pender in the early nine-

teen fUi!. . i .eso popularize the "SiX :in. HI1~· style

headstock withall the gears on top. Note that

I say popularize not ~nve'll:t M :r. 1 3ig slY y had

buil 1 1 a six in Hne Iieaclstuck it few years

earlier; and there were even some early rela-

[]ves of the guiaar with ~. slmllar destgn,

N onetheless, Leo had the . r Ig~1I . t~ .deoJ i t the

Fight: tlme, The gmwil1g popularity of string

bendfng made this desIgn very desirable.

Why? Because the six in nne d,esign allows

the strings to pass stra~ghthroughthe nut to

[he nmiug macmneswtrhour ~n)yside angles

to throw the string ou~,of tune. The head-

stock, however; ~IS not angled back from the

nut. This allowed Fender to make a one piece

neck from : ' I . smaller piece of wood, andthus

produce more affoedable gui tru;s. Unfortu-

nately, i.t necessltated the l IDSC of one or morestring trees or retainers, to .mai.nmiln the

tension of the ehinner strings across the nut,

This is not good because .it can create thesame tuning problemsthat we were trying to

elimtaare. We w m see: how to fix this problemm the ~e:x~section,

O t h er' s ix in!me head stocks Inwe appearedthrough the years like the Jackson styie wrnl [d l .

tllcs l~u:k.but does i j e O ! l : afford a straight lineto

the nmersand the Explorer type which does

neither. The: t1!UliJ1g problems presented by

th e se h ead s to ck d .e s.ig ns are uS<I1~[(y rendered

academic by the use of a. locl.i:J.~g. 1 J I l I ! t system

(mol:t:ou tins bner).

The type .o f tuning machinestbat you use

0 '1 '1 your instl'nul);e;nt can affect rile sound" if

somewhat .~ndirectly,.Some tuners have very

.high posts, In a Fender typ.e: headstock, thls

can eausemsulftclenttenslon ;100\55 the nut

The sol.mion IS eo use two or even three

strw,g treesto bold the mlgh~down, but these

C . l l l : 'l t catch the strings causing them to go out

of tuneespedally when usitlg the vib:rJ.lto

arm . .A better syste:r\1.is to use tuners with

low enough posts to aHurdproper tensionmd]~gone SU'itlg tree.or even bet te r . none at;3,]1Tile tuners should Bt~Hbeh]gh enough to

allow lWOOr three w:indhiligs down the pose

wbi.ch will keep the s~r.ingfrom popping oue,

Some <,;ompanies offer what are knewn :18

"staggered" tuners, that ]s:tuners withposts

that get Jower as the .strings gethigher,WIlel') stringing ehe guitar the number of

wIndings around the p08~S is crUh;;ii!. You

need enough W p£'eveOt the string from

p uH in g lo os e, and enough wi:ndi:ngs goIll,g

down ~he post to create the proper tensionacrossthe nut Iiowever •.many times a p]ayer

will put too many wlndings on the peg.

causing ~bestringtc wi!.1dback: up thepost

thereby redllci:og the tension ..In. mldl'ti.olTh,:rus

1 1 1 . < : ~m' rungsare played or bem, these windings

continl.Hlill.y tighten, ciI.!usmg.the sujJlg tension

to loosen and the pitch to gofrnat.Or,when

the vibrato arm is depressed, caustngfhestIit:!g togo. slack, the Windings Loosen so that

when ~Il.earm is released the str.ill,g is ~h;aq).

Two toflve windings are normally sufficient~depending on.tile height of the postand the

thickness of the ssring,

Lock~ngtl1llillg machines lock the string

Into the pos~,remov~ng the need for any

windings - ,~ucs~e sure that the pOStS are low

enough to prov~de: pf -opel ' senston.

Hil,l: Wbefli gnltarlsts have 3iU insrrumem

that is cl:iftlcu]t eo keep in tan e, the first thing

they aSSUAlC ~s that a tl1~ning gear is . s1]PI) ing .



14 • GmU 4G G RE i!!l G UIT AR .sO llN DS

lli1 mye:x:perience ~h i s ls the k~ 1! t1W lg ' l1"OU,

shm.mlldclrtrl. First c1l";-k: Your windiings (fOO

Pl3:il} ') , your strings (too old), }'·our b . l ton3 . tmQl l

(see seerton on se:tup)"and y a 1 . l l " f inge'1" pres-

sure (s.ee' frets). Then stretch y o u . 1 f strm.gs,

stFe~dll tb;;~.maJg~ ~nd nih.en strc:t£iI:~.'tIll.enl

once more - stretch them until m ey SbOI)

goi.ng flnt Once you have done all tlm!, thencheck the tuners.

'H 'E NU l l'

The thln piece of material (either bone,

sYDl~h:er:lcbone" gtral,pbi~e.Or bf<lS'S) be,tw:een,

dliC fu e ad no dk a nd lhe f re tib o :J ir d is ,cal .ed l the

nut. ' . ! I . 1 l l eeffect of i;t::sn:~atc.d~lln Ule tone , o f '

the guitar is often overestimated, More fre-

quendy the Importance of a wellcut .mlt ~s'

underestmm:llled. The'tone of ,;lj bone' nut D:lill iy

be ' m i l rg u l ; J! i1 ) , differoll.t (hrul :Ibrass, : g F " 'J .p h i te ~or metal ~ock~i1Ignm ( a _ n . , d . then only on .open

stdngs; oneethe string ISfr.ctl!ed 'the nut hus

no effect) but farr more imporlllntly; aSJllit~r

with a b""dl~! cut ~Jlt win 11 ;0 t 1)I)ny~I:Swdl. 01'

ri.o:gas fmc as one withan expertly cut one ,It is 'V i m ] that the srrtngs pass through this

portion of the guirwr wUhout binding or flop-

p'ing around; As. we discuss'ed earlier, the

tension of the strinQs across uhis part of theinstrlull ,e' l1 . t h:as~v,el'yd1:ing to do with it's

cone. If ~he st:riln(;s are i.lllpi(i'opeilyseased

!they wU. not vWbr.ue p[I()perW,r:md gl'ea:t

SOUJld Is impossible. ,

C~!ning, :f l nut req ulres asee ofv:a:tiouslysiz.ed fi~es. nnwcnpaHence- . tw,o, or chr,ee mIlt

blanks (to fepbl.ce 'tbe ones you screw up)

and pr:ef 'el i lblr years ,of experience. If YOi1!.1

lack any or all.of the above;. you. may want a

qu~]med pfofe.'1iSiloI!ll'll ~odo ~t.De l'Fep~[edto

P;y" ror n top jo b , A . : prQf es s~O I iI al :maJ ' , charge"I1vllatseems llkea rot of money to 'cut. some

notches, but remember that a bargain Is not a .

bargai I i1, if your SUiJ1,,gS pop Glut, or ~;top:F,~llglillg~n.1lrmediatel:)·~11 'get C:~UIIh~:n the nUl t :

when you use the '\'lila.mm)f bar,

My personal preference is f 'hr a well C\1t~

hone or synthetic:bone nut. BIDllSS nuts were" -

~1tr~nd f ' O l t a ,:yhille .~bl"';eaSOrl,s, ~]la,t barve been

d i looMcd b)r 'thine ..(Pi!"!ob~1b11rhe same Impulse

as platform shoes). G:raphite 11utS are self

lubrlcatillg, theoretically allowiug the SUmS

to p~S'5 , thi(M):!gh mo ir e e i9 !s ;iiI ly ~ee p r~ n m :tin d "

thm.lgb .• ,that gnlph:ltl!' is .more dif6ciLdt to

wor>kwUI th~n bone, and }~OU'af;(!better off

with a w ~ I J ] cut bone nut than ~ 1 I poorly cut

grapmte one ..

Lo d :m . g n . y r, s,e e rn e inl lWO ba s~ c v :u ie : tt e :s ·:

( :1) ones 'that go behind the ,existing nu~

{Kabler) flnd (b) those that replace the~isting nut (l'[oyd Rose) a- FO'l" my money (and

fur yours ~oo). the ones: that go, beh~nd the'

n U ll a ile p oim.de.ss : J I ' l : l d ' \VC'1'e u : w . v ' e . n t C l d II,argd}' to

elreumvear the Floyd Rose pmen~.The strjng

st m has 1:0 pass ~hrQ:l.1ghth e c:;:xi.sU ng n u t

where it can g,e~ ca~lg1ilt.The floyd IilU~

replaces the sfandl~rd nu~ and ' : n r v o i d s anf

' C ' a t ¢ l i l i. U J g prob~ems. T h i s may sound H k e I

own stock in Hoyd ltose Inc. ,_ .m wishl It is

justthat m,yexpel1'mt.:filcehjls;shown t h o U if),I.Jtl!1.

are goit1.gt!o put up with the h~lSS'C$ of a,

:Iiocking sysllem (exU1lI st!i~ng C.h;ulg.ing 't~me,diminished sustam), it is wise to \ISe a . system

thar ( jJl"OjJCI' /J ' inst"U(ull) has the best tmckrecord Qf'st;l,ing in mne.

, F . R E T S

The.tw'C'oty lto n:vcnty four metall stJrips,

across the neck of rhe gu.it;~rare known as

,"frets" . In additton to aff'ecting pbyabmuy and

hnonation~ frets {'11n also :alfect the sound.

Unc'v,en or b a .d m y If;o.to'rnfr;ets C~lO eause

buz;zin:g,fl"etdl.lg out (the sousrd cuts off

sharply), and ~bilily toplay lntune (this fS not

necessarily rhe same as a ba.d ly into'.lated

in s : ( . n u .m e Ji l ' C - ~ e - e him) ..

Frets. come id diffeF'em heights andwidths, and the eheorles concernlng the best

size have: changed as p l~ l y j _ng :s ty l es have

,e ; l langedLIn~ 'he e l1 ld ) it 11Ucomes , dOll ivJ!I m p e»

sonaJlprdcr:en'ce~ but here msso;m_.eh1LtorDb1·

dQ!Ill that.ma~rhelp you determme what size

frets will best fit your own style of playulg.

Odginal F'e'n.der f:re~s were t:bIDilnd rela-'th'el}·fo,v.l·i~ey did the job (:ilIild stUI!do) f()lr

strum m In g an d standard jaJ'.7;or n at p ilc kin g ,;

Enr)y players were accustomed to' higher

action s an d hea.vy g.1uge s tr i1 lg s t h;Ji~ ~hey

, m r e m " , it' e V ~ ' F ' bent. I E i t r rr u ) fGib.son~ mtrodl!!!ced

Wider, but ~un low ff1cts. dahni ng greater

sustain from the metal to metal contact o .f

suing and! f[et.~t is more Iikdy' H : m t : the'



increased sustain of guitars like the Les Paul

came frOlU their heavier bodies ..~tis a fact,

however, 'that wide frets can create imona-

'lion problems since tJley do not provide ~!

dear cut offpomt for the string ..

In the later slxties higher frets became

p OPUL . ' l £ . Players wanted low action for speed,but they;dso wanted to be able to get tbdl'

fingers under the string for bending leverage,

It became ccmmon to replace Fender frets

with higher frets to compensate for the

rounder (than GIbson) .nlCUUS of the early

fender fretboaeds (see figure 1). This round

radius tends to make the high E and B str.mgs

"choke", or cut off; as they are bent l n l t x ; ' 1 the

center "hump" of the l : ' i!_ngetbomxlThis can be

avoided by raislng the action, but higher fretshelp the string over the hump without

ndsing the ~lC1:ionas high. Today fingerbeardstend to be flatter or can be flattened when

new frets are instaWled.

e

High thin frets offer easy bending; low

acdon nnd good intonation. YO:l,lrstyle of

playing should derermjne which frets are right

for you. For example: if your style involves

slidling into notes, Y(JUmay find that playing

T H E E L E C T F l ' lC G U IT AR A S A N A C O lJ S T IC I f l i5TlWMENr. 15

high wets feels llke bumping over railroad

tracks, Or, ifyou have big fiugers,you maryfind

that wide fi:e~sdo not leave you enough fin-

gerboard room. at the twelfth fret and beyond.

Try dUferelltmstnunents with frets of varying

shapes and S i1 .. eS 1 5 0see which fret,ismj)s~~om-

patible with your p]aying style.Hint: High frets require a lighter touch

than lower frets, This is because when you

press the string againsr the fret; the proper

note is sounded as 5000 as the strtng makes

firm contact, Further pressure causes the

note to go sharp. This may be hard W hear

when youare pJaying s.ing~e notes, btu not

when youpla:y chords. ]jthe pressure' of each

fretting finger is not the same, tile chord can.

sound out ofwne.lHghe'rf.rers pm,vide more'

dtstanceto the ftngerboam in which to push

ahe string out of tune so some finesse Isnee-essary

This is as good a place as a:n:yto discuss

scalloped necks. Neck scatlopmg refers to

depressions that are carved into the finger-

board between the frets, in effect creatmg

super high frets, II I theory, rhfs allows

enhanced expressive capabilfties; Le,

increased vibrato, easier bendLn:gand more

speed. In practice it makes p l aymg , iin tune

very difficult for the reasons discussed above.

The guitar virtuosos who have played seal-

loped necks (Larry Carlton, Yngwie . M 1 l L m . ·

steen, John McLa,ughUn , etc.) have p u t ill

many houn of .pI"i.icUceto beable 1 : . 0 p]a.y

these instruments in tune. II you must try

neck scalloping. C011S~de'l" havmg ~tdonetoan

extra gu~tar '0 yoncan practice on Uwhtle

g~gging on a more conventienal fingerboard.

\Vhl:chever frets you choose, it ~s impor-tant that they be smooth and level - that ~s

that t th.ey are properfp shaped and ~lU the

same hdght. We~tr spots 'can cause buzzing,

choking and tntonanon problems .. Newerfrets can be fixed widl a •k:ve[llig.~~~P&':O

(polish and dressy. or "grind and poHsh ~

~tl"JeSieall mean the same thing). TWs process

involves grinding the higher frets down to

the level of the one that Is worn the lowest,

and "crowning them ..."I11mts, shaping them to

apo~nt so that £h e string has [lwell defined

plac,e to make contac~:for proper intonatiou.

The frets are then polished smooth.You may



J r l : l ! 'V t : f : O ' adj I!!S~ y'QtU!l:' n c d o ' l l or aecikflellsion(see ~se~·up")a fte !' le 'i.!e H .n g, b u t you w.iJl l f ind

'(hal: d1e gUiUllrwill. l ']:;i1Yand sound bener

wl~h Ie\~rnl ~well c!I)()wn,ed' frets·,A goo,(1 fi·et lev-

e Liifl(g ca n ev en ,oo mp (!n sa ;~ e f() ir D :D J lno r" ' Y ~ l r p : : ; ;

and tv.tists.

If yom· gni:l~l:r is older and rhe frets have

1 b ! 0 . - : n ~e"'~eledsQ .m R n y t im e s tha.tthel'e :i s

3iW n~oS !tFto~l 'e , t .~(lfi~,'1 ' if rh e 'l1tect is bad lytw.iStelCl. or if you Jm!fW3l11rt dliffe.l'e:llItfre~t>, ~tis

chne for a "rut Job".,O'f replacemene otaU t~~,efil'ets. T .1 . t i ; s is an 'e:x:ac[~ng complex job tluu

should ide;l!ly be l I Inderl: lo1ikcn b y I l l . h:i;ghly

ski ll ed , 11 ' f'oiessi .Q .naJi Fe~pi l !~erSOJil . Beeense of

R's lime cmlsuluing compl.e:x:ltyi~ ,em!'l bean

e] \p~f lJJshr ,e undernrukillS. Bef-ore you in v es t

your mo~}e}~,on sh;ould loo!l:ils1de'r: Do I love

th is :n ec k? [)(J1 I ~.O!'1e~h.e 1 I .w y II ~eeJs i f O C ~ } /

h:n~d~Q.r,if the fret job is to ccrrect ~ltwiiS~ o.r

wn:rp;wnl . the neck then be s ta b le , o r wiJ1 it

so on twist ;li{lillill? Uyouhave any doubts, yO' l :~

mnyw<lI:iltt,Q1 <;~nsidet bn , rwg . ; . ! J new neck

(nssumiJ~!j,your gll~~arhas ~t bolt (lin, rep~iil.ce·

ab~en.cck} I{epiacitlg the enttre neck with

one tI.urt :feel~ bcn:eraJtf!dI/ :l )t is moee rel iable

: ! IlUl fy <. ' :0: )1 onl}I~' nn,k~nOi1"elhan rep~3iciI!lgthe

f r e l ' S , . an d y o u will .have ~lnwnst:rliJmetlt ~hillt:

makes y(mm;uch h;itppie.r:

U ' }'()u deeide th,~~~' <>uare s<lt[s'fied with

J l O u r c u r r e l ii t n~ck! then ! t i Iy ~ 1 ! i 1 0 0 1 : 1 ) 1 1 1 ; 5 g o

ahead wIth the fr·et j ob ..f:~r5t~he o~d .frets wil

be rem ov ed , A good . Imhier will t hen check

to 1:l]il~I.~e\lr~ d~~tt~he fingetboftrdis Strn .~g ;~u: .

n115~~Ithis point d)u~t:"bows", "'l)ll!ct. bo'!fvs"

(see ~nJ~',cks~)1 1 ; !!W~st~llJ,]~re3ih]bleby he:ili~O . 1 i "

fret .leveHng can he corrected tr y plruijng ~he

wlIgc(bOlnli l '. i l back in to sh:ilipe. ' l 'h[~ilJS'Sl .1.mes

thar there is a thick. enmlgh imgednl:ilrd 00

a.ilow p~alfling,.wh~dll~s i l lno,(her :mewr ~o

check before deciding om th e fret job ..At t lnspelnt you 11 I i1 il yd sohave ~be rn.dius flatreaed.

WA.RNING: Bfu:ga:i~r:el jf),fJs !QJ' t ;e' l l : CO'S, ';

le~'5~".@t;€I~f:$'e'h'(tjl do not!i"~il~{:liefl''8er-

bot", , ·c lplQ'11i1:lg , Not pbn~lJ:g,(hefiJ1igeFbo~:l"dC~I1IIcqlldlie more fret 110be~li'lQved during

]re~t;;:liliI1ig.u ld [J~ei!il~dlf~~[ fO~g wm need thern.ext

f]iet job ~h~ltIn~ld1!SOCNler. New l'r·efsare~heo

c:JJl'efu1lyiJ::lserred and lev"ded.mdil: IlIl;:W n!!'~(

is CUt. A w :eU fretted guttar w. iU. p ]ay 100%

be~: lIef i [lU l :I1 I . . p o o r . f y f i r -, e u : e d one,

NO'Ui: Scwetm1l.es,people wanr to ~re-

l)~aCe jlus~ the b~dly wor~1! : f l : \ e : t s " in fl mis-

guided .~,nenlp{ eo S;tve Inonef~U)"O'l,!Ip~ay

on]}' cpen po~it~ol!1lrbydlooj•nm;!,o.~lly~lle firstthree frets af!: pined wh~l.ethe rest are like

t1IJeW,. d~e!l Uiilisn~igh:t m f r u i k e : sense, Orlile.rw~se~

s :~ n ce d ~ e gUi~~l'W!ill nee( il .~~ .'&;0· .~£t ;e : rtile i}atiJ

frets are replaced, : i . ( 'wm end up costing

n ea rly as fl'J u c h a sa flln ftd . job,.

I N E C K S

Gu j~a f necks ~re D.l0SU oJ iten m ad e out ·of

O n~ 0 . 1 " !lm,O:ooof ~he fnna'!iviit~g;woods: maple,

r os :ewoo dt , m r u .l og lU i. y am i eboillJly.ntcQ'pe: .o f

wood used in ~be neck wil ~~iec:~rllesound.

One of the pr~mary cons id e r a. tioos wh en~~;dr!,ll~ti!lghe D e e : k : of 0 l I .guitar is "!';tab!nty~ -

wne;herthe, ne.f;kw~U ~wjSt aflld'!!:¥aiq,'over

ehe yeurs or shift e:l'!:!oessi:vely with d'n!~UlseS ~n

remperanae. Wll.enwoo.d is "green" orf i r , e : s t a J r u . y ' cur, it is s'till setltUng ,Jf it~s blUl'l!edl·

;~ ltc ; :ly 1 l .1! ; .adc~ntoa .neckth!e~els u o tdJing

what r u ~ :\v1IDm~) (n.r rin~e.

In the .!~gooc1o~cl dHYS,"wooden j l ' . !SUIJ"

m T . l i e n ~ s , :hilcludii:ng ea:rlyelec~fl!c guitars, were

FIlJi1Idlc[rc(JUi woodtllml[ W~I~i~ged:l l frcr il[ w as

cut, Most of dll.e setding ,".u:;e::;:s;lto'O!k pb~ce

before the 'wood was mad e i:ll10 a l1.~lCk. ' [ IDwls

: l i b one of tlhe [D1eaSOlnlS (other lh~ltl collector

'\'l3!.llle) dUlt o.~dJerg:llit;ll.rs iMJ'!e80 hi;sh!lyprflJed~t!ildpdced. In a,ddifio~]Jso bdng I r u t a J d e (It{

wood that was ~'iied!if au older neck was,

gOiUlg m WIl11) or l1.vIst, nwould have done so

~llFe~d.) i ' . lfa neck OJ:i! 1 a I . t iimi.es Fendler LSS1tlllighl,

youC~tnli'e8t a .s S l ID r O O it '''ifH I f e n 1 1 ! . a i n so. ' lbdnyno cue h;Jis time l10 age wood l1jll.tu.rilUy so

much of rhe wood .~s"kiln dried" - all artlficlal

ag~g pi£lOoe-sSd l O l ! t' he~ j jncre~Sle s - m b r u : l y .

Of ~beaOll111.~1I 'tol l l l }" used \\f(DO(]S. ~l~lJ!le i~

the most f!'~luem]y used, 1 1 ' a neck Is not

solid nmpk 'Ormap~e with a :5epi1,['"<lte maple

ru~g;e.Fboa~d~he odde . ; ] 1 £ \ 1 : : g!ood th..at: :i~:i~

n'mph::wUh31 fO!:re:W(»(ld!0.[ ebonyfiiug.er·boarci..Mnple fi.ug.e[bO;l[d~ offer .~~.r~~ll!)el'sound than rosewood, bu.tternid towea;r(';lster

and disoobr. n.ew~re of h:ewvny R.frnn~nerd"

01!~lp],enecik~; ~hey:mre \icrJ1Iinmc~h~, buttend to be more uns~;;!blle' {h;Jiu .I.:>binel' tlJil~lp~.~.



Rosewood ~smost often used onily for f in-

gerhoards; usually with a maple back. Solid

rosewood necks 'l[e beautiful but they are

e-xpensive, he~wy,and add litUe to the sound.

Rosewood necks and necks with rosewood

ftngerboards sound darker and warmer than

an maple ones, They wear a J . link better andabsorb finger oils without noticeable dlscol-

oring,

Ebony is rarely used for an. ennre neck. it

would be prohibitively expensive and veryheavy since ebony is the most costly of the

three main woods. However, ebony is oftenused for . fw.gerbc); ; lmS and it offers rhe bright-

ness of maple without the wear and disci()l-

oration problems. ItIs often combined with a

mahogarsy back to mitigate some of its

brfghmess,

.

...~ . .~ . . . . . .- - - - ~ ...

E.~otil::woods sucn .ISAfrican wenge and,

Indian laurel can be used for necks, but, while

attractive, they offer no parncular advantage

ill 8o.Un,(I or stabmty. There is a reason rhar themost common woods are the most common -

they have stood the test of ~ul1e~nd tone.

Eve1'lthe most stable necks wm some-

times shift with extremes of temperature,

lhel ! ' :eJoF,e,most wood necks have a metalred

running theirlengrh. This rod is either

lnstatled before the fins\erboa:rd goes .on,.o.r:in

a one piece neck, through a groove in. the

back which isfiUed with a stripe of COQ-

t rnsmlg wood . Tum m g this rod ~ d]ow s y ou 00..

a repair person to straighten the neck a it

should shift.

Guitar necks usually shift one of' two

W('Ilys: "bowing" > or '''ba,ckbow~ng''( see Figure

2). Many would -be experts spend hours

sighting dow-n. guitar necks from one end or

the other to see if they are straight. This is

fine, if you are purchasing a newneck, For

those of you maiaralning you r current guitaro r looking to b uy n narn read y assem b led 0 : 1 1 1 . < : : " a

more practical approach is in order, I call U

the "If it ain't broke]. don ' t fix. !t~method,

First set ~he action of the guI,ta.r(the height

of the strings above the fte~S) so 111:JI, t~tis com-

fortable for yourp]~yi:ng style in, open posi-

tlen, Now play the g uitar roward the I : ll jdd l e o f

the : n eck (from the fifth to the ninth fr ets ). U

the action is uncomfortably high around these

fret's, the neck m ay be bowed, or as some ~ - a Y l '

overbowed ..In dill) case ttghtening the truss

rod is in order. Ifthe strtngs .fret ou~or burz'Zexcessively 0 ( meaning audibly through an amp,

in an actual pIaymg ,s~tlJation)in litis area 'the

neck m ay b eb ackb owed . In th is case the truss

rod should be loosened, Ifthe truss rod fuilS to

c O ( [ " O O C t the problem, s e e the chapter o n frets.

and a good repair person - not necessarily ill

that order .

Man y necks need a ,sUglu bow ill them to

play propedy; Unf0 l i1 .11na~dy "neck sighters"

tend to get unduiy agitated whea they spy

anything short of a $u'il.ight line. I have expe-

rienced great p1ayhl ig ~nd sO l l 1 1 .G i n g , g uUQCS

with backbows, over bows and rwists, If you.

will pardon a Cliche: .ifest~v~d;looks can be

deceiving and the proof ~sin the puddLng (orin this case, the playing),



1 3 to G E m N G G iR E A T GUITAR S O U N O S

Glue·orl IJS. BoU"'Ol~ liS.

Ne:ck· '~I""O:f l ;gh·1JodJ~

Some ,gui,tJJtS hav.- -ethe neck ghled so Ule

bod} (Les Pauls), some are bolted 011

(fendte'rs), ;mdm some ehe neck is part of one'

piece of \,"i.!OOdf~lt eN:t,eli l(is:Ulwl IJ ,gh th e tlody

( I la lck:son) . The i lheo\fY of c bc n ec k th:rough the

body de'sign i s : that jf the pickups, bl'idge,and

rhe srrlngs (fmm miners, EO t:lliilpie'oe) are

moun.h::don tbe same piece o O f wood, sustain

wiU be greatl,}, enhanced. In practice ,iI \V,ell

j,oined glue-on and a p r ro p ed } f f i't l,e d !Dolt·on

,vII S~lSUU:n just as well,A flcdlt.~tbr,olJl.g'h doesallow a ,2;4fret fj:ng,e~boardwithout rear thatthe end extending over the body wnl CMd up,The dlowllside is th'l~ if aliliJftl1insgoes

ilrreparably wrong with the neck the gocl~{a!f is

n to ta l loss. -

B : O I D I I E S

Again, Uke people, gultarseome in aU

shapes ;lllld s~z,es! fr-om the :OlO.re ~md.iUon,a~

arch-top F·hoh:: v:ariet}~, [0,e;xotk star shapes.

eo funceenu) ra j) ],s h apes t h at c ou id hnrdzy be

su id te h av ea bod }f m all.The bodyola_n etec-

toe gnirar C:lIUI afroCf: ehe sound grellitly Of

subtly, l'OTexample, there' wi]] be a great dealof d,ilficrenc,e between tl::i,esound of a b~g

hoUow bOdied jazz guitar and a Ft}i~nlg.Vsolliid

bod}~,bUl:n more subt~e d~fe,rencebetween ill

an alder body Stf<l't and an ash one.

H]~ou ;~regoin.g :wr a Wes, M.O lugon : ~e r r Oil '

1;l.<1!itetl1lencli ~<' lZZl 'O~lI :e.yOll , \ " , r U I fmd ~~.much

more e~l,si[y attainable from a big body

Gibson 1:.-5 tli1;~n hom ;rufender Telec~~5"l:er.Keep in mind dla:t like Nan)1 of the sUigges~

..ions ill this book ,th~s is not written in stone.

zz guh~l r i sc s , can be j lu s t a s S il!IS C ,e .,U b 1 eto

!shion as Fock guiral'iists and as many ofI t hem play arch , · ( !OPSbecause it i s ~ r :l d i~ jm~a j l

and" <':001 I. as for the warm toae. John Aber~cmnrdJl jt;" M.tte SteJ"1lI and Ed B~ckeli't,~Q' name'

b ut uuee, ;)1 11 1:itl~ ag e toget w arm h cau tifi~ 1

t o ne s 'Out o f th eir s olid body guital's, Mo re tr n-d ido .m~1 phlyeli's Uk!1 !:JIm H aH and K en illyUu(:r:el often l)Li:1iy~~r,ro.un,eH that Iiesome-

where between acoustic and electrlc, and

thus prder;m:lHops which have more

aconsdc ll)wperries [ban saUd bodies.

'Oji.~f]r#IC(((!fo'O O'!): ' ;nm.;( '~ ~1u~dfi!.'(~rcJ.i I ' rJfJ(}jJ'!J~~3Prx~1

Ume ' ('1.t ( !; \71 'I 'e tm~ l y1000 lJ) o lumr ! l e/N jl s.

Semt-accusttc g:uitar's, like the G~bSOfl 13S-,

,335 Us . n l l n n y vl1thltions an d imittlWFS~ Qfferad\f:amages eo the guit~l.iristwho pblfs both

'trnditloll1flljaz:z and rock, These gljl~~nrsave athmner hollow body than the fuU bod~.ed

~u·ch· topis) and rn~.lly h ;oqJve soli~d , p~ (; ce o f

" iY( !Iod runn iO,g , ( [<om, th e l:iI.c cik j"O 'lmM :~h:rou,gh

the middle of the body. The' thin b!)dy oOie'rs

only 11mi'mf ~he aceusttc IieS()iJi1~U1Cie of the

ibigge:r bodies but flus S31De lack .o f reso-

11:i l l1JCe allows them to b played at louder

volames \V~.thout uncontrollable feed back. In

this case a solid block 0''( wood running

' thro ' l !1gJhthe body does ad d sustain = seme-

thing you may ,find lacking in the larger

: hoUow bod ie s.iI11e fj1,ain~h~li'lgto ~eep in mi:nd wl~en

chousing between hollow or semi-hollow

bod ies is I!Jtl~lt I r . h e ' f ea tu re s dYo lt g jv e:t i1 . e gl.t~f~W'

good acousuc sound - Ih.n soltd wood ~op.f·'

ho le s" •e ts 'c fa ir i:l1 s.id e - arc ~ he sam e p rope r .

ties that will cause it to reed back ~u rebltjvdy~O?lr VO~U:l'IIle:S"You mus~. d eeide ,vhat ,'our

p ~ a ry iil .g oc "G Iu ke s to f in d t he r~Gm~~OO'JlIpro~.llse.



THE ELECTR IC GU ITAR AS .AN ACOUSTl (; I N STR llME lr l[ ' rs

Hi'lt;~Ifyou love the look and feel of a

large arch top but need. It O playa1t higher

volumes, monkbuo having a.wood dowel P05t

pl.U in between tile top and back ofthe gunar

to dampen feedback causing resonance, or

stuff it flliU of foam or paper,

again, your playing sltuanon should deter-

mine your choice. The foflowing .may help

you decide ..

Certain heavier, denser woods (maJ'lO'g·

any;heavy m;h) sound mller and ,SUS~lmbetter

at lower volumes. When yon crank. it up,

however; the fullness can become muddlness.In the days of h~gher decibel p];lying the trend

shifted towards Ughter woo-CIs - swamp ash,

alder; andpoplar, I Jg Juer bodies produce a

deafer tone 1 ! i l t , hjgjl volumes (they can also

reduce cl':lifopra,ctorb:ills!).

'The shape of the body has minimal effect

on the tone,We a li i.k n ow that is important to

havea "cool" looking guitar; but keep inmlnd

'that if your only guitar is a flying;V~you better

enjoy p,.l.ayingstanding up!

Solid Bodies

The resonance of a solid body is much

subtler' thana hollow, or semi-hoUow body"

Controversy still rages over the resonant

qualities of various woods; but some basic

information should help, you decide what

you n eed , to achieve your sound.

A solid body guitar should be constructed

om. of no more 'than three pieces of wood.A

one piece body tends 'to resonate the best,

but a two or even tluee'piece body can.

sound quite good. Ah~btu what kind of

wood?' Different types of wood will have dif-

ferent sonlcprcpertles, but there area. few

general rules to remember when trymg to

decide which wood is right fur your sound,

First~ Remember whaJt .I said about wood

- no two pieces are idemf.cal. So whlle the

sound of different types ,of wood will vary

(ash. maple, alder); the sound of nVQ bodiesmade of the same wood will vil.:ry as well,;d!be~t.more subtly.

Many guitar players spend anywhere from

lnmdreds 'to thousands of dollars W :ilnattempt

to get the sound that they hear in their head ..

They will buy new necks, new bodies, new

pickups" or even new guitars and still fed that

there is something lacklng intheir sound.They

willi! eat peanut butter and jeUy sandwichesevc.ry da.y for a month to be able to afford the

latest electronic effect, when lr is possibl.e thar

they CaD! solve their some problem for as ]](cle'

as twenty~five:(:ents!

Second,; The body is only one component

of a guitar, and therefore the sound of the

body "W i ll be onID yone part of rh e tota lsou nd ..

For example" you may want to temper a , d a rk

sounding rosewood neck: w~~h some brjghr

sounding maple veneer on an ash body.

TIlh'd: \ 'Y 1 i lle x oa , Z e br aw o od an d o ther

exoec woods make ]ovely furniture common

sense would Indicate that there must be a

reason that virtually all of the wodd's mostsuccessful and distinctive guitartsts have

used guitars made ou~ of ordlnary woods

such as ash, aldenmaple, and ma h og an y , e ve nthough ~J) jey could afford more exotic and

expensive woods ..There tsa reason ~.S(J1tJul.

Over the years, orthodox tllco:ryabout

heavy versus Ugbt bodies has swung back

and forth lite' the proverbial pendulum. Here

Picks

Try t !l it is ~ .go into O il music store and bu y a.

tlHn pic}:"a . medium pick~and a heavy pick of

the same material (i.e, plastlc, cortex, ny~on,

etc.). Choose the material and shape with

wihricb you are most: comfortable (this 1 T 1 a y

cost you anyw here from a . quarter to a couple

of dollars), First, try p~ayII1Igyour guiter

<1aouslkaUywith the thinpick, listen care-

.fully to the tone. Now p~aythe same notesand chords with the heavy pick..Y ou will

notice that the tone Is much thinner and

brighter with the lighter pick and thicker and

d;;ltkier with the heavy one. Now try the

medium. As y o u might suspect, the tone . m , lL s

somewhere tn between. You m ay have jl!.!M

saved yourself thousands of dollars and years

of frustration..



20· GE rnNGi G R E A T G U I I T A R SOUNDS

' l rt; t<~,11 $I)r~Jj,esW(}.U:" 1 ~ ( f t , - - c r . . ' l ' u J r : i l ) l r:~dd,ft) Ib e 1 0 ' , ' , 1 , \ ' .

~;f't t}jey ~'I"U1 ; d c l to th'Ojull!

RWJ! t lCtmm,N't b'(j{l~tl:t ,{/~ ,( ,w"llable In t id/ ''(foCiU1Je ,i,f.'Oa,i~

that: t'Cql'lire 01'10' em (JiljlfJ'f$b. or I~I J}(llftt'.tIiJ! 91:dtl lble

!>tIt less afllnf(,it~'e'woolls fFml)'Ou UW" pn!JIil"/m'lt"I'~tl.



Quite ofle:n players who are ha.ppy with

the basic fed and tone: of their illst:rumems

mav snll prefer the tone a Iirtle brighter,

Ch~:nging from a. heavy, to a medium or thin

pick could give jlls~.he tonalehange they are

looking fOf. Conversely if you seek a . thicker

tone and have been l I smga thin pick, youmay want to try switchingte a, he~.vi.erone.

Changing pick gauge m~1Ynvolve some mod-

mcation of your picking technique, but the

resulting sm~~1C1Qu~dbewell worth it"

Picks are offered in a 'Wide variety of

Hmtt:r ia Ls - dlffereut plastics" nylon, graphit,e,

toctex.atone and metal.The type of material

can affect the sound as much as the guuge

and both can make as much dUrer,ence a,

pickup change or a new body.

StriiWS

Stings are a somewhat larger Investment

than picks. You may have to spend as much as

twentv or twenty-five dollars trying out djf-

fer-enc'sets of s'tr~ngsuntil you ..find the right

set fOf the sound that you want but it's worth

tt,Constder this scenarto:

Customer: "1 halJean old Stra: justlike Stevie Ray Vaugbcm's and I know ettl

h i . r : ; licks .T use tne .smn:e amj)ancl tJD'e.cts,

J even wear lbe same ctotbe» - whydon'tJ$otu'ld like himr

Me: Well, u)bat gauge strings do youuse?

C"'$U}t'le; ..~".008~<;"

Jo te: ....ba: could be your prob,lel'n -

Stevie' used: 013 's"

Strings, lite picks, sound brighter and

thinner in the lighter gaages and thickerand

darker in. the heavier ones. H you are playingextresnely loud music, or with a lot of distor-

'[ .],011, the difference may not beadiscernihle.flo-wever at lower volumes Of with a clean

tone it 1 S very pronounced,

Smw~tr to picks, g u it ar s tr .h lig S com.e in dif-

fe,rent gauges, materials and styles..Most aremade of nickel or stalaless steel (electric),

bronze, phosphor bronze or brass (acoustic),

Strings also come eoundwound, flat-wound

and half-round. Most p b 1 } ers use round-

wound. but for less fmger noise anda darker

sound you may want to expernnent with the

others.

$f.I'!ngs eom« gatlgl1li lr,l bu"t1cll 'etbs of (lile ,ifU::b. /I ts a

gm)ti idea to know )lOUt' 6lugeli, a:i Q~i;f;" 1 . ~ i " 7 , r . l u l m >

lm'i:w',~"'ligJ3r is anoth.([)t 's Uextm·#gb.t",

When dlQ05.jng the right gaI!\tgeStrit~g5for

your sound, }ou will have todecide what com-

promise you are w:iUing to make between play-

ability (llighte.r gauges) and tone (heavier

g;luges). But don't be air:;lid towork your way

up bypracticing on .1guitar with heavier stringsthan you are used f.O.TIus,wi1 help you so move

I!],Pin gauges shou ld you choose to do so .

Hilit: Changes of srrtng gauge may

require a new set-up (see "set ups").

DQ]],'t hesitate eo move up or down one. -

gauge according to circumstances ..If y ou havenot been p lay ing for a few weeks, you can go

to a lighter gauge temporarily (Jeff Beck

does).\What you lose in tone you will make up

for in p~ayi:ngcomfort! which Is more impor-

tant. Youca:n also make np some of the tonal

lossw~[h higher volume, or as Eddie Manme:r.

(Mkkjagger, Robert Palmer) sao/s,"Usir ' lg 009'5

instead o f . OW's? Just turn. it up!"I wish .~.had a nickel for every ~jn1;e'~.~ave

heard the complaint, "1'm not getting, enough

brightness out of my guitar" or "M.yguitar

won'tg.et/s~ay in tune" •~.;lsk,~Whell dtd you

change your strings laser only to be

answered; "What year is this?"



JI·Qrw often )IOIll shon~d ,chiafllge y~)lilr

S!rf1jllill:!:~ck:'JlIe~~ds.11 . : : 1 1 . :nuN'tbc'r 01' f:lIc~x)('s::

1. YOILl~body che:nlis:try,. Do you 'perspire

u~h.e:n yoU.p.~:lJ and" iJ f S11).,howco.r.ro-

8h',e~sro:!.!I_I' ~wei~t?

2 :, How' ,~fl:el1and fo r how .Io'.ng,do you

p . l : a y ?a . D o yo u niv~ .iili1.i.iI da_ rnp ,c l , ima~~?

4 . Wh:Ji11, bl"lliDiti of: Stl'iif.1Ig do. ~.~O\l use?

II,JI/Oifl.a,tiQ.~

FO I : a gll l tm: : to play pl"Ol,e t ly in tun e, the

dlstance from the nut 1 : 0 . the tw,e[l'th fret

.s:l1,ol~~dt:q!!ln~. tbe disfaul.ce from dle tweltth

fret 00 th e p la ee w h e!l} e theiming ceessesrhebridge saddle, Thh!ld:isran.ce is not [he same

fijf each sU :~1 ] )gd u e u )v ar im ~ o n s: in: [~l~ckl1!essfoo.m S l r : l " i i I 1 I Q ~(II s~riil1l,g.[n~Qlilait~onJ lIO u ~ db e s et

onJy with new 8U'il1gs,l\. good repair person

will be ableto spoc a bum string in n new set,

bllJllt. if t lheJin~OIJl: i t~eit wiiCh o.~d stli"irDigs the

imo.n:a~ion will b e'o~~t w.~len~ro:u~~'Ul:onl1!e\v

ni les":~:n~ 997. gu[~t;~r~stB~12d.l~fdten p~nenr~cl•

and bepn m a.rket:L llg I sys[,e~~of ilnOrtat(OJ:ll .

that I5 mOli 'e aceueate dun lUiry widely ~:se-,(I

previous system .I t in volves m ovim l,g the guitar

n1.!l~towaw th Le brj~e aJ ld can OM)' be d om ebf li.censedluliliiers, It~is lapensive'j but worth

:i t in ([Ult you have never heard a guiml' playas

in ~'l! . ]Jnes it does nner t ihJs modi l1caUon. n i5 ,

detm~t~~,.'O:riI:bch~ckii!l 'Dl,g ou~.

l)ep,endi;l1)S ( , '1>11ehese . fac~OFS:~ you . W I ' i l i . y

ilIa....e fO c l1 .3 II ~~C ) "O f lw r s 'U · i l' l' g: 8 anyw li :I J e. re f rom

everv daiy to on ce a i. mo ,n th . C o rr os iv e s wea tand ..damp dbilateswi11, require more fre-

.quem: 8~f ii og d l lr~ f! !& . '\ es! iW ~lmJ liry hands Ulnd :,~rid

dbMI~;ve~.f }'()!lllplay rQu.rg,lUiitaf f'Out tosi~

hours a da.y, YOUI'strings wm need changil.lg

more o ifte n t1 1m if yQ~1 .p~ck W i up once . Q i l. ~

t:w~cea week, ,\!Iso. SOl!n(; brnndsQ.f Slli'inSS

wear Ol~[fastc.l' thalli. others. You m:ay be'

w:illi' I . ! ; : to <;:h~ngethe fnsr w~!lrinsstrings: l: l i1.or(!oft;e:I~~fy ou [) .re fe ll' ~h.e ii i' s 'O ' lmnd . .

I I H I E S l E l lU I P

The . ! V i e t ,

\ ' l i f e : have dread)1 (UscuSJSed ~hei.wuplor~

t~ oo e o f a ,:v eUCll~'nu t .A j )'r o p e 'l 'setup shouldinclude opening a . slot rhar is U}O tlghr, Shim-

m in g u p f~low n ut or cuUhlg ~!alew on e m;~r>()OiS~ ,extrn.

It is h'lrd to ( )v e:!. 'e m p h ~ ~ siz e t h e ~ r n :p o r-

[~l I1H:>e .of 01 .good se~1!iJ'p.~: COl in .im:ni:l.~asl!l:[,"dibrn¥

improve - the p',IDf~yal:Jiity()1anygl~~lulrfrom th e

cheapesl: to th e most exl 'ens l ry ;e ,W h.~ther youare a beginner Dr an expedenced p : t . 1 y e r , . . ~

sl.ggest d~at ) 'Ou seek (l:U it n o co p no'[ch fej:)aiir

p e,['s{)u ( l ) r - e f c c ; : . r : ' 1 b ~ y Ollie who is ageed pla~~i!:

as weU) to set up your guhal", It : cancest un)"-

w~~el'ef:rom $30 It~)$15 O~more for the best!.ibut it Is 'if:vorth ,e~~er~fpenny~ nepend~[lJS on

the 'c:.1mare :lind how much abusethe instru-

meJ.u takes ycm .!'!om:mUy.need 1'0 set ~u ul'

ar:lywh~refroliil'lonceto fO'lilf Hl: iI ll es a ye~:r.A

s etu p s h.o u ~.cI :in cJ u (h ;::

ACUOf, t

'I'hi~i;!;,the h.eigllt of the strtngs nbove the

fre ts " Be sure 1 1 0 jjn(ncate}~o:!!!:rpreferencetc

the 8ho.p b e f O ' I 1 e they start.

NO:'I'E:: Iiligllcr acdo.n. nil~Qwse he s {r ~ ~g ,S

to l'iQ,9 be tte r :!l:n :d ca l1 !.res\l!~t i l l ! ! . i.r!l1!p~(),\'",d

1O]1C.As wlrh string g atlg e~ , you ] 1 , I U S > C find

your OW~l cO:lmpI'OiJ1Jlj,SC bc~wcensound ~~n:d

ptny~bil l i i [1'·



T H E c LE C T R ' lC G W T A R A S A li i A C O U S T IC ' l l l lS T R U M E f i lT • 23

.Truss·f'(J(;1 tldjusl,nellt

The neck should be checked for bowing

or back-bowing and the truss rod adjustedto

C01 Il 1! I:H I! nsa te , .

Almost ull new gulrars require:. setup. A

proper setup should be tailored to YOll and

your pla.yjng style ..Even the most expensiveguitars are setup at the factory for someaverage common denomtnaror, The acnon

'm'U:s~be adjusted to your preference, The

Intonation must be set and the nur cut it)!'

your chotce of string gauge,

Mter you have owned the instrumenr for

a. while; periodic setups may be required

with seasonal changes or when travellng to

another climate. Radlcal string gauge changes

or actionadjustments m~1Ylso require a new

setup ,'.flrustyou feelings _,ifthe guitar doesn't

play or sound quire rightt brmg .h m fot a

check-up. Like a car, a.good t une -up will make

a dlffe.r,e.nce in how YOll.r guitar handles.

Unlike H car, thls does not necessarily have W

be done at spectnc intervals. Once agiiln.,the

best rule of thumb is, ".if it ain't broke, don'tfix it,~

In th e la ng ·m..J , it j'IU1)' be cbe;cfj)r! !TIV ' balD! reJ'll/):$

.(imd other gUitar Ui01'k done by a sAtifleei luliJief' ._

j } i11jerably Orl'e whn i.~( ' w l s o a skilfcd p l a : v e I C



C H . A P T E R :2

The Electric Guitaras an Ele·c·tricIrrstr-urrierrt

Than.ks to The advice in Clmpter One, you

are now the proud owner of an. electric

guitar that sounds great acoustically The Ideanow is to amplify that sound so that it can be

heard over other instruments or simply by

other people.The pkkups, electronics, cable)

and amphfier are ~IUUnks in this chala of

ampliflcation. '~n this chapter Iwin explain

how to make yOUJ guitar louder wlthout sac-

rific:ingtbe' sound qualiry that we have

achieved so far.

T H E I P I I C K U P S

The fU'st Unk in the electronic chain is the

pickup (or the pickups, as the case mary be).

~fhe pick~lP transfers ~lsurprising amount of

informatton to the ampHfier,.memnst send not

only ahe pitch of the note. but also attack,

sustain. volume, tone and the i:ndWidualcha,r-

acteristics of the Inserumenr rhrough the

connecting cable into rhe input of your amp,

Therefore it is ' V , e . r y important to choose care-

fully when deciding on the right pidcup(s)

for your sound. A very basic explanarion of

how an electric gur ra r ptckup works willhelp you chooseA. pickup is b~sica]ly an electromagnet,

Wire is wound around a permanent magnet

made up of either solid or' separate pole

pieces, or both. The guitar string vibrates

through the magnet's field" and ;linelectrical

current is sent through this wire and out. to

the mllpUfi!er.llle bigger the magnet, and the

more 'windings of wire, the greater the

output ofthe plcknp.Thus, th.e pickups wnbthe biggest, magnets and the mos t windmgs

must be the best) right? 'Wm 1 ' lg ! ! As youincrease the windings YOll get a decrease in

high end, leading to a decided lad: of treble

response when playing with a clean tone. In

addition) bjg magnets exert a pull on the

strings, thus reducing sustain, It :is for this

reason that you should. avoid raising pickups

too dose to the strings.

Pickup magnets come in. two types:

Alni.co (aluminum plus nickel plus cobalt

added to Iron) and Ceramic. Ceramic

magnets are cheaper to produce and prevlde

more high end, but their high end tends to bescmewhar brltne sounding. Alm.i.comagnets

have a warmer sound.Ptekup manufacturers

have been experlmenetng withvarious types

of ~dnic:omagnets to try and achieve the

sound of a vintage pickup. Some of this

sound is due tothe loss of magnetism overthe years so we see again that power msn't,

everything.Overwound pickups becamepoputar in

the days when the only way 'to achieve di~

tortion was to have a pickup that was pow~erful enough to overdrive the ~l:m.plmer.Their

mid-range heaviness was actually a plus

when it came to making the tubes work

beyond their capacity Unformnatd'y their'

clean tone [eft somethlng 1: 0 be desired.

Since 1980 we have seen a glut of ampli-

fiers with built lndlstornon, not tomention a

multitude of overdrlve, distortion, fuzz and

heavy metal pedals, These scie~u~ficwonders

2 5



Left to r~~l!,bt'Stl'elt·OC"{'UN!r fJiC M tfj} S - shl'gle coil, T(~ Jc.

, f ;a -S t ' f! I 'I I ii lz , lt j JS - s in gl e ; .; oJ l.P1'fJ(;/SloiliJ,(ISSPic'k'I'I/}S -

, bum l )~ 'C ' kt lJ l1 , . t1mJ f o . " rit/Jl IOfJ.ftiZZ ba ss Plclu.lps. -

~ ~ i u g , , ' : f ! '0 0 ; 1 .

WVt · o I'fJifs i'~~iea:(lof i )o l r:P i{J ,f ;1! . 'f :J ' tJ. , , { j~e&l'~l ,!'I!'O.rI:r

about your slri1lgs '}fti1~i!t)oMlioUIiI'J tlft'eCtl)1 ooo r thejJoleJJle(.'Cs, l''}'JQo·''eticufljl, II#s wm (llso 1,tdl~b"lz;e'

511$1"/11 lo·!f.$('IS J'01.t ,fHI1.lIlI s/rj;ugs ('tV(~J' from a pOfe·

piece,.

A1UU1 J !$ I n s, t: ll l. l s lu g le c o li Pfc/l.!u/is ttiltl) IJJe COWl'S on :1;0pl'ft~.\f!nf f i f ' eU c ' ( l I e WI;fl{;Jl.I~g luiJr-es)~'f.mr b e l ' l! u .J , . b ~ ' O J , ); ;r IJ ' ,

1'IJ,f!S'(! ' (I'(;ttw lN1!ss/Jit:kttJI!; hrum 1'()t.1wr srfJitc:hcs' , t : o <

(Jlljtl$-t , t J ) e . i , ' etjIM,ffza{,f.r:m,.

l:1,r,m.lbuckh~g Pfc'kups ~iUl'y be b~'I't:CIUedwith or·~tJllhoN'f ~nell~l t;vVei,S,UJ.t: , 10'IUil d ' i j ) ' e l e e " " t y t udlJ bc'

lui,.i"i~(l/~ bllt if JlOll tw:iclr! 0 ; 1 ' " em '1"$ for ncstJ)et ic7U t ;I SOUS , j lO l >l sbould brim! t ! ; iC 11. i:CI .! . /~ / )S (.l{jJpetl in u ax

or "potted" n)lth the ,xU (11':S, Tl#(~ U!iJ1 11 ' 1 111lm!'z'J

${J~I~'1!1lb~:gJr!( ,!db'1'C'kr ob lem ;{ /. a 'I' k J i I / , o j j l ;~ ' f j 'mnrA 't!'·UI"fSis '''''''QlwI'lelldftt/ jQJ' $UltJlt: wil' J}.ic~I'I!Ps.C1S'lulli. fm.rt~'~~171o f1f1duo l , ( ) e .tliPfl(!(,1 t" / ( / . 1 # J . r ! l 1 " ·mt!le"'~~ (~ffbf!t 'm· ·(J I'~ are pi t1 ' s.Uc) ,



lhi l lve c~i~\ l1! in~ut :dtheflcccd fOF OVCn!I'I)l!.lncl

p~d\-:upsbecam;e i~~s:no r n O l 1 i g e r necessaryfoe

the-pickup to do the work of overdrMn~ the

am p H fier . 'fhc d esirab le p ickup I)f t oday 1 U 1 . 1 S t

sl~r I : !ea b~mlbu1iofbe tween hlnri~~g1:1.ou,g~~jl;al~

to P ' r { ) i P e ! J ' l y ,d riv e e .f€ ects ilIilld r e " " l . f ,enc!ll.1:gh

w:i. l1ldingst:o n l l ~ n d n : D J i Z ! e high end [e :S 'pm~~ 'e .1'1lere ale two besic types of pickup;

slagle coD snd double coil. A siog~e coilp icklu p is j U 5 i t one set: of wlm J.in g s aroun d cn e

bot)bin, (l!Islilmlly made '(JIfp~t~s[k)IOO[llmb:dl~g,

the n1I! ; ' l :gnC'~(~)"A double co n pidk:,tlfI' is us:u~n-y

(bul~ not n~':l;!'nys,as weslul.~~see) t"I;\,Os~l1ig]e

coil pickups side by side wiredtogether in

series (one U1W~he other).TJlt; two coUs are

in reverse phmse eo QU1,OelO~lI.t ~h.e60 ,cycle

lu,uu :r'!:or.Ald.y plkked Ill.!) :Il}' sjngl.ecoUp,ruckups fr-.(Hll ~~glll~'lll!g" w~dl S,QiC~e~5 and

amp]i f i .Cl" t r .u"l sformers (w]lich is why moving

nwayfmn,ll the amp can reduce hum in ~~nsl(; :coUs).1"Thl~shum. ,canaeli~~g ,e'ifee!: is w.h:at gave

rise ro the: n~lI1ne "1.ll~l11Ibl!lck.etrs" for d()uiblc'

coll pick~~ps..These darrs Olin nam e ,can beCOfitlIDSirlg as thel:\c are 111~ ; ~ : I 1 ! ' f pickups av~i:l!.

able that look and sound like s~nglecoils but

are In .tf~rCt.~'lh1,ilI!l1buck~ns", Sonle of these

sin,gll.e lQoii~j~ n l i 1 1 1 . 1 . c ! 1 i : l 1 I g pi,c!ktl,pS ;3 irea.c i tua. lW y tw,o

coils ~tac!kt(!lonr:o[D of one ~~~nome:[iSU!~1dof

sidie I b ~ f s l de , l ' l J l , i i s ; a~ ~ ow s;,them ~ o Br:~JiJ!tJile

5 iJi~ g 1eco U ro us on a guitar ~:l'.iJd marnmi . f i t l . 1C:nppe :f lI T u lOe o .f ! It :[ ,, lW esingle con,

'Gonfi, tse<il? ¥oru shol,1.~cl be. It is b est

~:hol!lglh!~ Q it U:kied:tis: when ch.oosWJl ig ~.pb::ikl!lril

YOUITfI'I'il1lliilfJ ,oom.ae'[ i' li lshQu~d be SOiund, Di(n.;:s

~~have enm~g~ power . f { ) i . l ' your needs vl,ihik~

ma~ut:l:inhlg (he high end tha t you W:3!UC?

Does it ~M.weth e sO'leuu;l 'llla~ you\VaJ r ! I~ '?U dl l is

Si()uncl[leq~~if\e... a ,r~nt~~e silil;gh,~coH or a

CUW ir,e.!1ltep~m,c:e'.ment. dOF! . ' t worn' too much,i" ;j' h unss J "lm ';; IH"'' ' ' ,1 1.:; ,, · lil''''f~'f'B·e·c~'· 1 i l ' . . · · I ' ·IIJ ,~L ",III; 1IJ.1,\!gl! v: .I,~ • ~ I.L .J~,tlJo!!-"I." iI'I~.. ,1. ~~ ~~ IIIi"

CLap ton , M : .u ' k. K :mmp .f t. er ,.R i~ c .h l e Bh l c kf l: lO re ,

,R oy B uc ha na n, Jilim c s B : l . l r rO l l , S te ve C r o l'] )t :l ;I I! O C ' . pe[ i ' f 'O~medj jJ l IThd recorded fot years wl~h

si1l1gleooil pickr(lp\\i ;~rlIcli : , tU th.eir inherent

n oise, m d )O O ' t ,1 1L n l O i ' l ; l i l 'of one ease wbere; ~ f ; U l i

eemrned a l'ecol1d or asked fbI' arefllnd ~]tl:eI'

;1show because of~h1ilm~.

If sil~~lec()n!!i, ~'lJlS~, donj~. have C !1 ;o:u .~ b

plIIlnch [or you, you tuay b e :31 : u r u . c l i d ! ! i J t l e ''Or

hu n~ bm ;kcfs. I t i~oopof i t an t tha!t y~)Us:p ,ee iY

Stde~by"Siidliihl;unbnc'kc[! 's, bec~use POlJrt QfUl)~

soulfIJd thaJt ~ s ~SOOl!!;j~uedwitlli I :h is : kmd of

pickup is;rure5u~u of the coitl\s,p i . i . c l d n g : , l i I P ' SOlLl l1!d

from, two ditleretu poims ~UO!llg~~H!stril1g

len gth . This g Ives a . : tu l le ) ); ~ iC lu l 1 .d tban is pos-

s ib~e 'W i th a " sm~ckiecl~ smmlg lJec o j t U n : ' u ~ I i n :I !I :W 3 J t d y >

t h i s ak'O,resU1l~ :ill aplW alSe C1!Jncen~~b1' lU i . r a t ,

:J i~ ong w i .th ~ h e e lri:t:F "d i l nd :i.lllg til ~ nh c re tiJ J ~~ 1 ! 1tw'ice as ! ll llny coi ts , reduces the ~lVaiJl.'!lJ]e mgh

e nd , O f lc eaW!ill y o u lUUSt c ho os e a . comp r o·mi~ i Il l T h a J ,t :S i U ~ U < } , 'O ' L l f .s,t:ylc. Laltcr~"I~ w i1 ll CQV ie i'

w~ringtricks 1 . l ! 1 1 l d cffec~s (,hait ' ( _ 'U I ' l I make a ~ i i n g l ! C

coU sO:I !J !f id iHke a d(H:~blernffi~~d Vi(~\!CFS.Jl.

'You l lThao /wnn t to , oons~del'~lltc ad !v nmag es

ofactivepic:lrups. These are pickup'Swithbuiilt inpreamps that are powered by one or

ItliVO nifIJevo~~;blllllll1edes,. Ac£~w!pidtllrups~re

'lIer]! ,quid Ind can be e%t[!l~B'lie~rPQwern~lw it ho u t s :1 !c 1 'if id n ,g ,h ig h end, cThey dOI'!iot

have to be g~olm.dedto ch.t:strings (passive

plckups do), ~heleby e~~minnti:ng~he p O $ ( f i I -

!liUt}! of e~ec~"r-ich.ock wrnlenyt.>u grab the

I ,, !, j, cr op '.h o n 'f; : I 1I lld s nin gs s i I i'lIm~ .£ a:llem .J Is ~) '.

S~ud~oe.!Ilgineersbve i l :CUVlC pickups for theirI j :1CIk: ofn o ise an d the f : tcm((h;~~~hey ,COlJnCQfi1:"

press a wide tonal range h1ifO a. Hlnned

volume range.·n~s means thatthey ('i1O get.a

~O[ of t:reD.~e~"'.ildlbass response Wiill101.~~;di~

~orl,ing~he~lpc.

The dw.n . sid e ~ s tfiat Ururus;) O ' D i ! p r e S s i . o n also

limit'S the dynamks of yOU!" aeeaek which i$where m !']!(:n o f th ep e'l'S O flalb y o f y ou r p l ~Wh~g~ fes .T h i s, aad . ! l i . 'C~il1:a~nharshness : h i ! trnl!etirh liglh

eW l J d kadsto the .fo elilm :g a ln ou g sO Ilil.e ~hR~

act iV iepruC lkups are " ·aWJ "aJIDld make €li'f'fJfO!ne

! i lOl:m:dal l ike.Ti l ls i~l5t po in r is not so M1IDCh Qf:~

problem ifyou aspire to be a studio gui;lLadst. If

yO~laJ re tryi! l1 liS .o deve lopa d ist inct live sound as

millmfitist,.l l iow,e.\I\e.r~ yO~1 ]llUll}r f indt il la l1 : I ll h il s di:sad-

'Vru:l.~~g,ellltweJghs aU t i r l. e i l l ( j; ¥ f l J I ' l i U 1 I e s . The nv< .J '

b'tl:te~y,ei.gm~~l:;:eno~~ .sy.nelus; '[.end to ()olll!]press

le ss " T ry them and see.

L(}Cat.i().u. LQc,a:f"".'l. Loct'di()J~

,!IiI.~alll)'m~dH·J,'i lcklJ.1pgl.!!:itars u se vLFtun~I}1

t h e S i l J E l i J J . C p'fcktl.p ~ n ,e,~e :rYI1'O \5 it~.on. 1 1 1 1 . y 0 1 U i '

Villl':!lge SUI".UOCflst:er th e three pickups are ~111

the same: hkewise in the Ies r ~ l1LIO somemodern mode~ s the bn .d \gc p~Ckil.ipW.~rnl. be

w ou nd a 1 iu h:: hm .lie r reevea oa t d lJeV!O[ l Ime

!blecnuse: M:1ICs~:Fi~g.sPUlt OUI~tess SOi:.Ul~ by ~he

Drk lg . e, . bu t ehe P'if.:itllP ];st~)ina:U'Y~denticalto



the othcl"S..So W~l}rdo we get such d.ffe'rent

sounds out of the b~~d.geand neck poslnons

on a guitar?f1a.y t:heguihu :iloo~lsri:c~di~r.Pick ncar 'the

bridge. m t'hemidd~e. fllelllr , t h e ' neck; ),,0111wiiU

hea~ a ~;reb~yound ne.arthe Ib1ridgegetting

warmer and fulleras y ou

approach the neck.A Im rh:JJlt.guhm:o' pk l l l : l L l l f . l l S do is , "pick up""rh: is

sound ..rile ideatiC3!1 p:icllrup, moved from the

brIdge t'o he m idd Je to tile ne 'c:k '\\\rillptOv.i.d.e

theee different sounds,

ThJs l o c a t m O I l business ~s a lsounponantwhen di iscUlssmg , t h . e ~l]j.QlllJled "out.of'p"\ase~

sound.This sound, as!loc]:lI:OOwith early Dire

S tr ait s ~ lI 1J idPOSf-Crerun, C]:lIpI!O!l:1Ji. ~UlSlittle 'U) do

w.ith Strnlt,oome:rs and s~ng le ' co i ls ~ll1ldr! [ot lW lIg,

to do witlh electronlc phasing ,J1 t has eveFytbiJ~g

to do with the: location of the l'i.ckup's:md the

output blidrmce'between them.T he st> un d .~ n q u,e,sm :iio nis produced by

sU'ing ph~lshlg. When H string vibrates it

creates n wave-like pattern, \VIlile one pickup

is ' rn . i l l iSm~tt~ingone plmn of the ,vwve,th e :;~ d jiU ) .

centpk:k!1.I , [ l I ~ s : t : !. " : il l 1 1 . S m ~ U h l : g f l j1.od1!e.rpa~t :,[he

dist~mcebetween the neck plekupaad tlte

middk pi,c;:kull> of' : . 1 1 , Strat creates a U! lruq~le

sonic phm~:ccancellenon that re sum ts iio O la f:

!Ktl.opflc::r-e5Jque tone we know and Wove.A

s~mi l~ l r ,more uebly ton e wscreated when the

bridge ;tnd m~dd~e,picl"Ulp.life on.

~ m ' t is not IneGe~-aI'}'to have ~lStrnmc:lSter

type gll.~t:llI'or' eV'l!11 single cell pickups to

achieve this tone. 'l\vohl;Ul]buckerssp~li(;'~d

simi l ,ad) ' to a Stmtl ' l :s.eek a J il. d mmdd J Jep .ic l\ ;; u p'

wUI re5ldt' itl ~hesime kind ,of Sioundas long

as the output of the pickups is the same. If

one ptckup overpowers, ehe otaer the sound

win WalckdlJ(lt farnmar" funkiness".

A brid_ ,!:pickup and .1 neck pt,dkup wi iU

not produce this particular tone, so some'Iele

1~lnye~'sitns~~ll la Sml't plicit -up between the two

:;;[,o:ekpiil'.:klllps and ""'~f.e ma live \Vay sw~~ch.' 'fry ~10t eo be diSicoumg.ed b y the: enor-

.mous number of pickup makes and models

~lVj!liJ,able. Once you ulldlc:lismnd the pr inc i -

ples ,exf ,: lai, l I1.edabove, } ,oUlsl1l!ou.d be abile to

Ilsk enough intelJigc;IU questions for a knowl-

edgeable salesman 'to put yo u 011 th e r_shil :

u·.IIck.. Unfonun!)ltd}, the sad 'tnm ~h is ~hilr

l[hclll! is no escaping the bOttCllllH Hru: - : J ~ O , ' l

"m:"l' knoui how a pic.kup' is going to sOU- lu l l

,Ujl'()t'8bJIC)~';'j~ig(Jnj''Q,w' rig t.mWyo" acl.U,-

. t t l l J : ' ,btl. '~ it ( i f , u d p,f,tt it ill yo,,;,,,.gu.frtn: S l r i t c c : :

pickup prlcesean range fremabonr $30 to

$150 , . € _ x p e n m . e n : r : iln g , C-i.~n Ibee:x ,p le~~ve. The

.good IlC'WS j;sti'lilJi£ some ,IlU~nUfilcUlrel's" U ke

Se' ) , .n lOuf Duncan , [ ,e -aUZt:this . m f ~) lnpurchnse

one of their plekups and it doesn't wOIik for

Y O I I ] " ~bey will ~dl}ang~' w i ibr another P l j j c k ! 1 l l i P

of equal or lesser \\al.ue (usua ••y wiEhin 30.

days). You may have to sell or etude other

pickups to deftny the cost of experimenta-

Uon.

It ~ is hnpofl~a:l1lt tlm~. you f ll l[ ud l d~e[ i 'f fi~ht

pickups to go 'With. your tnstrumenr. The

g : , M r u t ~ U i ' should s,olJ!~ndgre~]:tgohlg 1i~ll:n:iniioiihe

amp~mer before we start a .d d i1 1 l! a 1 1 ) " ,df:ects.

W I R , I IN G , S Y S T E IM S

Once you have chosen }Iour Il~ckup, howthat pickup is wired in relanon to ether

picku,ps, and wIthill hself, will grea.tly Hff(:ct

the eone b~, pr;od\u(;cd.

W :ith i ',J : tbe .P£tfkup

Cocil-lappillfl is most often t~Pli)~kdtal

s:ing~e coi __pi:Ckl.lpS.. ~t hlvomveSta,pping a

second output partway through the wind-ings of '[he pickup ...A. switch is fnstalled eo

allow you to ,go from fun OUlll)ut to tapped

output. This wirin.g. ~seOilplo) ed when us~n,s .

overwound sil.1S.le coll pickups of the

"qmui'~er-pc()ilUlder~v~uie:[~r;.t allows ym! to ~il~e

the fiJI wffindinss for a m t lead tone' and[~:u~nget mQIle high, lend by rodu!cing the number

of wtndings employed for your dean tone.

l\Illn}' dQlub~e·co!il bumbueke» owners

"ro u te ! L ik e [Q be able En get ;1 s iin ,g le c oil s ou a d

om o .f their pickups. 'rhe most CQ:lrUDQll

method employed Is .coil-'~'Pl:iUi1'8. This

i"vollies ln$;~all~nga sww~ch thar ~iIJ!n;d:s 'OU~

one lot t he ' (:olils: in thepib:::k!up', ~ea\rl_ns . ; 9 1 singlec oil o pen l~ in g fu r ~ ,rn _1 I:X' i : ingh: coil sou nd .

The drawbacks W thts system nee: 1)

'V I .U n .i':; pl itt in g t he c oil S' .J 0 1 : 1 ; "tvill "ave the

b,'l'~;lfnlwte;'lt " 1 ' , a Sittg,Ie ICto, i lplckr l/J. If~~ol!.1,are usmg 3. humbucker in the bridge and two

:s rn glc ,cQ,Hs t3 !c ks ~ s pU u i ng e h e humlbuc . ker

win ~ldd noise 'to an . ornerwtse noisetess

:s}r:s~em. 2) If ,IOU are ustng a mOdemtelJ1

pOU J(!11~tlf.mmlJlu,,'kei; ( fac:/:)cot! ill t t" is ~ntu.:h



less I }()Ule ' fJ ,# thml a 1:l0ntl,tlsb~g/~ c 'Ql l

jJich.tll); This m C 3 i : J :i J IS I:h:li.~III s i n g l e c o i l .Mode

~h:is p lh , ; J kup 'wiL~SOi!iJ:JJldfNJ1! by ~~se~fiU1!d not

bi~bul,ce e - V . c ; : ' l l l y w~Orutrue sing Le cow 1s for the

~w'ee't 'i(l"I,opnC'i''' tone. Yom mny find,

however, duu ~his thfn ~I)ne is just what the

docror ordered for funk or reggae rhythrn,t\:n ~t[ternat]ve tocoil SpUtt l l lJ l ; is sel·les·

p(!lI·aUetwiring. Rt:membet I said that ~lel . " 'W ' O .side-b:y·sidle 0011 .5 in a bumbucker arc noe-

n ~ ~ l l r u y w~rod in :serks? We:U. by il.1!stn]li:ng a

~W ill "ch thnt . a l a r : t g . < ; : s ~his '\v.i.ringo paI'aU~ly'o1.'

cau '(;ih!l li l~gethe sound of (h,e p:b.:kl.!l[)wtthoue

:I:o.!li~~g ~I:lle l : u u m 'c :u1:ce1in:gl 'oo'Pef[i le$.'n~,e

OU~l)ut w i iJ I l beredi"oe<iI. to a r u n u l o s t ,$Jng~e ,c.o~II,

leve~.nod th~ m,[l:C wit Slbow ~n Increase in

lil:iig h e nd ..T~~jswil not be ~d!el!lit:i.caillna s in g J! e

coU sO~~ l l d j b~~fat . 1 .~< lS t1O'1l11'! ill. !On't :lidd noise.

Our ,n~:X:It widng pO~! 9 l b iH! i}o ' i ~ I ~$ seme-

wheee berween mtema~ and e:xtternaLU~~s

irliVO,lves,tnk_lllg ~wo "StI]U" styl!e s~ngle C!On

pickups ~UldW'lrjng them togeM~efj,in seri.(;$!

:abl.ltthl:g each other Oil the gut tae This w increate ~l iHUX humbucker, If you use rwo

stacks you can then split them a~dh!!:ve

S,illgle coil sound aswell, wtth no hum either

wil ly. JI you don't use stacksmske sure Ula~

cue of the siflgle coils isreversc·,wrap"

re~er, se · '.Po [a il 'Hy OO .m the ot~lew;('['halt ~s,rh.c

W\ir-eSili!re wrttpped In. (he (1)pOs~te diirecdolJ:!!nnlu. I l : b e :1;[I(,gJ.~ev:s of the t 'wOpiiCkupsattrn.clt.)

OUu::nvi ise '~:vbenusedtogerheria series tiley'

w.il~1p:rodu(X!mom~~cl'l noise.

As ,oJ t l 1 : i i s writilngl 0,0 O,I'U,~111<1sp .mduced a

si:ngIe (;()iJllpi.ckup ~ha l : does nom hum., ~md

d']J;tUr:et~1~nsthee:xac:~, elliJiSive sound of a

'II~nmge Sn:a~pi!ckupl. Ult~SOElJlIeOml~ '~lOlm~s

up' 'W1~h O:risho~ygrni],yol!1 (;;m reduce hm:n

whea reco.rdhlg by dmnging yom~p . l a y l n g ; .

IJQiSi~iollin relatlonto your amp and other

.sollf<:es of noise by shie](,,1ingtl1e: wiring

cavity of your gllicar.

Ou'steJ:e t ! : J : f ! Plc,kup

once y,ouha.Vie wired your individm:1lI1

p.i!ck(lPS, ~tis time ro wire themto each otnerrU' l ld eo ~hel1oJ. le" vohi ln~ea! lld l O'l1ltp~n:.M I l m ~ t l i p W e

p~cki t~ps a re l1:o lJ 'mmUywiro d in.parn.l~eW jd~:i:s i:s

'why }rOl!l espenence an output d1ropwhen

ytJIU 'usclVMp~cklilp'5 together on. youI' S~titt

or les r~:lilI.V~IYlmm:N .¥ W l ] J lU (oexpedmen~wi~h

tiliC:opdon of SW'i!l:d.~g d!!lC!!HtO< series. ,Brian

l '. t I.~ay;oJl"medy of Queen~ gers ili 'ref]' d~s[:~nc~

r iiv e t on e b J , r W .i' frum:iJJg.ru ss~ng~eeil plckl1p\!i ~n

serks:. Keep in .~umdd~~lud:tisw~l~ increase

noise ~mddecrease h igh e11dL

Youha :v ; e your choice .o f dll:<:e;w~~yjive-

'Way, o r . wn d ~. vkh ;w J switchesfQr y ou r p ick~ !p :suncI you C ain ad d as m am .y m in i·swttC hes, p 1!'l:Sh·

pu]], 01: ' push-pushpots, and other :f!witching

d evices a s y ou n eed to a ch ie ve aU t h e ph . :kup

W.iritlg options you desire.

You will.al:so need to contrel the ve l ume

OfV'OUf guU:a t , ¥Oil.~nuy wan t I in:d i v ~d : l !l ;) d

volnmes fJor each p~CkIUp,1J~ : t it l isa.good ~de~i

to have a master volume where you cam

e . 1 S w . l J ' reach it. ( V l J I l f r i l i : l 1 I g do~r.nfhe over all'iitoltin~e 0 0 . 1 1 a LesPanl or a 33·5 '!!~ilho!!u:

c ll~ :t l:g illjg ,{ he r e. La !t ~o ,u s:ll:! .~ p Ib :c lweenthep j}c :k ~~ pS C;i!:!1!b e '\liC i1 f ~l'.~ckJf)..f ) ! 'Q~mr ' t:O ! j, lJ Je

changes when yuu lUi!:n dk)I'!\lI:nd~c vQh . 1me~

addl~ng a c~pnc i: ~o ir to the: v o~u D ~e 1"0 1 [: CL~11I

h,e ] ,pyou ret~lin high. end,

lone controls can be dthel!: .(Jl·ctivaor

pelssive.P"JSSlVe tone contrels are , in effect,volume conrrols.jor tone.The S.nll'l:~pot rha:t: is

used. for volume is used fcetcne conrrols, A

ca:paci.tor [s·added tha t; te~ls it to lower the

vo~unilieof only a c er ta in .f.requelilcy. In m ostgni~1iIn ~I. i li i is.re<i] IUei1: t -yis ~reble,lYut: [here are

ether possib~nUes.'lf!h:erc a~ "dmkes" d':l~ltfil~tl ' o u r u ': I : i ! d :m l l1 l .Q , eo r b ass, as 'I I~ eJI .as ~ ' l o 'm : r l~

~ow]:e" SI ! I 'l ir ifcbes thaccae offer IUp ~g ·six fix~dIlP. .' :<}uency curs. The me of a:liI"rpi3~Shl\(:tOJile

Op~i.Ol l1wm~owe:r the ovemll l lvoiYI1e: o : f the

h:unri lrumefl iL Odd i l y . rOil win .find '[lU tt e ve n

dl(lillgh the :J1lc 'mal O~llfput of th e g ! ! 1 . l t : J l l ' iSi

lowC:::f,ce:rr:l ih~ caplliduorsw(l~ g~ve n nJn~cJ:l

fuUetv(Jlll,e !lind i~CJf~~]Sie~he app~t'(mt ~O!1I~ness of the tnstrumene.

Active tone comrols lise n smaLlbil:m:ry

powered preamp to add ~Jilcbl~,lul.d·!I1ln,g(:, m: ,"

bass, and will increase the velume of ~hegu:ltar. Some players find .~<:t:iv{;one to be ~

.tittle harsh ~try it and see wh;n; you. think

One .$o~utim~for the g~!iml!:'i~t who ~ik,es

~llesound IG f : s~ng j .eCoi~s. [blll~~ou~d n ~ e aH t~ ie mo re OM(PIlW~, j :s:run ' Q " , ~ " O " r . aJ'I 'V tIU J "P ~

a S i I 1 D i l a ~ ~antplfier buUt f f i r ! l w d"l~ g u t j , r n r ; This

unit wiUinc[\e4IJsetbe ",dnlllll~ w i .t l . 1 O : ~ 1 : t

>clil~U1S~rIi,g.the tone.



newre i!]st~11i~gny of these electric aids

, I ! I D you r ax, keep in nL iJ':tdt ha t they w iH boo 's t

1m}! noiseil!lre~dy ~n yO lu r S)',sih~:m.~ClI[I:akc'

sure }1'Q1[If p~ . ck: uP$a r e ' qlIIi,ccand yo!.:!.!." guitar' ts

p.rope: r1y shie ld ed a nd g rcr un ;d ed ,.

Hi"'ll.~F~e . l f :J : iee[0lOad rtJu[~li i l !m- with all

the "gimeracks" ~ln.d"£;eeSII"vs~you like; butbefOl'e you ,end ~IPWi[]l som,etWtlgtll~U looks

Itc 1 : 1 : ' : 1 . < : : -10n~ro,W I ' lMd ( 1 0 ~ he s p ~ l ( : e is.hu~tle,,yQ~~

nita}'''!;~_fiIJl00,oo~jdier where )~O'llwlWbe l1sil~g

it.Ifit is in !the Stlldio. the mo r e t il e 111e rr ie r .You

will uSI.lai!tylDe ; , w l Q , l em d i r . l l iil th e ,e~tC~,rom:; }'DiU

n!;led (0 '1 ' ~hiJI~mck3ilf1ld ~~le[llpWt~,l'S i u 1 l l . t g h ~

( i ]m:nQ~h,.Y ou w ,tU d !lcn have ~ffimeoreset }lOin.!."

d ials an d sWit(;i1es (-or the n ext rracs,

If Y O I l I D plan CO use ~t,~b.rmQre liI'Vcp ] a ymgl

}10i1il will wal l~Jt[O ktlepi[ 8~mple.You r n a~ · be

required to go from one sound to~mothef'

r;lp~dlywhue sj1.1Iging.:mdjord ; . U l C i 1 . 'l Q , . In u I l a c

case yOil,W willll ,n ,o~WdnJ l (Ii have ro l 'e5(;IE. rhree

~Yi~c.."Jlles.nd ru m ~'!!f!,~O~.'II.o~$ toget ffoa~

here to there soundwise. ·When. pl il y .i .ng mm05[ ~~'\f(:S~~f~i~~ions"O!liljcS~lhdetle5,re:nd 'EO

~~:[O'St, !limll ];(1fll wiI. :f i:n(iltIi1i1tli: aslltpk: set u ~,

w H~ Ip ' ,mv~(le aU r il e t o n alV fl ri ~ lt io n s y v u . n e e d .BesicIes~there are su n p len ry ofoutbo~u:dmocU flie:F S.to C O In e r.ha~c~mbe 011e l 1~ l t : edby

OOO~ . ;~er~"'Wg~~o\ilrandsfree ~okeep ptaring.

l 'ecl. l I ! I " ID].caUy.mmoO l ~Wd .say ~ l l; ru t [ J leamp i li i, ·

fterlsnorparr o f the g~1i l~ l r , .ua ~nthe case o t'melec~rnc.~fl5tmmem!t,ror ~lUiili1r.ents, ~ndlP~IiIi~·poses it is. Mn~gin:e~ry.ing. to pla!ywlIl b\t'l'l:1Id~r

even soh) ill a d .JUbw~thout one. I I I the p u t

tJu~re have been electric guttars wi~h blli l t· .m.

atlI1pS (m:lI .yolilereme:m ber - U I D l C Tdec~"lSle~wUh

the S~,e1~er under t!l'iu;:s~n__m~gsn5(1l twou)d

seem tJlat the ~mpW'i.er could : . l i c t u a J l y be con-

sicle rt:d a BQl'[ of -m()Chl~;Mi pin1 o il' ~ h e ~IiD.s~na.lo,

~:eilnllself. Us io!biis;to~lke ~hc SOllmd beil:ilgP[j(1d:l i loc!dl~r the gll!ljla:r mn!lmaki .e I ta ud ~ b ile ' -

or deuft~ning, ilyon must

.Im wJlidl ~ j n p ~me r ? '1l1~~sp~ns aliloltlil:~1i'

I J : . 1 J : I 1 U : ! l ( ) f " " " S , box of queseons: SoUdSl3tc?'Tube?

I i .ybrlu? Sepnll lil1 e l i re~iOlp an d power am p?Again , these quest ion s in valve personal ~: .ai s~e

linn C~tl i l le beate r d l e~~~JUw ' lh if y ou ~ lffv e so m e

ba si c k :n _ ow~edS e.

A . :word abOltt bow the;)1 'U)01'k

G~I[~~:'lli~lmpHfiel's CO: ! l l~~-S l tof n:vo S:tilg:eS:

dlef.J~~e-a"Hl ' i I ! f I I :dthe , ; P o ' l ,t J ,e , r ( ; u .t lp . 'n ' ru l!m:am

Cl1l'J.C rlon of the preampis toraisethe power

of the s~gna:lcomlng from the pickups to < 'I

~ev>cJdllt~ c an d ll'iiv e U1C po~ve r:liln p . · .F h i is :is

~ ll so w . he rce the U)IlC can be further shaped ,

overdrive g.:l!in stagesadd~d, and ·dfe'c~s

inserted ~n~o theleop, The llOrwer a:lJn~'stf~ge

i[h,en g h l e s you e : I , ' } . o l . l g l i J J le' \-~el.o dr ive. rhe

sflca ikf'rs an d to b e heardse i U . ' U . ! back: o.f®l.lle

worn o.r~he nextcounty, as she case : l : 1 i l f l Y be.

'f~3i1!: 1S lP fOb l .l bl }f as mlilcl l~echn~ca.l i lnlQ'.m1a!.

Uon <lSf1o·u need ioo·know rogett~. good

sound,

TIle fir,st.t\vo quesnons you needto ask

,~ul i ' .s(;rnfwh.e!ll ChiOOO~l1g ali1~unp ~re::"" IVhmt im .d l o f n lllU s , k: am I g oir ru g ~ :o p~m~'?"and '~\Vh.cfle

am I goillg to P ~ E 1 Y~trY'(Ynlnilycl.loose to usea dilff€ren~:tmp'l!ffie:r mpla .y c oru ~u :ry J ,W 1 j~ !:s ic~

a. ~.ocal b l ll :r tha!l l you would forpl.lyiililg b~avy

m.{;tal,at the eoliseusn ,_ althm:~gffi~.we sh;dl see

Uhat the same amp could ~he'Ql~et~c~ll[ybe

used for both-

A lI1!_ ltmpUfme rtJe l:1 d :s~o .$io und bes t w ' 1 .' J !C ' H . ~J t

is being pushed, Even if you are seeking a

cle~mc()lI:e!it w ID sou nd f~lcUes,'r-~l~ thepoi:IJit

ju s t b efo re ehe am .p g ee s i.llJ ~ odism;[iI,i.olll.lltl

the nextsect lou we shal see Um t SOUl e , o f the

b es t soun d . com es from ovenl.r. iv i .ng the

power s'tag~of a tube 1lillilp~Ui~r.To determine ho,,,,, mu ch w am1:ge you

noed you must decide how loud your clean

sound needs to be ..~,fyou need to play clean

trl;ld~!u:iOlUl~jiaz z so,los (lv er n f~ID nba ll1 d. ·o r

S " u p v h ' " t I nn , tj11lf!l~ql dlYlthmYi.~().~k:ha~wUI cur

throngh a horn sect ion and a . Hammondo fg ~n , y ou wfulli] need ~lh ig h 'W 'n u.~ g eamp .

A tm11lsis:t(J'! am.pwHI delliy,erfillorc' clean

wllItt:t.Qe per I.JOu~\d~hiaiita u!!be one, S()~icl

state ~unps hnve comea long v;ay toward

apprQi<lJ€;bing the wanmh of an :ll.H ~ube

model, m 'I J :db }'lI J rk il 1J!:!rJ.~swjd~ tll,.lbe p1"eiUl l i lps

an d solid :st~l'l:ep ower section s R in d vice 'Versa

can b e g ood com p rom ises, b u t lite ~:J::u::lllie~single coHpickl!llJ. we are no~ qU~E:e i ler<; y.t:;L

fio<r maxfunlrum w~ rl1 !lth il!iI 'iJ J df1eSpOiili!iit': u~bes

5 tm rule.



TH E E tECT RW 6 t/rfAR AS .A l l I E L E C T R IC IN S T R U M E N T ' • 3 1 1

Thr? ~1G--8 cauc'1Jj.nu' '1:ima{e the smnul$ .o f ',na~~y ttl[-

J~~,:(ml gItttr'!,'s #ttd 4:mjJiS, il>lol'¥! imporl .(n.11; i't "tm

create s ,ouneJ .~ IUU.M'r l ' TJetu t :l be j i} l' t1 ;

Tbi.i Gn.mve 'T:t~b{1(u.npr,il/()w$ you to sU)tt-cb jn:m.l s;C lf J. C lUc bmme l1 ;/) ( { c lisW r 1e c! CSCI''efIIU,,) ·c/:Jfumel,

A . Sf.!/JClr.atej)roamp anlijJoum,' ainJ) alliowsjlOu 1'0get

a W1'J,~·{.~t"J'ltf)·otmdat a~ly lJOirnne, tUut to pla,ce Jrour

effects i1~;betlJt{Uln;Jo .r l ow J'loise d1Ul g:r(!lll' loue,

Jnsl'ead of 5 ttifff.l'm.I~:tamps, IJ'it 111emeu! 1lJilh , t J : 1 i . ~

c un p I n' o( ./ eli nJ :; 0 01 '1 '1 0. 0,



Otten. iii ~g h -pQ'W ,elled p.a, s} rS t ' ems , :JlI[,e

.1\cld. l lbk to filrtbel'lJl1pllij; you .r ampli fie r . In

dlis case your main ( ."Onsiderd: , t lOns should be

h ow lo ud y ou ll" d ru m m e:r pW a,y s, R_il ldhow wei.

ca n }"CHlI :3l1l(/l 'Y o u r b iu ildm lU , e s bear YO[I,[ ml~p.

In some cases you can. a n get youro,wn

monhor Jl:Ux:CS wnh just as much or as nn~e

of }'<ou:ramp In tllilem as 'you dlloooe. MOl'eoften you s'110uldbe prepared to put out: ; US l t

e no ug h s ou nd for m e b an d to hear you, com-f o n a b m y . The l e s s : sound you throw oiffellle

s~age, the more the sound linen ,~iU liIIQeyou.

and tile beu~el"theycan make YOll, sound. In

snH tWkrvenucs )'OU !SbouWdbe p rC ' p l3 red to fi l

the room wi~b}rcur S O ' ! ! J: [ ' u : i t

H y ou m usttu rn y ou r amp lip to CUs to r -

ttcnlevels jl!!1st~o hear y ou r,s eM '~w he n w ha t

)fOI!! are 3(:liUlily g ob ,!; fo r is , iii c l ean . m,und,then yon nmy need 1 1 ! 1 J O r e wattage ~ or the

restof tile b~mdmay he too. loud. Reme mb er

t 11 is i sn 't . lit contest .. ,S UE d e y()ufselfb)'tlile

drull1I1s . TIle' d r 1 l 1 m r n e l r' s11JOlIid f " ! h l ~ / at a com -.fo r tab le lev el fo r the styW eof m ustc , an d the

re st o .f 'th e b ;~ nd should ~.d!~U!s. th.eil· \l 'QI!i.tmc h)

the h . ! \ l i e l ofthe drums.

Even ifdistortion is your s tyle jyou should

s till g u id e' y ou rs e1 J by the d rum s. Ifyuu are

push i ng your ~lmp's po\ 'ver rubes . lO r distorr:-

't lQil l1, ~l}1J1wiiUf~ud that ~he tone is ~tUBt right

o n l,r w it hin a.nar row rangeofvolume, Ify ou

I IU1~ mp~nrJ lOll!ld.er OIl' s.ofiuer, ~he3impl :mt3ifnOi t deliver the sound so youneed to con-sider your wattage carefully" Do 11:ot be

deceived by 1 l ' : I i . 1 ! n d s , that ap'Pe~u to be usmg

r .(J\v up on row of . lundrned watt h . ea d s. T lw r e

is it method to dllismadness, In some c m : s e $ ~ r .

lS pure showbusmess,

S o , m , e fr~e.udsw,ere once ope:ni:ng, f o . l "

n , ' e , ( l 1 ' t : Heart performed ill front of a w;l[l of

speaker cabinets stacked f1f teen feet high.

' rhei.r sonndwas i l(Jl~td b ut p erfec tly co n-

tr-oUed..~(y frl,end informed me ~ha.t the gui-

ta ri~ .t w a s 'U s in g only 011e'Twin Revem thatWo IS !Diced behind £he wa1l ofc~~bme€s.The

ta'binie~s l [hCMSCIves were ,em,l)'~ The}'

serv ed as a, !k ind o f the~trici.mstage set,

In some cases, when you see 'a wall of

spe;~kers s[1'etching aeross a ln l1 'g e stage, it it s

:$0 rhe guitarist can hear his 0:1'her ,sound3lt

var lou s p oin ts on stag e. B u.tw hen y ou see s ixM;m : i b aH h e ad s fOil e ac h g U iit~ ~ ris ~,t ish~gll]ly

d! i j<ubt fu~ ~ : f ' I J ; J i i [ 8 J I a re: liQ use .Th i s , is . mere IJkdy

because, ma:dd.iEiolli 1(0 the showbiz value,

Marshall heads bemS pushed, into disto.rtbn

l i l . igJu' :lIflIer mgh t 1 i ' I. lI ve ' ~ , disJillll)'iflg, tende ncr

eo b low up . .Sb: heads allow the ro:ad~eU l' p lug

in a , new 0 1 1 , < ; : each tim e another one g iv es . u p .

One, or at lUQ5t two" one hundred wan heads

S:f :u:n . lldsu:ppl) ' llOo.re tbal ll , e.fJ .Q iu g hpowe r fo il'even the Iargest stage and the Ioudese

drummer;

,CO,t I.s iste l,U ' ,Amp 1 7 0 , ' : I , e

Mucillof thissection discasses distortion

SO l 'Y ou m a ,r W ':!ln f t o :refe:lit,o thnt seetlon a15

n e oe 'S sa Jr y. On e p r cb lem t ! h t : i 1 l l t ,often fuces :SUi~"

tarlsts is getting consistent of amp tone In a

v~~~ffietrof :lD~~lJ~~ng:i,t!i:laf~OIil!l, c.h;llt[€q'lliFt, a

m~geof per-J io:rm:Ulct: lfOt ,Umi.!s .

C o m bo m a n ura ctu ee rs . f h ' S ' l : add ressed theproblem by addiJ1S, master volames, 'fhis

m ean t' m h~t 'YOU couid ~ldjnslthe le1 fe l o f th e

p ream p st;m g .e ro g ive rh e am oun t o f disoO'r·

t im, y ou w an ted , then :ad ju st the leve l o f the

.po,wer s r a g e fOE}M'li.lir m l l e 1 " , 1 1 1 1 vO:~Qme. I t i J s ,

bener stilll iftbe;llmp inqtlie5tion has separate

mastervolumes forcl:Cfln nod dirty channels.

Nex:~ cam e the sep ara te fH'eamp i lnd

p ower am ,f) rack. un its" Some preamps had

three or more stages of gain al,bw.ling var~ous

breukup tevels, These ccmbined with it sepa-

r 'd l te 'power ~lmp3i1ildpe'aket cabi~els Qffell':eda ve rsam:U ,emodula£ 'S}~s l em.b i ,gh powered b uc

eas il y t r anspo r tab l e ,Th en cam e fil~~r) fO .gmmml , lbk p r e amp s ,

'Ihese aml.owa mlil~titudc of dff=fef 'ent dis[or·

don levels, to be easily called up. Leaping

ahead we oo ,w have l ' )mgram_mab le p t e~ t _ r n p s

l:)U:U~ngillt; inm comb os..

Whik this system allows consistent

bre~lkup levels at anyvoluffit:. ~tis preamp dis-

ror ;Uon~ IUOSC o ft en emp ,. lo Y .~ l1 igollle Oil:' mere

~2AX7~:;r,eamp 'tube Or rubes. There ~s Ijtt~e

debate that this sound is ~r!lrer~Ofto the soundof power 'tubes breaking up. But }'OIU miw:~sk."l imvc3II.1l1 g.et~I'DI:Jlilt!round " I v U : h o n t (a ) ~ O :S ~IfW g

my bear i ng , . (b) getting f i red by t he ' . H o lid a y

In'l.lIlnaill:mger ('Who wanrs t:lfH~~In n Halell Ume.

p~n~~edat con ers:,u i,on,d levels). or (c)

iJtO'Win:g up my ampUf i ,e . r ?~As they say" Tbere

is more dum one W:ly to skit, H cat."



First C01me"power-soak"; essentially a

volume contra] placed between the: power

amp stage ()f a head or com be) and its

speakers. This, allows you to set the runp for

OpCi.l1IlUIl distortion with your guitar turned

aU ahe way up and then reduce the overall

volumeto

acceptable levels. The disadvan-cages are tha.r (a) yeu are overdriving the

power tubes continuously; C~llISifig them to

wear out more frequently (01ndthey are

expenslve to replace), (b) you may wear om

the transformer (which is even more expen-

Stye eo replace), and (c) you can not get a very

loud, clean sound should you need one,

WARNING;·' DON'T' EVER PLUG INTO

ANlTHING FROM THE SPEAKER OUT-

PVT'EXCl1PT THE .PROPER RESISTANCE

SPEAKERS OR A POWER ATTENUATOR.This includes rmxers, effects, headphones,tape recorders, etc,

Another solution is to use it smaller amp ,J]mmy P-nge reeerded the flrst few Led Zep.

peltn. albums with a Telecaster through a

small Silve:rtone am,p turned up loud. In the

studio, a small amp can sound. very big, Even

in a Uvesitualinn,. with today's p.a.s,n prop··

erly rniced small amp can sound as b~g as it

M;;l fShaU stack. J effB axcer, of the Doobte

Brother ..., used to play stadnens using only aFender Deluxe Reverb (15 or 20 watts) facing

bim : > I S a monitor and rnlced through a 1 .OnO

wattp.a.

For ultimate tone, big rock stars and

sessionplayers set up rigs u~jliz~nga vanety

of empswtth feedscoming off the power

stage of each and the speakers disconnected.

To do this they must employ "lend resistors'for each amp so that the amp il~.way5thinks it

is seeing ;~speaker and doesn't blow up.The}!

then choose one amp at a time to sendthrough their effects (more on ~hjslater) to a

central stereo power amp and then to thespeakers. Theyare, tn effect, l!5~ngthe power

stages of ehose ~uups as their peeam ps or dis-

tortion devices. 'Ihis is ~U1 unwieldy. eompli-

cared, and. expensive way to go about It, but

it is unrivaled for tone production. ()'1ore .00

this ill .Advanced Rigs)

Amp ModeUng

So von ;~rethe label'shot new artist and

you jU~ finished your debut CD.To get aillllie'

cool guitar toneson you:r tracks you bought,begged or borrowed an old MjJJrsh~Utack, aVox AC3IO. aFender T'wm, a . Boogie head. a

Match~e$S and JC-120,You found just the riglnSO' l . l11d for each tune and you are real proud of

yourselr, Now ~['S time TO r u t the' road and

rep roduce the record. Now what a re y ou g O ]llg

to do? You could purchr!sc all the amps and

effects you need but can you afford the roadies

and the senti uecessary to haul them, and the

custom switching system eo select them?

Thanksto technology you might not have

to. The combination of ~ncteased. computer

power with lower cost h:~sallowed compa-

~lcieslike Roland and Line 6 so develop ampli-

tier modetlnguntte.W:h~~ts amp modelingf Simplypu,tj the

pocket protector gnys have fi:su~edout allthe parameters rhat go into making the tone

of say a Fender Twin, disti.nct from dlat ofa

M:.-u:shalrn.The" then lise this In creased cheapmemory Iton;odel the sound of various amps,

A push of a button can then call up the soundof a J . Soldano or almost an y other :uup at wi]!].

Roland got the b an rolhng with the:ir¥G-8floorunitprocessor; In Its early incarnation

th~s unit was more in teres t ing : for h 's ind iovidual stdng. pitch shUiting and weird virtual

pickup placement possibilltles rhan jhe

successet its amp represeatanous. In ffd,["

ness, it is probably hampered by the fact it

uses a hex. pickup tnstead of the gultar's

pickups. Trying to emulate the sound of

various: g.uitars .15 wen as amps may be too

muchfor any unit.The software has been

updated SO it !1Xiy be closer now.

Boss (also a Roland company) has the G'J!.

5 floor pedal and tile ,GX·700 and GP~100

rack liln~~swhich incorporate the s ame GOSMtechnology ~IS the VG-8.They ar-e driven. by

standard guitar pickups and provide amazing

replications of a variety of vinmgeal1ld

modern amp tones, If a combo is more your

style, Line 600's .Ax:is 2;xn puts preamp,

effects, power amp, and speakers all in a light

weight package .Other companies offer varia-

dons on this theme.



34 • GUfrNG G~M T G U IT A R S O U N n $

Side by s te le w l iU ' llc he o :r ig .Lna~. l; ube amps ,

no bass Q:r drnmspliaryimg, these fr, l , )C!·

ts p!.robaM)· '\:lI'on't fOQrna!!1yorlie "iv~th sensi-

tve ea;r.5;but .~na. ]iv.~ context the resem-

an.cc is dlO'W.l\I:r~hm:cary. 'rl'lle amp 11110lk ls

vaJrjatiilon$ in fltt:aJ.ck, deanp when you turn YO~lrinstrumenr volnrne

ji~!5tne a K :iJ ll tube ami" (but. 11,0mbeso break or bJ.! j]t~ up i!1il~d change NHll~)"and

h ib it an i1 !U 1e xp e!c te d.warmth,

1I1 ) ! ! ( ) I I , I ! pljl)' '!fyith one sou nd aU mgh.t~youI :lod oub t fii.n cl Y O lir favorIte am~pand

ickwidl .~~.But if yC)!!. l naJvetiO're:prodi!!lc;e a.

on~OUFofw!iltb a®o.p f()<rty

you would do wellto put any preju-

c~s iil:>ide~~nd check some of these !,J!t!l~Si

Gui ta r " l:11 Ii1p Ii fr uers:m~y liSle one ormo!:~ '

eirherie.a (;o:llllbo caibhle!1!.O rf ~.l!i.sep-

.S[)reak:er ,cabinets" '\ lVilJtIC;U t ~lwm ,g a bo ut

1 : 1 " . 1 1 . add . IUoJi l to the e ]U 5 iv e t on al q ua t-

ides. there ~s d~e nllorc qlimndfi;~ble ··em;.

' · h i l l ~s!111 .1 1 ) " , ,ef f ide: l1U~! thepeakei!:' translates the power of the amplifier

o sO'!iu:ildpre~~~re ~cvel:s.A fifty W~llt M3ir~

l~ei ' l !d\l i l l1s(l~m:d. ~o'udl;: i ! : ~h r .c0Ughou r

ct~ovoke 12"speakers than through. four

es£won 12'5. ThiJitis [breOllUsetill.e ]W 'saJ re

'c:fficli'e[[lit. On the other hand, thelesnons heve a . particular tone that rock

aryers n~~y p 're fer . O nce ag'3iulI- louder dore:;

e "TI .! 1~ le tt er ,

MlQth.er term bandled abeut when dis-

cu,ss:iln:g:speakers I S " 'll iW l lp ed l ili nce" . .Me~~:$l.Ioodln.

'~oloos"Ion e iUS'Ua!l1y flnd:s spei~!k.>ers ra~ed4, S l

or 16 ohms.The higher the mnnber the more

re 'cs]s tan .ce . .· . n ~ . eSIJ' e; aker OU{P ' ll~ :on dtl! back of

yo~l.I~unpHlicr slh.ou1d iudicil te the recom-

mended 8pe;ilkerim~peda.nce [hr .m~"11:i,mtiJm

eJfidency.Yoil,l may p'~.uginto a c;J!bu'l!!:t·offu:!:' inS11 '1)01 '"(: resistan ce ~ YOL l ~ustwon ' t gel~

a s m U lch yoh'mm~ ( .~~.an ac t a !j i, ;r us or t o f pm 'V t : r

soak- brut l~eVlerJ),fug ,into a ,ca,bl'f,et . t h C . l t ;

Qffi!I 'S' t ess ' 'f ls ts&anC(J tha :n is ·1Yfcmnm;rm.drxi

for 'V'ei1:.YOtlg. :I f you dQ.yolll1 ,dsk Ib~O'wilDlg l i l P '

the ~m.p. Ww~hthis~lI 1lt1..illdyOy m:;N~1WaJl.~Jtl iO

experiment with pll.lggi.:ng into various

spe~keFtype:!, ;[lJd cOlUlgurn:tioll's: l .1 lJ,dudmg

1::<12'1'(Q1:1I~ 1 :2 I n cl1 sp reakier),2x12'" 2x.HJI',

4 xlO " , a nd . 4 x:1 2i'.

f ' iO i C ~olme. Ehis is ;m U you need - a gre~l~

soulJiding gru~tflr ,b, l )gv, ;di into a S !re~ t~ sou u d-

iug nrnplifier. blan :ideal perfcemlng and

F{:(:~:rdjj!l1iS wodd dlis w W i g l t ! m be ' ~J] ; )1] ,1 .) ' ofl!!'s

w{)t~ld need - nU ,efife,crs b e l h 1 ! ; g a d d e > C ! l at t h e

mixing board, But what are these dJ£!Ccsall1d

' w . l h r d ! t do, d ! l _ . e y . a Q ' ? AD.d~n ahis .les.~tban·ipertec~

'Wodd~hO'w dQ y()l~ eentrol them \10 help

shape yonr tone?

HOWind!t:!ed? R £ i 1 I l D 1 ,gpl



PAIR I

'TheEffects



IUIAPT:ER 3

Distortion and S,ustain

Guitarists have been jealous of 'the supe-

rior volume and sustain availabte toothe!f

instrumentalists ever since the guitar was

invented. Horns were louder and cou ld haW da note until the player's breath ran out (or

lndetln:i:tely with circular breathtag), The

church organ. susealnedas long as the key

~I:S pressed and was capable of cathedral

f iUing voh:lme"!E ven the le,ss p,owernl1l vi.oHrns

and other strings could hold a aoteuntil the

player's bowing arm got tired. The Invenrlon

of electric guitars and the~:ramplifiers

instantly s-olved the volume problem, but gui-

tarists remained envious of other instru-

ment's sustain capabilities.

There are two different apo cryphal

seones about aheInventlon of d~stort.ion.One

has it that iltube came loose fn:m. amplifier,

creating a distorted soun d . The other I s t b ( ;! !t

a speaker was torn. It is unlikely that: either

would create a sound that a gui'ta:ristwould

covet. It is far more Iikely that guitarists

merely started driving some of those early

fifteen watt .lmps until they began to over-

load. the rubes, This caused the tubes to

d~soortand create a warm singing tone some-

what alin to rhat ofa saxophone. Eureka/!!In additloa to the' r esemblance il l tone,

the lucky guitarists found that their notes sus-

tamed longer - nota" long as a horn, but long

enough to chaoge the w~liyguitarists would

phrase thea lmes from that day forward

(check om: some Charlie Chrlstian records).

i.his sustam was caused by the •compres-

sion" effect of tubes distorting, which brmgsus neatly to . the first of the "effects! ~

,

C O M P R I E S S I O N

To understand 'the use of compression

and oompressors, we must ,first understand

the difference between dist01'tion andsustain. Distortion ~sa.description of a.type

of' sound. The' ear' bea rs certa in, overtones

around the note that it dlscerns as distortion

(more 0]1 this in ~he next secrlon). Sustain

refers eo how bng the note remajns audible.

Distortion can sometimes increase sustain,

but sustain can also be increased wtthoutaay

distortion.We have discussed how to maximise the

acousnc sustain of yom guitar in the first

section. This .~ s very important because no

electric device wUl make up f01" choking

strtngs Of' a . poorly cu~. nut. However" once

YOUL: guitar' is sustaining well a . cons~ka lUy ; a

compresser can increase the "appare O X ~

sustain of your In s r rumen r , As YOll read on,

you willunderstand why I say "apparent" and

why the natural sustain of the instrument is

so Iasportant.

Howco-mpressi(m works

illt~seastest tounderstand compressors _ if

you. think of them as automatic volumepedals: No matter how hard or how S o o f t you

strike the strings, the compressor reduces the

volume sent to the aJmplifier to a pre-set

l ev el . TAl en t a J S the string slows its vibrations

and the volume sent to the amp by the

pickup(s) drops" a little ampllfler in the com-

pressor' gradually raises the volume: to . keep it

at the same level as the lnithd 1iUa.ct.

3 '7



J S • G r n N l l1 G R E A T G U liT A R S O U N D S

You can see f'OrYDurse l i f how chis W'OII'.ks.

Plug in your gu~t:u ;lind stand next to youramplifier: Set: it foil' a dean sound, Now srnkea nose ._ and as the volnme drops, keep

turning up your am~1~me[[v;()lu:n1e,You will

hear that the note appears to be sustatntng

l onge r . You wi]l understand w.hy I S1lY

"appears" if you ~ryIt again without turning

111 ' the: volume. Listen cbsdy:. Now try~lt, the

fi~st mw ugul~rtYOu wm hear mat the actual

note does not last an y longer when you turn

up the volume, it just remains louder 10l:liger.

~f~ h is is s HU u n c le ar, s ee F jg u re 3 .

A Uncornpressed

!

voL .UN tE

I .

'0112:345 ,6 7'

Tlrne ISeconds ~

8 9 110

B Compressed

voLIU

MI E I

o

Note tb~f, I.bf;!~'Otnu;laoesn·tlast any longe'" - il'just'

stcrywtouder longet ;

Appa re .n t o r n o~~m Js extra .sustaililn, . " " 4 1 1 come~ n h an d}f. C o m pressors have m an y ap plication s

in getti_ng gre~t soends, Adlian Be]ewh. : f lS one

on. at all times w~th the sl Is , taLnat maximum ..

When ~:l!elays his (;]ean r~llrytl1JlIls,ou can hear

~ he:squ ee zin g effec t oH h e d am p en ed attack, At

~hesametime, the sus:trunmates h r u s choruslog

OOd. f la t lg fulg effec,t.s ~rnltmuch more drama t ic ,

The i n cro d ib l e, .l 1 igWy controlled f eedback Mlat

he ge ts is :t cO :ll1bimlilt i:O Ii lJ.of compresslon and

distoztion, but youwill .find that if you play

< l!rou od W ith a. compressor , you em often g et

oontmi:ledfee<lback wit1, virtnally no. dlster-

t lon,

.Andy Summers ·of tnePO/ice also. used

compresslon combined with m il d f.la n .g i.n .gto

achieve the disnncuve chimill,g sound on~h.ejrrecords,

Anoth.er nse for 'COllll,Pf!eSSOfS[S to evenont the sound. produced by the guitar: Bventhe bessmade guttars 'wm have some notes

that SQW1:d louder than oebers, Accmpressos

wm~.owe:r the sound of the; leud notes and

ta~se the volume of the qui.eter ones. It cana1 50 m ake up fo r d efects .]11 ymu T;edThn iqne .A

note that is struck ~enULt~velywill come om

.~lIlstas serong as one struck .forcefuny, making

yourplayingsm.!.ndi more cenfiden t than

perhaps it is,,.Acou;st~.cguitars aire often com ,pressed so thae the bass stringsdo not over-

power thetreble ones,Compeessien .is often used in the st~dl0

tn keep from over]oad~n,g the tape and to

help certain, Instrumeats standou; in the

mix. Other effects, SUCh.1S ocravers, !tuO;ctio.n

better when receiving the consistent . s ignal

prov ided lY y .1 compressor .O f course .•there ~sa down . skle, As I m en ,

tioned when disct~ssil:~gactive p icku ps, co rn -

pr-ession limits your dYl1;l:lIDCS and attack

(semerypes of cOlupressors are acruaUy c.d~ed

"llmlters"). Since much. of dl.e distinctivenessof YOl. ! r p laytng style is contained m t l lewu) "

you. attack ehe stdngsaad the d yn am te s of

you1"p~a.yitlg.compression tends to hornoge-

nize you . r sound, Adrian Belew and Andy

Summers are identifiabk more for their

concept md~e of effects than their touch,

butplayers like Robben Fordj Jet IBeck:~ andMark Knopfkr W01!~klbe ill-served by exces-

siv;e compress ion .



D IS TO R T IO N A N D S U S TA IN • 3 , 9 '

Keep in mind that compression is not an

:al1 Dr nothing proposinon. 1 \1o$ ' [f oO ' l : p eda l

compressors have 'tW'O or three knobs (more

expensive rack units have more). One shouldbe marked "volume" or ~ontput" ,.This knob

allows yon to adjust the overall ~1 coming

out of the unit. Y ou can make vour volumelouder, softer, or ~denUcallwhe~ the unit is

swucbed on, By increasing the: gain, you. can

use the compressor as a p ream p ~ a t little

increase will make up for galn thar is lost

running th:rou\gh subsequenr cables and

effects, and it b~g Increase can. be used to

overdlrJve your amp. Another kaob w iW l be~sustain ,"~compression," 01" .~effect" .This wnI

derermlne how i n tense an effect vou W[]]. .

create. Remember _, there ~s a trade-off

between sustain and d~rmunks. Some com-

pressors have an attack knob.This lets you.

regulate how much yml(' initial attack is

"squeezed" independent of the sustain,

I have K Hiln d ~~at compressors a re u su ,a rt y

more approprtate in a low t O o moderate volume

s~nm'lim:l.At 1ligbel' volumes, the n~tu["alcom-

pression of the amp1ill.er (especlally tube

amps) w f f i ll l i provtde sufficient sustain ..

For some, rock guitar is not rock guitar

wtthout d: is tm:1, ]0J1. It is true that ever since

Chnck Berry's classic solo on "Marybelline;'

and probab~y even before. reckguitansrs

have been dis-torting the' sound of dllej rinstrumenrs.The sound of an amp~jfier driven

to its l imi ts . and beyond Is, to a great extent

the bask sound of rock and roll. But whcU is

,dtstortilJnl

Amplifiers were IllitiaUy developed to

take 1 1 1 weak signal and. make it louder

with.outthanging i'tscha:racter:.. Bmr;when

ampUfi.ers recelve toopowerful a signal, the

characeee of the s.~gm1llhanges ..Thischangr; is

what we hear as distornon ..When a guitar'

with a t very powerful pickup is turned all the

wa.y up, it can send out a sjgna~ that is toopowerful for the ~mllpHfier- thus ,causing dis-

torticn ..

Overloaded tubes create what is called

"soft" dist,onion. Ov·el!'I01Idedcra[ls~s~ors

create "hard" drstoruon. Translstors tend to

remain clean up to ace~rtfdn point and then.

distort, whereas tubes move more g 1 1 l 1 d u a U y

from dean into increasing. ~lmoU1US of distor-

(ion. This gives tube distortion greater

dynamiC pOSSIbm'ti'es".

Soft distortioa is often heard in nature. A

bird sing ing , . a whistte b~owing, : i I i . saxophone

- aU are examples of soft distortion .This is

why tube distorUon is generJ.lly constdered

more "natural" than the tranststortype,

B .1 .C K TO hismry for a,moment, E,ariy guitar

amplffiers used tubes. ~U1dwere of relativelylow wattage (1O to. 20 watts). Early pickups,

such as the Gibson .p·'90,were quite powerful.It W~15 easy for ear ly reck guitarists to distort

thelr amplifters at rel:advdy ~owvolumes (rel-

atirve to the present dill' - at the time j they

were considered o.ffensi,v;elyoudi),The beglnnlngs 'Of modern rockguitar

sound can be. traced back to one mall" andeven o1l!ea~bum! "Blnesbreakers - w/John

Mayan and. Eric Clapton" featured a yOiLi. l1:g

guitarist who had just left a . successful

,Englishpop band ..Eri.cClapton had garnered

a reputation while with ~he Yarrlbi:l'tls that

W ~ l S built more on speed than on to 1 1 1e ,He

!hadeven earned ~h.eirenic nickname "Slow-

WA.R.NING,,·Compress,ors ,do not ,differ-

en'tiate between, music a.nd "O'ise. IfYOU

leave yourcompressor onand are nor pL'l}1ttga note, itwUl try to mise the level of the noiseeomtng through, Por this reason, it is best to

bypass it when n ot ~1Ctuany plarrog.

~\,

\~

.\



40· GEmWl 'llAEAT ~UlliM OUNDS

If JIOU 'wish to distort your mn/;lij'fer but ,Jif(HU"

ph:.fJlll i$ ~W c!'~ottJQj've·ifule-nough, JfOU r.i 'JdJI ft~j'(l thai

a preamp is tbe mISUJ(~I~

l :1:!clmolo;gy:!t;IS 1.'~lmll[;,1(!t1 1'0 co m« extrem ely cto s« to

t1jJjJ.l'fl.x'ilJ'lali1'lg toe swmd o .J O'uerdriv-cu tub!!,",

Progm'lI'1 mt:,ble del ices ~lll'ow J 'Ou , to select anJ 'r.ttunber of .ritJ}'O·1'entc/is,(;m"l'ion so.~mds a.t th[~JUch of

cisultcb.

' l 1 ' J e best ' lOCO' 10 g~ftthe ,~"'Otlm:lofem mmrlitimm tubej;s stilt to use ('1 tube. PffJfmt (lQU(;tUZClti07:1 (lilOl.l'S Ibis

d(!'t'ir:~to ''fla ke a 12tL¥7 p1't. ' l : lmp l'ttlJO' .'fomreJ like (m

OI.M!'I '"Jd.ff l.·m.'j 'i.;,{n'/,r# o f 61'6 cW ' 6:550 potlJer !;urn~ s :



hand," But ~!;was with John Mayan's .Blues· ·

h"leCI#(Jrs that he recorded the album that set

a standard for rock guitar tone, a staudard

tnar ~s stm studied to this day. How dtd

Clapton get the tone th~t started theexpres-

ston "C~3IpllOn ]15God?" He played an early

flame-topped Gibson Les Paul through Z I . 50watt Mal'shall l combo ~].mplifler wtth two

twelve-inch speakers. He played yery loudly;

and when the engineer askedhsm to turn

down because the amplifier '\'WI;'; distorting,

he s:aid no!

In the < ' " 1 . m . p . l. if j e l" section we d~$cussed

v ariou s :I1 1e :U lS of obtainingthls 5oU:l"JJdromthe

amp it5eM'; but when teclmlcians illsl!; tackled

t~epf()LJlem ofgetti..Jlg distottion ~~Itmyvolumerhelr solnnca was the d:Jst1()J"Non box.

Burly d~storUonboxes sounded not Z I . t all

like an O'veroJ: ' i .ve:otube amplifier; they wereaptly dubbed "fuzatones" due eo their

byzzsaw~J.i!ketoue. Listea to Jeff Beck with

the }:(},'I'dl}#'tl:~ or J~mi Iiendrtx; <'i!JbUliJ.r lSfOf

examples of this seund.I hese two wizards of

the electrtc guitar 11HU~:3igedeo extract htghlymusical sounds from these crude e~ectro!l[c

devices. More recent y ear s .1 1 :(\'eseen Adrian

Belew produce synthesizl;:l:j('eJ.[oj. and even

Ol : n ima [ sounds from senn-annquefazz boxes,

The Grnnge and Industrsal trends 111l¥e inrro-

dueeda resurgence ·of tlustone and someplayers like these units for their -r~niCfL]emne

1)1l t;(,_) evoke the psychedelie sixties, but marry

gnirarisrs sun seek a box that will best Lmitau;

the sound or an overdrreen amp.

Overthe yea:l:S:,echnclogy has made great

s tr ides in s imul aUng tile sound of overdriven

tubes tlU'Ollghthe use of U-:lnsistorsand other

l:'Iot]...:mbe technology;. Current distortion

devtces -can h3l.vea much warmer, more

naturajrone ~h~uin years gone by.

~But wh.}rnot j u st use tubes?" I hear you

asting. Good qoesnon, Itwould seem to bethe obvious solutien, Using power tubes

neoessnated '100 ]ars.e a bo~, and USing a

premn.p tube presented the same sound

problem as with master volumes.

Fortunate[y. ]0 recent years a soluUon has

been f oune l whereby a preamp tube can be

p u t [ r n . . a sm a ll b ox ~ud mad e to sound mo r elike powe.r tubes overdrtving ..Thi:saUows

today'sg.l~~~a:ristso have some of the over-

tones . U 1 I d dynamlcs of tube dtstcrtion

withour (1l) having to p lill.Y a t d eafen in g

volumes, (b) b]owmguptheir amp, or (c)

givin.g ~ ) _ . P the~r high volume clean sound,

It is Interesttag that one pan of the soln-

Uon that 911I.ow1:dthe development of this

tyI=u::of cUstortiond.evi.ce was the use ofequallzatlon ""interesting because it illns-

t ra teswhatan import.ult !1X Jleequa liz.~ti()n~ or

"e..q.,:'l)l~lYsin. getting 3 1 . good dtstorted tone,

Y ou can . see th is for yourself by setting up

your amp or your distornon box for a mod-

eeate amount ·oifdlstortion, :and thenpru:aying

wlth the tonecontrols on the amp and the

gn~taI,Youwill nottcea dist[]]_c~ change in the

type of CliS1rO:r tiOH youaclneve as you change

~hetone of ,},OU[ amp fmc! Instrument,Most distortion devices now come with

tone controls as put or the package. Also,

most: d!J..aj)j~e[~~itch~o'S " I m p s C O . I D.e with (or

should come with) separate tone: controls for

tile clean ~l.nddistcrredcbsrmels. This allows

you. to set up abrlght, [hjn~Rlflky soundforyour dean sound.and ill mid-rnnge heavy, fat

sound fOr your disrortton. U your distonlo:n

box. does not have <lny rone controls, '()J' you r

amp has only one set jor both channels, you

will be forced tocompixHuise. l'h[sunwUy

results in beil'l!g d!ssat~s:fi.edwtthboth sou nds,

One .o f the mosrcommen problemsthattoday'S gl1jt:ar~stsh;~rvewith distortion is not

too lirrle, bu~ roo much, They use it to cover O il

mulritude 'O f s il l: :! " " poor tone.pcor smm~ i n ,

and poor rechntC[, l l leT Thus~ m offer this .~ctv1ce

for the first of many times throughoue th]s

book: lV1n.'1ifit comes to effects. use 011{J1

as "~t~C.h ·m· a.. ma,.zyas jlflU IlOOti!

1'00 much distortion wi111l l1uddy 3I1'iJd~fliJ2Z

up " fon r s()illru:l.~f yOll a re p ] al yi _n . g. f a5~;itwill

make the notes blur into one another an d , in

genesal, wm make your smmd sink. back in

the overall mix ..If yml l ' leadwne is tlilil,tryworktng with e.q, or some of the suggestions

in Par[ One (heavier strings, heavier pick,

better souadlng pickups) etc) b . e j i . . > n : ! hmm~ng

upthe dtstortiun, IfymJ . are [acking suseain,

go over Part Oneand/Qc ul' uddi:ng a CQm~pressor rather than SJ .dd ing more fuzz,

Work on other aspeces of your sound and

te.cnniqlle and y Oll :m ? ly be sll!:p~ise.d m 1 1 . . oW

.l1ttle d~smrti:on you need to get 01 good lead



teDe. 'Tube arnl)S or dlisto!rtion devtees will

d!istolil more ify<)u:lrnlck dl~ strings h:m.Je r : B y'

adjust ing the ,~e: ,ve~of djsronion ,~f td l:llorkl_iIlg

on you I ' techniq1.1e l ym l can control the

amo u nt o f d is lk oillrio n by .h0 1l;Vbard youpli:lt

For::IInumber o f yeaFS~~ 'played l i n , dubs 'in

a band with anotber gllit1U'~St. W e used COU1.·,

~)il!rd!ble;liitllp!s. b u t the o~h~ !1 'gu.~!ta:r i !! t ,uvo reddCilUible~coili pickUI)S an d a . d is l: O : rt io n . b o x ,

whereas I played sil1lgle-coil p~CkiUpS andused

a compeessor to slightly overdrive m y amp

and :ltdd SlIist:un. When phlyin ,g wit_bout the

bl.illlld, bis oolil!e sm .m nd e,(J . f,'il!l: an d musical.

where mine was thtnner and s.Ugluly harsh,however

l, when. weplay,ed in ;r~ba[!dcoot,ex~,

peopie commented (and. tapes cmtfurmedl)

that his solos we~ buried and mi:ne ~Ul:g

through.

There are a numbe'f 0" Iessons b) be

~,eamt: !d , t rotmn tIlls" the nlO:tlt Qbviou. '~ bei:mgd1a.t sometimes ~less is more," Also we learn

~hatSOli i l ,etUl1e.s what son~1.ds good l ' ) l l a y : i n g by

ollillsellres will no,t~l'()rk. ina, band contesr, So

keep inmind that 'even if hea--lf)me'ta'l~s yourrnedlum, try not to overdo the d[storUon.,

'O h e ,c .k ou t eady Vil/D Hale.n,.

<Over 'the ",eiJJr;~,you may fi.nd },ol!!r'self

using ~Uly Of' an of the t y pe s Q o f djstort~on

mel,1,tion~d here ;;md in the ~:pli_fier. sectlon,

Try experuuent ing with ea 'oh O If d ' lem so ' t ll la t~you w:iLlbe ab~eto get ~he sound you want hl

anycontexr.



1 :1 1 1 1 1 \ P ' , E li t 4 .

Atnb,ient Effects

CONSIDER THE FOLLO\VINGSlrtJA1]ON;

It is 5~.30P,:fMI. Oil f[~dill,~(.~~eb;1!m!!ets up i . t ' S

eq u:ipulI.eut !1! : t th e clu b, and !th e n\I,lIIS~C~afilset

th ~ir iev ,eW s r O il" t y~ )iC ~ ll , p~ Ill~ I~ n s VO ~ liI nJ iI !e .T IT h e

drummer , coums' ' O f f a -rune ~uLd the bmnd

beginsrh:ei.r sou~ldicbe<:k..Thero:Jir~s deaF

enili lg;:il ![] oftli leinstl"l!(llncnts: merge to:gerl:h~1"

io~o a. . lfe 'I 'f :[ lberm~f l!gwt l !W l of milr!s ih ' !Ev,cl"yolne

cuts Da,ck ~he vohwme ~iJ1,d"whl1.c ' ~~:1ijss ea!s]er

on the ears, ~.t does I~n~e mlmpro" .... the

sound .The b:~ndgQes [0< i:U .m e ra nd b op es fo r

the best,

Later thatevening, d'.le b~11l.dreturns toa

soUl-out show- peopte n~eha"ging from. aherafters! TIle band l aunches into the first tuneooly mfind thae ~ .be i rmsmunems sound. so

quiet and separa~e r r - O ' I n one another thatrbey W[l !~M:double their \!o~un.~e01111)1[(:econdtune jl~l:stfio ITl:ake it sound like iIlilUsi1c. .

'nlC sUY a!tiQ n ] ha'''I/·e j ~l.st descri.bed

h a p P , e [ l } s O l I U the n m e . .T I 'D I c od ds nr,e dun ifJOlil

< lJ r.en a , b an d . OIl' kFliQi"!1! 'o:ne\"ifCU en.ougi~ to

i l I~~endl1€;i!r s o r t l l l d c ' h e c k : . ! ; " YO l~ ' : l a v e ' ebserved~tyorursd[W].la.t we ~~ave~le!,eis a:n e } t ; .a J m p : te

of !the tJtnfiJlia:ncre . o i t ' ~1room clila:ngin.gfrom

sound cbeck tQ g~gd!Wl'~.

\Vhat is Clm';t~Tlc.(]'? You . l ' J 1 , a y haveheard

the wnrd used to refer to a ~st:JiUr.t]'U.In that

case, it refers to the "atmosphese' of the

place,. or UtendIy , "the SU: l ' roU1 ' ! (Unf1 la~rtWhen

dlscussing sound, we are not dIscussingsound ina V::l!CU~~lm,Wi(;! are d:iscil :~ssmgsound

LI1!.heatraround i l l : : . For the most ptaN:~weare

also d i8 !c:ussln g ~ h~ w~ n:s., fII.00f, a nd o e:i. liliflg

:~uO<1,wnd~he~r (w-e 'W:UI~et~."e : 1 . l I i e n d p . b ( } i l l l e ' s an d

opelll.rnli.rconcerts ,eut~ f t > 1 ' nauf).

Whe:u. dle b~m.ddescribed. pre'Viollslywas

dO~ll!g us soundcheek, the s>(J'und was

b!Ql1ncb~g 'off the ham 'Wood srage ;and d an eefiloor~t~\e m~r~()red~ansa:ndc(J'11!}c['ellle

c eiJ lim :g , b le l1 ld :llil;g ~ftto a n umd d y w 9 !1 1 o f noise.

\1Qh~tl!t1ju~cl!n!b .f iUed !rIp wjltb pe:op~e fo[(hie

sh .ow .nho~e poQ ip le 's b od lic :s nl1d dO!th i . ! )1g

absorhed the sOij; IJl1dcm:nbrug ( J i / f the: st1ll~

lrl!lIlUrn each inStf ' I !Ul1e:l1,t s O i ll : l: i! d J e d f.otally s:epa·

m~~-f~~~he oUil.ef5.'lliI~y abseebed so ' much

o .f t:h e s :o um l ! 't:ha:t die ' IDnnc llwas for ced to m ~sle

its VO.~.1l1metO' flU th e l 'OO:! l1 .

. :~e[y room you play in will have a dif-

f er en t ~m lb . ia fl ;c ;e .TI 1e sam e room W] r u~ have a

different "mb . i f l r tCe from minute to mimne,d . e p e l! ld i n g . 1 l. lp ou~he num be r of people .i:n it!A

S l ti ll nd i:n ,g joke . in o ne o im y h ood s w as that th e

sound ,o{~,:1OOm,ou ld ,Cill~m1ge ju s t becau sea

guy narne fr~d wa)iked .in:rlli:tis~s aeras off-th.e-

'Ii"'Ila11 l i! j .~ .~ .s ~ems "\V be n p :la }firn g lillie same roO[J]l,

five sets : 3 1 . l l i Q : I D ] ~ J siX nig!11I[:week {or siX

weeik:sl,wing . ~he same e:q~I~p.l ii llent,P~!j£fiIlig.lhe

saMe ames, you ~ e n d ~ o nQtilCCttile: s ( L i g f f i l ' e s t

wriaUQI!'!S m :so ,m ld . A hUl1ll id mgbt em. dF:lls[i·

cally .~!t1 ;~ 3in1b~ance 0.:[ :31.oO.JI [ fl ,.S~n:cesOIl!~n.d

~m'"eliSd1:olJg~l.~tir~he ~bjckFles6 of ~Ilma~'!I!!!ld

j t sMUe;roo! l ] j .~e .n: t w~Ul1mre an ·effec·ton [he

sound ,Up unUl the lns~forty or fifty years, music

was usu.aJlypl:ry.C!d. or recorded ir!J..mOlns

c h os en fo r U 1 .e ~rp ]e ss irl.,g a co u su c p ro pe rtie s,

In more recent: (~ecades.this has not a ]ways

been rhe case . Th . c 'C'Xplos1o'! !! . of ~pop 1ul1l!!f"

mnsic (as 0 1 ' . 1 1 " 0 1 0 ( 1 to ,chiuoch or classical11IUl5k;)h~s ,('booed Ilul.skimns~!o play in ! C ~ l U i b s

thata:~e:: 1 I l ! S l S , t h :: lf ll aC ! ou sUC3 JU~ r ideal (as

o p p o s ~ d t o dlil(u:~hes and sped<l!I)~d!es~gliled



4 4- G EniN G G HE "A fG UIlA !R S OU NO S

concert halls), Portunatelyat the same time

modern recording techniques haverequired

studio engineers to Invent ways of Inodifyrng

the ambiance art~fjjda~~lr.

Early eeeordlng engineers would place the

musician. inan aJco'Ulstica11ypleastng m om and

put up one or two microphones to record

them as if an ;,u.!d~encewere ltstentng. Some

great SOluld[ng early records were made thls

way. ( Some people sti l l make great sounding

records this way). Some recording engineers'

were not satisfied, however. They wanted. to

hear each instrument more d:ist~ncd),so they

put :;1mlc next to each one. 'flus technique"

called vclose mk:1ng," accomplished their

PlIl"J}OSe',but in the process the sound of the

instrument in the nil' (or ambiance) was Wo,st.'fo counteract this thesepersistent engineers

came up with a Vi7fly of artifIcially restoringthis amolance,

After :lillialyzing mom ambiance, they real-

ized that the loss was due runpart to the time

delay between a sound leaving its source (b~

it voice Dr' instrument) and i~sreturn. from

obstacles in its path ..11at is, the ear hears the

sound tirst from its source' and then again

after various debys bounced off walls.ceiling,

people and objects in its path (depending on

~hesize and shape of the aC:Ql ILS[ ]C space).

The number, delay time, and tonal quality

of these delayed repetitions of the origbt~dsound are W~I:u.:U allow our ears to tell our

brain the size, ( 3 ! n d O;iltiJre of theroofil ~ n

which the sound is produced. I " n g f f i 1 n y di:rec-

tional mlerophones placed right in front of

instruments and speakers elimlnated leakage

from other instruments, allowing each to be

is;o]nt,ed on it own track, Unfortm:tately. it also

eliminated all of the room sound as we'll,pro"

duclng a.v.eq unnatural sounding tape (when

W:1S the last time you listened 'to an instru-

ment or amp speaker stuck db-ectly in your

ear?).

Ta counteract this effect, engineers came

lip with some effects. of thdr own to rescore

the natueal room ambiance to close-mtked

instrumeras and v()c~ll~.Many of 'these effects

~u~till in use today, anclaHowthe guitarist to

sound like he or she is plnyi l ' ) :g in Madison

Square Garden even in a. crowded" sweary,

b~lSemeot"s.: i7. .e club.

One of the first enecrs engineers dlscov-

ered was ta pe d ale ,) " By funni.rlg a signal into

a reel-ro-reel rape recorder; c h .e y we re able to

record ,it on the .maduJn.e's "record" head and

J.J'~ayit back as itp'lssed over the same

machlne'svplayback" head. the signa] comingoff the playback nead was , sUghdy de~aryed by

the distance between the 'two magnetic

heads, This delayed, s i gna] cm.delbe added to

the original signal on the main recording e ocreate a delay effect By recycltng the delayed

signa] over rhe record and p[~~yhackheads,

addItional repeats could be achieved,

[[1 thls system, the l eng th of the delary canb e varied In a , n um b er of ways , The speed or

the tape can be v~lriedfrom 7 to l5t,0 ,30

Inches per second (Ips), ,atus~1ligtlle delay

time to get shorter as the speed. lncreases,

The p,laiyb;ljck bead can be moved farther'

8IW;[lY from the record head to lengthen the

delay, or multiple playbac:k heads can be

used, which atsoallows mutnpte repeats

without recycltng,

Engineers used this tedmi!que to create

the "slap" echo used on early rockabilly

recordings. This slap W~~5?1sl10rtlsjngle de~ay

th:1l.twas mixed almost as loud , as the original

signal and was used moore as an effect than as

a means of reerearingambiance.Jn fact, it isone .o f the f1f '5t examples of u;s~ng"effects" in

recording, By recycling the repes..U and

mixing them : 1 1 , Uttk farther back, engineers

also usedtape echo as a means of recrearing

some of the room sound lost indose micing.

Of course, as soon as gultartsts started

tl f ;ing this ·effect in the s rud to , there Wo IS a

tremendous demand for a unit that could

recreate the effect live, Thus" the ~Echollk:x"

was bom, beginning the connnuingtradition

of studio effects being produced for the mass

market.The m:iginal Echoplex was a tube-driven

tape recorder with a playback head that slid

along a track; making the delay time

extremely variable ..These units used n con-

nnual tape loop (an Improvement over the

studio where the' tape just romout and had to

be constantly rewound) and allowed iinfiiniite

{)r "runaway" feedback (or recycling). The



A M 8 1 E N T E F F E C TS . • . 4 5

term •rHn'lway~comes from the filet that the

aml:llifier section. of the tape machine J'ea:nil~

plif1es each recycled signal until you get a

'Wal~of notse that increases ill vo]t:uneluui:J it

jeopaedizes your speakers, w sa y nothing of

yom· ears ..U nder proper comrol, this .[lUla~ay

feedback can be used as an . eJfect ,The lute ' . F o . l 1 1 I 1 N n y B o l i n . (Deep .Pw"i;.lfi) used

to have a foot pedal to control the feedback on.

l1 js E ch o p le .x : s o that he could achieve (be w~~lli l l

of noise effect and then back it off before doing

an.y dnm!l!ge. Adrbtll Belew (Kt1'lg C~'hnsm~t,

Duv.ld Bou#e; . 17:JBBet1J's) u se s a ll lln ar uo g delrlY

de,vice (see next section) on n standand man-

ua .Hy matl~pllhltes the feed back coatrol eo

createa nUIl]1be~ of insect4Y"l)e sounds,

Early tube Bchoplexes crea teem ex-

~reme]y Wfirm type of echothat ~~ill has its

1i:ISeS In these days of "digital thisand digjt~ll

~ha.t,"1'.heseluu.tS are rare andcan beexpen-

slve ..In.addit!oco~when the mpe [oops need b)

be replacedthey are haffl tocome by~.a:nd the

he~~rJsmust be demagnetized reglrdarly to

m:llintain sQuad ! quaH ty . But , if you are t ry ing

to recreate the ,et[r[y fifties sound OJ'::l!te just

[ooking for awarm, dch-solUlding echounit

wl~h. up to 2 seconds of de;l.lY, tube EdlO-

plexes are snll hard to bear, Too, some players

comment onthe added tone the}! gel! fmm

the tube preamp in.these devices, Transistor-wzed Bchoplexes are cheaper and mere

cornmoncbur do not have the same W~1"1n

sound as the tube models, 'fhey are sttll (Illite

uSil!blie - ask Eric Johnson ..

d~m:l: l1: lshed s.igni.ficanUy : ' '1S the deiliW t imes

got longer; By the time analog de]aysput out

nluch more than ;00 mslliseconds (haifa.

second) of de]ay~ evea the best of them. had

added so much noise and unwanted djstQr~

~ ion . as ~ n b e unusahle. But fo r m an y p ur -

poses, 500 milllseconds is p[enty. and <loa]<)gdeklY'S became p.ractkaH.y standard equt p'

menr for studioS and guitartsts alike,

mGilTAL D E l A Y

The f ldivel!U of djgitalteclmologyhdl.::n:ld

solve somethe .p.rob]ems with. rroilJ~ogdekllYS.

TIle .(]jfie:rence berween analog and digital can

be 'V~:ry 'C(Mlfusmg:I1le best 'Way to tlLit.lkabout

M:ls while ano ;Jog , (U1it 'S deal with the aC~l ! ,wl

Signa! itself, dig:ital units hreakthat sigrlal

down into Q . < U g i t a J ] eede, 1f.hey then processthat code and translate it ioto signal, agaii l

before semling. it to the ontput.The encoded

slgnal Is Jess subject to degrarlauen, ahusa llo win g lo ng er ddarys with m essd~sit(:lI,"U!)ll.

A N A lO O D E L A Y

The aforementioned problems with tfLpe

a:ndtape headsled researclaersto seekaway

o{creating the same effect using the buddLn,g

~f"Jinsi s tor ~echno]Qgy. Once they p u t their

minds to i~ 1they were SIOon able: to come upwtth "analog" derua~rsrharelmunated th e need

KH·tapes and tape heads by passing t~lesigl"l.a[

along :;1 series of m e chips, Analog de.~~IYs

allowed gunarlses and. others to. reproduce

tape effects wnh much smaller units (tape

de]aryswere about the size of ~loaster oven,

early analog units moee like 1 .~b.candy

boxes) 311d without the hassle ..1'hey fell shon

only in that the sound q~1.!lalityf the echoes

lne;.,pem·,/v(! .cfr:lCJlogclehlYsam sOlne.tinW (l$ pl\Ouide~t

nlm~ ";'e:l;tl.U"t/.lSOtll'l.dfl~g ~1"·tt#~I!':fj tmJm, tnore e~l(fJell-

stll(! digital delays.



OLg~tal delays allowed the poss~bni:ty of

del~yl;imes of 16 sec()iods. 3~2seconds>md

beyondl This in turn .al1ows processes like

sampling. W.kUe these extremely long delay

U : rn es h " rv ,e s om .e ;,'IppUCi!!tiO.!lS (i.e . playingalong with yourself ala ~F.r.ruppert['()nlcsjj)~ the

mo r e :i:mponan.t ·ef fectwns thaeshoreer deia.y

t~m.es became extremely dean to the P(l~lil~wheretae de~ayedsignalWlJiS il1dist~ngu]sh-

able from rhe or ig in al ~ H n~ed b~essi11gSwe shall see in the next seetien,

. A P P U C A T U J I N S

C[-eat~J!JJgan: : i f icialambsance w ith . d el::1 iy is

easy. For a S U 1 U U . room.rhard reverb" SOlilRI

(moreabout reverb lin H Ie next . secdon) ashort delay with a number .o r repeats is best

Ym~will fwd thalt you. . m : .1 ! . yw:un: q u i t e a bi!t;o f

effect sJ.gila~m the mix,Thts will sound like

you are playblg in a garage all' basemene with

concre t~ w:aU s (hence "hard" reverb).As youIncrease the lengthof the delay) the r-oomwHl

increase in size, but you. wm have to reduce

th .e amount of effect o r the r epea t s will

obscure you r origtnal signal, Y ou m a y' a lsowant to decrease the number or repeats as

Y0iJ[i .n crea se the l eng th of the delay.D d a y s Grul be used fu r a m bia nc e o r e ffJ :. 'l( 'i.

We will. see as we progress th:n ctigllmld )eJa rs

have not .o~lCeSS[rri.iy replaced analogs i j r U S I t ; ~ IS

analog did not entirely replace ~ape)j' but that

each h . : l l S .badvanmges and disadvamages ...

Using delwy effects can be confus~ugbecause manufactures seem unable to agree:

on t e rn l ino iogy; l - o c 1 . 0 t l · t ; deJ.nYl!llits (or de[:lY sec-

tions ofm:ulti=effucrs u.n i ts ) will have three

controls. One for the length .o fde]ay, . from

sho·J:iI;o lon g, This .Il1flY b e c alle d " D e ~:ly 'f:i1 n e; "

"EfJ .~c: t : t 'R . ' ln :ge; 'Or s: i ;n lp ly"De]ay."Anome r will

control the number ofrepeats, from one to

"NnfIW<ly: 'TI l is one nr:taybe, called " .Feec1bock;"

"Regen!' (Regeneration), o r " Rep eaq c" ".M d th e:

third willcoatro! the amonnt o: f effect ~ha t is

added to the Oldgi!.':kll) or "dey" s~gnal (Il. signal

with no effects is ca~ted "dry"; one adds ,ef.fe~ts

to . m;JIikeit "wetl1er~I).11tis may be caU0d~M1x:;'

"Blend," Delay") or •EffeCt"., dependaig on the

lUl!ilt~rJ.'lns the confusion. A short t ime s p en rp]~lyin,gwith the device win unravel the

mys t e . r y of wMch cont ro l does what.iUl units will have an IO lY lU and an omp1,:!~.

The signal. 1I'rom. the guitar goes into the

input~nd the output Isplugged into the amp

or .hno the input of' the next effect. Some

units will have input and output "ateenna-

I:O(,5;'Of volume 'oo!ltids.Tbese will help youmake sure that you don't send so much s~gl1l<1!l

into the dday UUllI i.t distorts, or so much out

that you dlstort the next effect.

Many delays win also have a ~dry" output

uud an "effect" omput. This will allow you to

send an unaffected s~gnal to one ~Jj!il'p or

recordiug track, aad eieher just: the deJay

.s ign;u or ~.blend of dry and effect signal to

another amp O~ track"

When uying~o decide how r I . luch of the

effect to blend in, keep two rhings inmind:

On one hand, as we've said b efore, less tsmOl¥? - too much ddaywUl sink your guitar

Vi-ra}lsck jn the m tx an d ob scure what your

al(le trying to pu t < ,, ,c ross .On the other hand,

when you are setting up and ebecktng you

guwtar sound, (1 : may sound like yo~~.have

enough de: ru : : l i y in the mix. b]jJ~when (he rest of

Iile band starts eo play YO H fl.nd ~llat yO~lr

soundis[00

dry..Be

preparedto readjust ymu:

mix settings '\v.hHe the band is pJayj;ng"

A good rule efthumbis to back .off on. the

amount of effect when there is no 11IUCro·

phone: in front of YiOUta.rop_ ) ' CH , l nm.yu$e a

.Ilule more when yom' guitar is going through

~!hep_fl_A150 remember that ifyou need a lot

Df de[ay fora special effect, don't be af"l~dto

shut it offwhell you. are t~uOUgll.And nna] ly,

r emembe r tile SVOf)1 at the beginning ofthts



chapter and be prepared to add "wetness" to

your signa] as the dub fills up.

. You may find that analog delays servebetter for ambienr effects than [he d~gi.ta.l

variety.This ~sbecause in appllcetions of This

kind, thelr lack of freq uency response

becomes a : pll1s.Th~uk aboue it: in nansre, the

echoes bouncing off the walls, etc., do mot

have ~ISmuch hlgh end as m e or~gilln[ signal.

With the del~lYkngth.s required for small

r 'OOIn sounds, and even larger hall simula-

tions, any 'decent analog delay will have a

good enough frequency response to avotd

muddying up your sound. The small amount

of high end loss inherent in analog delays willbe just enough to make the ambiance sound

natnral. At shorter dday ~:imes,dig[~~ldelaystend to, be ton clean to sound natural .~the

echoed sound is identical to the original

slgnal. Some of the more expensive dig;~ml

delays have hjgh frequency roll-off to eoun-

teract th~sproblem, but it seems sUghtly sUly

to pay extra to makea more expensivedevice sound like a much cheaper one!

Oigit.1] delays do have their place. For a,

doubling effect, digital can fatten out the

sound by JIw,kiJ.1,git sound like two guitars

playing". l l :n this case, y 'OU want the delny te be

as dean as possible because you wUl be

mbdng it equally or almost equally wtth The

origina1. For doubming. you waot the delay

long enough to fatten the sound, but short

enough so that it is notaudible as a, rhyehmle

pattern. A]so, you want to use Dilly one repeat

or it will begin to sound like "hard reverb".

rumored) ,ataiJal;)/e iJ~ntck f,"OI'i figl l,n#on onl): Jed:mrilQg)!

bas advanced to the palltt' where digitt i/l d c l t i r y : s (.fnd

;T!n:>Jvsl ire j )1'Q( /UaKt in 1w/ul14joatpedal units.

. .. . ~ IPA'NNINGOUlf INPUlI'4- I. .. ( I' U rJ 'P ' I! !fI '_ oo f5Mf'(J + - _Digit.QI

CeloYOO-5

D ig ita l d e]a ys a re' :i1 I]sogood for s et ~ iJ ]g u p

rhyt:lIfl]]C repeae patterns > .4 ) short slap, with

a single repeat mixed equally with the orig-

inal signa], can tum your guirar into a

sequencer; longer ddays can ,crea~e poly!"}'-

thymic patterns ala Andy Summers (PoUce).

JUST .remember, ifyml are playing with a Jive

drummer, he must be able W bear you

because your' delay time wUl set the tempo.

(Some digital delays allow you to set the

delay length by rapptng a .fomsw~t(;h,)

OigIDl t rudelays with longer delay times (2

seconds or mor-e) allow you to create "Frlp-

pertronic ~effects by playing along with your-

sell: This may be done in one of rwo ways:

You set a very long delay time, the mix at

ilear equal, and the feedback at just below

"runaway", This way) as old patterns fade,

you can over lay new ones. O r ~ y ou . m a y use'

the "hold" button (present on almost a n(Ug~tal delays) to lock in what you ~:iav,e

pJayed Up1l.lntn ~ha.t point (caUed ~~OOpS"),

and then perform improvisations that wtll

not be recorded, These improvisations m~y

sound very dry unless you are running your

guitar signal through a second delay se e for a

more: subtle SOFt of ambient sound. before the

[oopmg dlgital, 01" a reverb after it.

Speaking of reverb, this br:hlgs us to ous

next section.



4 8 • G E IT IN G B R E AT G U IT A R S C m 'N IO S

R E V E R B i~takes to travel the length of th.e spring ~ldds

delay. In addition, tbe sp,tIng degrades the fre-

queney response, So far ehere would appear

to be HttLe difference between this a!nd an

echo unit, but the! spr~~ogaffects the fre-

True ambiance is never a t resalt of a slngle

delay length. o c r multiple: eveli[ ]y spaced reo

peats. 'Walls,floors, ce iLmgs , and otherobiects

are continually ecboing the sound back at us qmency eesponse in a . more uneven manner

at v:,1u,:iolilsdelay times. In addition, these than analog or d!igit:~~de:l'ilYs"therefoee ere"

echoes are only beard indi.vidual]y lnan <11.r" m~ngH more JJJl:hu:ai eff'Clct,nlle more springs,

plaae hanga r fJ't th e G:mll ld C an yo n" , In . the the more namralthe effect, and the longer

averag~. ~9m one doe~.! ! C ? t .~~~¥.:"~~~~n9.':l . n ; d .~.;./<;_.J'J~"_'4.9r!ll~" ~d~~+~J~~9,~~.~~~-.~d.~~.~~~~~.~~d~.~t~]i1~·.D~ ~-..... ' f ev~rb-S '~o~ f tV~: : jb~,~ .u : l 'b~ S: : '.o~ro ' ·~ . ' · .wa: : fnU' i - . - - - - - - -

l i u ~ : a ~ i ~ l c l j : . , 1 :ctti'}t;4~,n:!j:~':'d l? e~ . . u~vab.ru;,~,,~~:ifl'.:~]f.tl!~ .~~"~.~.ij,]9~~apem,.s~x(::~:::' ~ e . p , e a . ' l c s . , ; b t r t a s . ~ n . ~ 6 ~ 1 . 1 1 t : r : · j , : .o c .. ' · . t 1 . ~ e ' :s j i g . · . . ~ ·. . ~ . - . - . - . .--;u:';;iiif :t~~~bs . h . e t , · ~i~~t i6 w e v ~ r :b ' 6 r u i i . ' ; ' to~

~ ! ] ( le . m p . ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ . s .; Q t ,f u . ~ I .n e . s s ·f : tll~~:oqq~io ·~:·~l i~.· t f - ~ : : : i , , ; P ~ ~ ~ A " 9 i % ~ ~ i t ~ : i ~ · ~ ~ · l ; l : 1 ; d · · · : W ( l e , l 1 · .~ ~ . ~ ~ .t h e : ~ o :W i (l i· . i $ · ; t m t ~ ~ ~ I ., ,;, .... : . .... ...' . ¢ d r ~ i l( ) '. 1 1 ~ i ,r ( ; r; H . t~ ( c k . ,g d H ; o ( c i t ' d c m ~ : tr u e ~ t h i t r¢ . t ; r'

; e l a Y ' l i i t it 's ; ' w iU ] e : - t m " e . f b r : . . m . o c t " ¢ ~ · .®\!.fOl}S.: ~ ~ 1 4 } i : t Q ' ' 1 ) ~ :; '* l i ~ i :_ ' 1 & '~c t ( ) . ~~ l : t ; i b i · < f ' _ , :: ..' - ' ' -' - ' . , .; - - - . - - - - - - -

.l.i~ited.Wl·tke~r·~bm~i: 'f9-::i~:Pfbf:)

; · · . ~ im l J ) [ ~ " i: ~ " c ~ : : ; 6 ~ ~ > u i ~ ~ t ~ t h ] d J 6 i i · .~ u h i b 1 h e · : , ~ . -- · ·~ · · - ·· ~ · - ·~ ~ - = - ~ ~ - ' 2 D - , - · J ~ I - G ~ : - t I I2 · - A ~ , - , -L J ~ . R ~ l -- E ~ · V ~ · - - : E ~ : a -.~_-IB~·-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~o{th:ejr · . r e v : e A a i s ~: w , ~ # . ~~ t h e Y ~ ~ ~ _.

~I'!·..~ o . u n i s n r'~ith Hltl~:9 : ~ .n o ' : : ' A f ' ·iheit 'b~st,'~15~iug·rev~fti~.::Q{fe(t~mite~·:;~t~Ll i~ i ,1~W p~c~e~~; : :·~yp ,~~. .<):t~ii.Oll.l~::SjmH]~~iofJ,.}<h~:.: ldv~i i - t. '~ . " " ' "f: .ep~~fts!?l. ' .?comc:Oo, --:~figilfal:e·fft . :ds·g~(ve.! l J i , s . . ~.li~~.dU(iJ.~.ll.t~y.e t ,b! . .ln ~ :" ·" " - -- -- -

t : J l " [ i ' 1 { r \ ~ h ( 'n: ; g t i l ; l i : i t y . : : ~ o f ·. 'd~~eir :>~p;U4i~·· · ~ . e ; e p ~ j j ~ ' ~ l y · : . ¢ y e i · r t i i h . t.jt w ~ i s . ' p . b $ ~ b i 1 e :t o " slnli~.:w " il :.e ll :~~ij.y]liuXJ!~W i (, " ;k : L t ig > : C i t : . --·,tat~l r t t li il ] " Y ~ : I Y y - · ; · ' S ; i :z e . and ..i . ; :ype-¢rTdon~. [ n · · - -- -- --

: h 6 l r ~ f : w d : r k ' is :· [ e l ' - ' i J i r e ( J L ~ . a.d,d,~.~i6jl . /d(~iW:~ : e . v e . r b : ~ . ~ · . · K f f i ] d . y . . " . ·? l ! " . . ~ 9:~t)l~q~,• N ' ·th~·.: S("yri~ : 1 l ij ,) > ' W " 1 i :~ ' ~ ~ - y : O q ; ·:ike}l1i:':~;S;ipi.~ni~.~.d·.,:'-:------

R ' e : V E R B . : : . ~ . . ) c l r ? - ~ q.f;11ny.;:&lz~:jttOl.l wam~:'ln'l;:lace . u t t~e:-.. . ,'- ,,. . '. .·~ tiidkis~ :n .·-(:n g~ n .¢~ ·ili'cil;!g'Y9i9f·~~l~<!ll;.~v;rt]~;ft~~lll"))'pe'(,)t.·in.~~]i(ll)ii;~il·:tt_v.erlzl"·deve·l~~. :{ 4~glta( r e v . e ; r 1 ) / ,. m ' ;¢ e . j f - : ' s Q 1 J ~ 1 d ") 1 ' i k e · , · . i Q . l i : : · ~ ~ ~

:~~p~drig:' t ~ ' V ¢ ' r i ? : , ? T"~· :~l1lit-,-~. w~ik i ] lg ) :mck'm,¢j·.:i6rtli. acm8~~tller £ i0 m : .T 1 M S : - = - . : - : : . = = = = = = = = = = =] ] 1 ; : v i r f t l J I : U Y . < ~ U )~~imt.';iUl~·.~.lifi~~::~.C q c O , ~ . · · ·t~t]]~l9.~QgYl:S;'IY~l~~(~iv-e~;~!~:,.tll~~~rY.::~oU(ld~Of.------

l~y!::l·b.: O l l l e -~jgt~L~i o « v ~ : t t ~ d · r r - < ? m .OCM>j~i ' · :.· .~C().ri : ls., (P . i l ( .14~~h~1Uy,O W i~ l '~1:)9r~.¢hergy ' : b y ~~ 'i i > . ' C:fOlf t lb t¢~EuLrdsell;:d ~t)n d . consp·kes: 'w. i~h '

wi11c:Ji s e ] l ' d g , l t , : 'c i o - w i l ' ~ j ~ l : ? [ ~ g · ~ )r ' -,~1~1~~.'[ i i a d l : i n : e s · .1 l J 1 d ;~~a~t tpi "¢~~6:'t(~: 4 M ~ :t]Ulll;"JlO '·~:~19fllje.t.t t~1,t ls.4r! 'O~r;" , h ' 1 c ' r - e ·rur~s·, &,tt'ethe " l ' ) ; e e : d . · : f o ; r ~ i i y c : '·d.l'.lil~l~·:h~ib,a,i~f;ldqi~

U i l n e : . · n.~; twt t f~d~~~lr~lg) ,'- ' -----------------



AM8.fENr EfFH]'rs· 49

Dig.iml reverbs, ~~k~digital d e la y s, t ak e the

signal and convert: it to cUgiml code ..Then add

deWIJi . )' snd f r equency changes t o s im u l ar et he

desired room size and t<opk l .ce the sOll.nd In

the desired. locatio.n w.i~hin it.

The ft.rs~digital reverbs were ~;H'geand

extremely expensive ($l5,000 ;'11]1(1p). andthey remalned so for sbout l]ve yeiJirs.Then

wiuhillthe next fiveyearsthe price p ] u :! 1 lL m J e t e d j

'U n t il n ow m e r are awd.l~ible for lU'lci. .: :r$200!~

tJ#stmif ldlQWS J!m to g?t ( , / ( J ! ? I J ' ~Jjtll'(;!m;rf.J i!1 .(,1

,~iJ1-slej'flldutge.

Rev'erb at]ows. you to U~ilor the ambiance

.o f the rocmto your own needs. If YOl l I are

already p.lIWU'lgin an ~Iirpl;me hanga r ' or 1c~

! hockey rUll!;;j.YOlilwlll un.doubtedly· wantto be

v.l::ryfr:tagal inadding reverb, But, [fYOll are in

a .heavily C:ilrpe~edj packed beyond the .fll!1 eJaws, draped with velour curtatns club, feel

free to .Iay it on with a erowell

U/; 'oe digi ta l di11aJ!.<t,tUift.~'tt , jII"eb"!!rb.~mv.~ beco.me atu1il 'abi!l 1 ' 1 ' 1 ; .~'malle.rw id .~.malle,'ptlcliMl[jes. D:ntJ,f_iOf tbi!S{! will 1 i' t' I n

or.u~·mck'SjJa't!!, and j oo t -p ec kl I u n it 'S eire: cwaiklble (R,' Ulf?fl.

-

_ " __ ~ r"- . _

.. AL.E9S ._ .._._ ••. - .•- •• ~ .••.•- ••• -- - - - ,,_. _

- _ - 1:1m· a::I l 1 1 : 3 1 =_ =--=== aIIII.1.. _.i

Ill/lVl rt1Ik!.l'lJImU.~ tlllmJj you. U) select' (,lif{ermu .t)ij)(}$ Of fi j· tj ,t tt b cU tbe S~U.netime llJ.Uyou IJulke c. lumg,es 011 ((l:1lof

)"Dtt" o[lu?I ' MIDI eJlec.ts(s,ee Clmpler Flue).



MallY of th e same rules apply as wtth

delay ~ be aJlrcfull11ot: 'to blllrl' )'Ourself' in the

mix. However, wid'l .reverb }rOll need not

wo~~r}r: ~bmu a t'f re cUnS l , e he . r ' hy~b_n) by u S : l n g ,

~(}O much. as there 3:l'C no indiilllmduallll)' dis:-

cernlble repeats,

C ' H D R U I S , f l A ! N ( U N I G , lA / N I B I D iJ i H E I RP l l P C H / D E l A Y E F I F E C 1 S

Yo,u haee ! . ! l l l i Idol! lbte(U~heard and enjoyed

the cbh:ning sound ofa twelve string guitar"

e~lthel' electric orr acoustic. or bl:!!e:nio.lp!ressed

by tile f1l1.Llfl!CSS of the 5!OiUi1/d creaJted by two

guiral':. ' l i p[a ,y in ; : th e wden tku l paetae d : l (; ; same

tlime ..Yoll m.1Y'110tt: have been aware, however'

d,!:; l t th~ flalhlCSS and ch in i li lQ , d :H l i .f ', u :: te d s dc s

that ) ,'01:1 enjoy are crentedby sound that. is,

mu : 'O f S }mC ih J J iilldo u t o f { ' 1 l 1 I 1 i U ~ ! :

Itmary seem. to you that the big sound iscreated by twke as mawr strings., tlll.,tin

"eaUty this has very Hufe to' do wirth it..TIile'

richness of the souad comes from 'the fact

tba~ ~he extF.t set of s~rlngs (be they the.

octave srrings on, a rn',elve string or an addi·

tional six string guitar) are not played at

exacdy the same tUllC or pe:rfe:cdy iLn tllltn,C'

with ~he first set,There are a couple of ways to illustrate

this, If you have access U) ';)j multi-track

I l (" , 'o r :d!c r . t ry reoordiinG a, gu rit l. ' !: fpi llrt '0.11 'One

track, and then try biingin;g it up ~hro1Ugbancther ch3innd 'Or bouncin,g it to anoeher

rrack, Play b;~dkboth channels I t,oger: ller. ¥O"\ il

w.UI 1 1n d that the rwo tracks togetber d o not

round wm d l bigger., if at ali, tha:1l the one

track iw10ne.

Now re-record Ihe .Pill:rton : : I I sepa.Fau:

[rack ••,~Jftythe new tmck along wid! the ori;g-

h l i a J . 1 . ) "01[1, win heat tile fullness that you are

Sleeking beC<llIlSC it is u:nlikdflhat yo~'~wereable to r~ta)r ilt ~actl'y (he way you p"l~tyedit

{he fii:mc time, and by nQw,. your galtar ha s

sJipped sHglhdy out of nme ..

Ifa uaUl~ti .l lGU;Lkml~olw. i leis u:!l~!.viaiJllb'le,ry

l:uninga twelve .stringguit:nr with an elec-

~:ronic ~ l u m , e r. P : Ia . y it ruu Jl ~i lste: li1"~twill h ~,'e th e

dis'lilu:uve nvelve string sound because 'O f

irregulartnes in the double fltdllgS a rnll-

lisecond aparr, Bl .u , ifyou denme dredloublcd

St!:"ill1}').,1cry sUghtl.y~YOI:I, will noticethat me

ridlli1:ess of the souad nctlia~~)rincreases as you

d.eWlll!l~:~be strings up lUlltiilrhe po~n~ where ic

begins to sound ser1ous~youtof n111 .C,

'fhis phenomeDolllruf.~voll vlng, sUlgh~time

an d nuwl,g val'.iati.on is , whm aEmowschoms

devices tomake one guitar sound like [WOOf

mak, a s.lix stfmg~dinslfumt!:rlit sOlund Iike a

t:W'eh ,r,l:!s~il"iin.ged o:I~.e..

C I - U U l l l S

A chorus device, whetheran analog boxor a :l'i.lck mount digiu!l unit. takes the signal

and d e n a 1 s it (approxJiuil3!ldy20 ml!lIUsec:ofl.d:s).

Whel'{! it differs from straight delay is that it

constantly vartes this de~;:lY£jif l l~,e'i \I\ef a f f i l i g : c

of u ,P to 5 .o'ln,l:ise(X ):nd s(I)~USor minus)., The

result: will beobvlous U you rake any standard

del.... ~~Ii1.itmul play U .note whie tunli! l1lg ~he

d e 1 u y time control knob back and fo.rth. " J buwill heflr the JP~mcli1of the note vary in an

unpieasant f.~shj,on.Wha~ nl~llkes ~l chorus

pleaslng is d l a J . t the varlation is more minimal

and il S mix,ed il l w~dl.the or:igimtl i s~gnal. ~rhbi,

smUtl~l~esthe effect .o f add~~im~<t~tri ngs beiu.g

p~aryedsUghdy out of 'time and rune.

O}O l" t, < ;; e J !e c{ S a lf >ow on e S;';l ; s.b'iJ.~g ./JttiUJ,· f( ) sin'lul ' l.de

fbi! sound Ol,{;1It-wIve $~1'i1~gor neo g~dt '117Spf,(.~rll1g

(iftCJUCt;!"



MOIS'1 t ' o l ! c k :mol~uJ lU!d(ng i t~~1 de~rnlY lm~ts:

(~uld some HOOF unUs) offel'choI'uS3!Jld

fhm,g.itlg eapabtliries, The speed/rate unCI

width/depth connnls are USll~IHy grouped ~111

a section caLh:d" ~no(l:Lllution", U~J!ilngalrunU

Hkie ddsmus~r:ues the .fillll'C llne between

chorus .uld f I I :J1:111gi~lg.s Y 1)1 !I ave to se rtn eapp.rop'riate dehlY i~mues fOIl: ' each. 'Y ou wi11

fin.d d13: t diffe:rem ~jn,fu',: Si~ttings will cause the

nllQ(h.~lilt;ion section EO react dj1fercn~ly.

al[ow.ing you an enormous range of poss ib l e

sounds, Many slllch units also offer "phase

re,~er.s;JI~."whi.CJha tfeec~ :s fllan~il.lIgmore parHc io

l ! ! 1 . ~ d } ! , Cre:i l th l:geXrl j \ f !ni l ,e~)1 odd i j l i 1 l e ~ : aW Ie

~rfec·ts.On.C'e~lg'fdn;~u'DIa~oghorus ~~nd

f lil: lilgil1!S.o ff u r ' l, v anFJ i l; ;r !.m .O I< ! J i 1j~m i! 1l l5m! l ld~1~1.

effects, whHed[g~. t l~ . I . offers cleaner, .. rnore

necurate reproductien,

There are two illlJ:POl't:llnt ~ldl"'U1fflgesinl!!>iill:g de~:lIys for clliol'l!IsaniCl fl:unging. U~add ...

r : i O ' I ' ! to the a~a;dr R!;elldO'.tledw.~cler mnge of

etJe.ct<i. f'"oJI.ckd;]l)!s of[:Cl1! QfJierliJ!)fth ~np'll!~ and. ,

om~nll~ m : f :e : ,m r u : ~ m ] O I l ,. w~~efe~lS ~ffilOS~rl00.i' ~llllli:15

d o ·11m. Als~J it ]SIl::d'1 ' r 2 1 ' 1 " ' e i j r importtM'l1 eo

note th at s ince ~ fute yare a lso de l i; l[ Yunlts , I hey

allow you to b lend ~,heaffected sig _m d i ~ ' 1 ,(mJJ

desh-ed tm1iQUm UJit lJ r l: Jc o r (gh~a , f ~<;~gn;GI.

Wti~'lil~Wl.o~tnoo, . . !Uill~~.$y o u e lt he r har\'re;chom~

. 1 c . U l , G i l n , g mixed eq~lilt~~y'~:ilh~he .original. s~nal",

or aone 31 al,L ll :le .i .ngiB!ble to l )~ ,eml~~.ln nU ow s

yO!i.'lE)~) use l :a l "ge1lJ~nOUI1J~Srort i i l !1l!X~m!lu:1'l dlime

o n :BYl'ds~like ~l~lge!ph:ked, chords, lessto gi,ve

alittle more rtng to your srrumm tog, or j ! . lSi it

hlntto fauen your sole sound w!iithout mnd-

d ~ r ~ n Q : ~ ~ .up a n d . s ;L l ;i l ._ k ju J~te o o f~r i n r o ~hemb::.

As with aU the otbcr efilr~'tswe ~l!f~"1iC (!lis-

cu ssed so far; the "'l1fJt m'1; (),I,,~ ~'J :1)" c l J o n · t s '

(l'I~(.l/I().~·Jkm!fiNg :i~;;eSS{JfltJ{~1.

M osrfloo r un its , whi I:(;!JI] lQ\:ving dep th ~:nd

rate ~,.djiiU:5[1l1e~1tS~o ~10:tallow ycntc choose

the amoune o.f effect yonw~uu brended tnro

rille n;~Jxi-'hey aree~t~~eron or oU.

The true orIgh~s of the e er m " fia ng illg "

have been lost 1 1 . 1 dn1!e,but the most: conuaonsl:ory is that an El1gUs:I: ' l ef~gitleerplal~edh~5

~11!!\I1n:ilbn < 1 1 . ~ illp e reel, o r " f1 ai!] J ~e "a s ~ hey aeekt lO\V. f1 i f l l]~g]3ind. : .mdl[ 'OlI Ind th e " wWwo osh ·

f fi l~B" sOiu11ld fhil!~ ~t~lirodm~edp~.e:.ws~",g.h~s

sound w as .m ad e by hli~ t ~u~n ) b en~!sing 8' l1 'eryshort, but extj'\~lnJ~~y irregular delay effecr,

"ltis is . simnlared whb flnrtge,rs by swee.plfJig a

bils icaUy short d~lllY (shorter than ~'!:chorus ~

flDOU.t5Vo 10 m.mis~lConC1ls) o,~el·ilI .\ liel1'ywlde

ml1lgt:(f[()Dl l~o m O l ' or 2 , ~o20 m~liisec!)llds).

f~ilIlfiII~[S, a r ~ o F 1 i e n conmlSed w j , t: l ' l ' /J I H i S l e

.sf9'ijl(J}'s d~~e mtlle shrJl]Uar~wl~oo~hi ng"

so~md. Phase ~hiftelS do nOlfconm~Il, any

de]av electroutcs, tl1..lt men;:ly sweep the tone'

of ~ile sign~~lc:Q.l l t iml: l iHy through the .f[le~q ue nc }~ spe ;c t![um . ~ tl'tiU iS

If r . o m (reble (0

b~ss..flan.gersdo add ~im!ede~a}rand ' l lfrerOlil

sOllnewlmf ri.che'.f nnd more vaded :sound. J \.

pih:; l!seshiiRer i : : : ; . d es~mb.te • cases where . : 1 1 .

more subtk e:ft~ct~S i required,. o'r whe,!.\e .~t~s

tmponanr that due pitt:h remain 1[lflaffecu~~d.

Manufactl'lrcrs are Ii~ttle l es s co .ruus ing in .

InbeHng th e ccnrrels on chorus and f1m.'1_,gill~g

devices, bUlt mh e n~~a],11IeS[ 1 . 0 "o':ary iron!), ilJIni:t illO

·un it . " ID)ep thnOI.r·~w id ~ h" r efe rs N) h() w fl~ r ~ [1 I.e

dc:hl!y time ,suay;!! n .p3:n .d down f:rol~the

cenres pom~.A~wc s~~w w.~~he~un:i,I1ig.;ttw e~v c: s tring ~. m ore eq u,Hsricl1er l UU i ! Ul.edeuming becomes unpleasaer. The ~speed 01'

rate" knob controls howfltst the time sweeps

fromIll1i~'iJJ~nill'l~!illilm maX~rMll!I:fi~_ fm~]j fI . I O r l , g ; ~

sh )~ ' sweepto a . m p ' . i, ( ) l .Le 's~i.esp,ealkier·qlpl~of

·effect y()iU\W~U f i i r IJd~hat if you. increase d~.e:

s pc ed ,.y ou 'W i:I~ b e a ble to use m ore d epU 1J .without Sioundjng om ·()f tune.

fla]1!gers have anaddedcontrol mm:ked'feedback" or "regenel":ntioiiJi.ij This. worb the

sante wacya. s .on d.c;lny de"kes,rec}'db.~g th e

d!e1ay~hf() l i l l l ;gh i ~ e U . h it 1 ; 1 1 1 t l s·ene, i t~~~cre.ases:th,eUmet]lU~c" sO\lrilld of ~h.eel'f~ct.,

_. -, ~' A,,;UIi;! _. •__ .__ _u'~'., _. • •.• _ ., ._. , .". .'

. -- _." . _ . _ .. _ - . . _



P A R IiTHREE

Tricks'OfTbeTrade



ICHA IPTIER 5

Putting 'It All Togethe'r

I F YOU HAVE READ l'fITS fAR; yO~I,should

have a basic Wldersr:anditlg of ~10Wto mskeyour guirar sound the way that you want, and

how to, use the five:most common efie£ts -

compression, dis1torti:on!l chorus/flanging"

delay. and reverb.The only way 1 :0 ~ncrease your under-

stal1clli.~g,s "hands-on" exp er len ce, F in d .1smaU ,

friendly music store and ask to try the effects.

Go early when they are not crowded. p]ay

qUktly and c on c en tr at e o n learning: about theeffect - 11{)t showing off }o!(l,raeest leks.

Over the years I have observed Andy

Summers, Peaer F~;lnlplon., Kirk. Hammett,Brirm Setzer, Mark Knopfler; Ulrich Roth.IohnAbeecrombie, BmFr~sell:;1 3 m ConI]!,ol:'s,Eddie

MUIUnezj, Steve Kahn, jeff Mirauov, Joe

Satrianl, and many other excellentprofes-

slo..nal guitarists test out equipment and

guitars, Man.y HOles)you would never know

that these musicians were at the' top of their

.field. They wouldplay one note or one basic

Hck <over and over agatn, liste.rnng to the

sound of the instrument, pickup, amp" oreffect tha t tbey were te-sting.

'fa ke y ou :!' cue from tbem; listen for th esound, not the lick. If you frud the sound you

are loo[ting for, buy the equipment there

(assumlng tbey are not ouu1il i ;geol l l .5~y over-

priced), Don't go to another store just' to save

:1 . dotlaroc two. Stores that concentrate 01 1

lower prices may not be as interested in

service. Ifyou take a salesperson's t~m.etrying

out the .product and then buy it elsewhere,

he or she may not be as rC'fl,dy to. take the

time with. you .ill! the future. And. the store

that offees the best prlce may not be as recep-

tive if you have a .oy problems wlth the

pmdact, An .~dealsituation is to find a friend

with the piece of gear tbat interests you ..¥o·u

might even be able to borrow it to lise on a

gig (some stores ·offer tWs service - take

advantage of if!).

You may be wondering about some

effects that I h a v e not mentioned or tha.t have

been only bri.efly discussed. Some, such asvolume and wah-wah pedals; I feet are simple

and sel t -explanatory, others are very limited

in appllca tion, such as envelope followers,frequency analyzers, or harmonizers. Infor-

mation is available on these effects elsewhere

(see bibliography). More' imporn:r!itly, you will

fwd that 90 out of ]00 guitar sounds that you

hear l i h . r , e and 0 1 1 1 record can be reproduced

using some combination of the "B~ Five"

(compression, .d/;.<oto,·t;t(m,d:j()l'ju/jlanglng"

delct)1 ct1id ;71tJel'b).

While we are ,e l i5cussmg. ernlssions, YOH

m ay feef that I have left OUf an important gui-

tarist's tool - the guitar synthesizfJ1".In fair-

ness, I must confess to havlngrntxed emo-dons regaromg this unit. P'JJrl:'of me says, "If

you wanta synthesizer,. play : ; 1 , keyboard," and

part of me says that the gultar synth op ens a,

new world of sound to the g,uita:rist.

The main reason I have omitted the guitar

synthesszer here ~sthat the world of sounds

tha t ~topens are not guitar sounds per se,My

concern ~nthis book i.or the reader to get:

she most expresslon om of the guitar while

S'lilW.retaining th e distinctive characrensncs



5 6 • G rn ~ N G I ] 'R E A i f B U n A R S O IJ IN IO S

t l l:U: we looked for when we decided to pL'!.}'

guitar rather thaukeyboards,

The subject of guitar synthesizers could,

easiJiyfill anentire book. In m y optnton they

il.r,e"voe~nUy lacking ill the abiU!:)r to express

characteristic guitar seuads such as string

hendtng and iodfvidu.n] attack. Th~s wtll

undoubtedly Improve, bur there will alwaysbe a place for the unsurpassed expressive-

ness of the minimally adorned electric guit:.u;

This is one reason I stress mode'ration in the

lise of effects,and wi]} connnue to do so as

We, proceed.

Next should come your distortion effect,

since you want W distort the purest signal

th~t you can before sendfng it on lor further

processing. You can hear the difference for

yourseLf. "Try plilting a chorus or de ]ay before

the distortion and then after. It.The lacter will

result in a . less muddy sound. It wil~ a.lso result.

in less noise. Because distortion. units add somuch gatn, like compressors, they wiH

increase the noise of anything before them in

the chain ..These rules apply to using amp ( ' :U5-

tortlon as we'll Ify()U are In love with ~he

sound of yom amp distertion there aile a

couple oj' ways to nrr::olnge it before the rest of

your errects.

Ifyou amp features aneffects loop the

odds are that it's distortion stage is before the

loop (checkto be sure), You should be very

careful with effects loops. Ifthe "ltne our'tor

"send" level can be matched with the input of

ym.ll:" ,effects" yo u are 11}business. You simply

run t]1C "send" out Into your effect, and run

om of the output of your lase effect back Into

the' ·~r,eturn."input of the loop. 'This is where

th e lnput an d ourput auenuarors on 1 '!u:::1<;:.

mounted unles come: mro play, Some amps

step the send level of the ~nops down co

mstrurnent level, allowlng YDUm lise t100F

effects.

K!e .e p i n mind tha t ifYO'!,l lise .floor e.ffect~>

you must run a cable from the send output 'tothe front of the stage where you can s~ep 011

your effects, and then back to the returninput, This is a lot ,n,f cable and can Hffec'l~

your' tone. If you use a wah-wah pedal. it tends

to sound better before the distortion"

The next device nt' ller distornon is nor-

m~illy cJ!wrus/llcmgiltg. Since it uses SUdlU ~

snort delay tune, i l l : does not degrade the

signal as much as ]ol1lger de]~I,Y,effects~anti

thus sends the cleanest signal to the next

etfect, An exception to this posiUonmg. rule

would be if you are using the chorus to splltthe signal for stereo. In that case, }!OU would

use it lasr itn the chain before the amps,

Next would come al'W short delays fordoubjing or slap effects; and then any longer

ambtent or "spacey" types of ,de1~IYS.

Finally comes reoerb, usually by necessity

because it is ill the' ampl i f ie r , but also for nut-

uralness of sound.

llt.e,,,"),t7llrjJ.ifjiefs , oJP! r e .t fecis IOQ/Js {h.(.lt (;llf,cmJyou 10

pku;(! .the llmplijler .(Jis,iortim'l in!fim! , t / ! U 1 rest 0/youre l J " e c l s ,

T H E ~'CIfIA~N OF C O M i M A N V "

One of tile most frequently ask.ed qu,es-

tions Js, "Which effect goes before which?"

There are rules that can help you decide,

Comj)1"essOI'S, as a nue, should come fU"s t

In the chain; ddt> means thar you should run

the cable UO.01 your gH~taJl' into tile i:nput of

the oornpresscr.As we discussed, while com-

pressors do not necessarily add noise them-

selves, they will raisethe noise' level of every-

thing before them. In ,~ddiUOIlIwe SaI.W that it

Is desirable to send an even signal to y{n.u:

other effects,



Ars,w~.th mus~ rules, ehese fU,WeS .hiilve

exceptions. In some cases, you Ina.)'"~Ult to

h o w e your dday berore you r distortion. If you

set the delay for ~1mild effect for rh}'thm

work, yon will netlce thnt w:hen 'YO ' l l switch

on you r distortion for ]end,the deJay ef~ect

becomes much more proncuneed, Wilenus i l.1 .g a l li il :i .l1 :i .i1 Ita lamoun t o f d i :smn i, on ,. and : : 1 .

quaUr}' del,ay ltlhis can sound qU i 1 l c . : ' geed (nm;

teo nmddy) ..Whal }rouachh. : e IS n oe bav"qg

[!O 5Wp en two bumnls~n ofldcr eoha\~emo;;e

,d~la)'Oil youli k3id. The de~afr is already on

b ult is fa r Less nom: i ceaMc m : 1 1 i ' the rhl) 't l:un mod e .

Thco.nly luutl and, f3:Sttl!'ule w S , , " l f it sounds

good - do itl" Fed free to eXll:H!ri in1cntl i ,v i i tb

different effects in differetu places in thechain, The above :is just : 3 1 . guideline to what

has been proven effective, but f:br speclal

sounds - anything goes,

: S i f I E ! R I E O

WARNIN;G.~OJ\J(J.I1YOU HAVE HEARD

'rouR Gl1lTAR IN STEREO, .IT IS HARD

TO GO BACK 11'0 M,'ONiO. Lfssue tlifs

w:'fJUng because onee you make the com-

:rmtO!l~'J:1IJ '~i!O stereo, YO! ! I I f l iUI ,y h e ' ~ n U c : j _ l r ' I J . g ,abOll.m[

tran sp ort in g a m m nin n .lm . of t 'W O amplif ie:,· .s ' l

etten th reel U n~ es's 'You can Hff( ) : rd ro;~dI~es,

d l Ji s i 1 1 lv :o l ve smuch I.ifting" ln m e studjo, it

involves two tracks for each of your guitarparts, which can result in much ;UgUb.lg wuh

engineers and other band members (unless

}Quare the 5[31.1" ) . Playins in stereo involves

spfl1ting one ,guilnr s~snal.:into Il"wo.Therearea,:1lI'1l1lfli lberf~ ..y:a~~sto do rh i s, .~)'OUYo'in iJlcdde

for YQlIlr::ielfwhich )'OU prefer:.

Just us:~ a Y-cmxIis nm enough. For 'theeeasons W'e d.iscussed :in fhi'! secnon 01'[1

chorus I t lumdIDlg , the s;~me'sign~~ into two

mnps or 1tI'"dl{s does not. s O ! l . m d i signiificiU'litly

b ~ g g:e:l" th ;m o ne, I t is l h c. l' ef o rr e n e c ese ar y to,

process at least one at che SlglU~]Sto differen-

tlare .it from the other.

You can hear this dif ference by using ahe

fu'st method of stereo sp UttJllg - t i ' r ! k l J ! . , You

need a delay unit that has ~l"d.irecl:"out and an"effect:" out. TIle ''',effe~it~u t s ho ~ g'ld ,1l I j .l .OW ) ou

ro remove a n of ~he di rectS~IJ~i tW ' w ~ l t I D 1 J ~he

b lend con tro l, Lea _hlg on'll' th e del'l}lcd smgn aLP J l . l t this m 1 l J iJ t 'last ~n the chaln, e,~en . a f t e r the

P U m N B , I T AU . ' r o G E T H E R ,~ 51

reverb (if m e is, ,e xtern al ;m d d oesn "r h av e sree eo

inputs). Run onecable our of th e "direct" out

into one nn1l ' 01' track, MId another cable out

of the "t:ffect' out i.nto the other amp or track,

set the 'blend ( o r ,e f fe c t~o r delay, d ep e.n din g o n

rile make of the unit) so that only del i tyed

s~gnalis comh~g out ,o f the "effec t" output, Sett fhe d~ I~ I. y Ic ragrh , ~tO . th e n gm du amly m cre as e it

51',01' f ind l:dny a l l . r ~guLa r m t e · n i a m S . It f ak es ,a n t,l '

a\~el1 short delil}' tunc to :llUt~e your IrlJlit:lf

sound huge. r\S }f(lU lnerease the dd~l.}r dlfUie,

you w m n()it:~c:etille smlr1d get: bigger and

bigger ullill the dc:lal starts to S(liundl:i:1re ill

s J3 Ip .'Vou \W l:n ~ so av,o rid :;1 dduy ~eng1hha t ~s1)

1 0 1 1 g it ~ l ! l . E e c t ' S the d l } i ' t h ! r n r ! i ( e ., "I :. o el i) 't I 0 1 1 '· spedate ff ec ts ). Use ollly one eepear,

Try ild dil'J:S a chorus effect and a longer

amb i e n~ de:laybefore splitting th e sig m d . ·K ick .

in the corepressor, strike a doging chon::),then rock your tremolo arm a H n l'e .1 'his is nsoundyou hear on ma:I l I }1 modern records -

n.OW}fOU knew why'! It sounds Immensel

Nm"!l' shut off the ,5,pl i t tms dclaJ' and l')lay

~gftill. E'~eilil thOlJlgJll1.)'01l are p ; J a ~ ' .i im l g . rh.rot ' l ;h

tw o amps at u';u.:lks.the s ou n d s :h .r iin ks t r em e n -

d O l l is r " .. You new know why ill is hard to ,0b~l.cJkto ~UOIi1,()'.:~~ is fi'l:1lt! to lISC' :.~.c\l1e1~p dliigjt".I~

de]a.y or eve:1'l:m analog, unit . f o r ' th~s, 1 P l l I l l " p O s e .

As we aee onl}, LUi:i:l lg O , ' ! . short delay OO.SOm$)

tb e q ~l,aW :yshould tit: goodenoughand aJli}'

s ou nd dWJic .l'e llc es wLU only enhance the illu-

~[Ol1 o f two g n it ar sp l :1 y .in g a r,o n ce .A second steree method usescl1ol'us.

Many chorus units offer mono and stereo

OUItl ') lU,S; however, the functlon of these

ou tpu ts v anes W~[1l1! dif1feroniU:R1i!U1.l. iI iThOtUllrc~li\. I . !1,

som e, on e , ou tpu t i s d i v ec lt signa~.and( l i l Je otherliS d irect an d effect mix,a!. In mhe ; r s" both

OU.pUIS are .1 bte.liId of direc~ and <lineffcCl"Cd

s~gn!lJJ•bm, ~ h c J P i~C ' hshimng on on e side is I SO

degrees ,Q,U€ of Ilh~se'wIth t he ' p.itch sh.iJ~ingonth e mher s id e " '[ hi ls , p r ,u vwde s a ' \1'Cf}f rich stereo

c ha r- us e ff ec t when used with two an 1ll1 U'iers,

If you ~.t:EelllP~Ito gt:t this effect by runningeach output into a diffe.rent lnput of the same

::111,1)1'you tn ay l'U J.l ~ il~ O p rob lems , w~th phase

,ca,nce~jng,and one side will be teU. ing the

,5 p e a_ker ~O 'go IO:l.1cway,'hi~e ~heodier output

~CUS ]: t ~oyo·rh e ,ottil~fmay~

1 1 y ou om ) ' usea chorus to spli t ' ~~ollr~gnfll)'OU arc c;oml'niu:ed to having chows on ~·()ur



sournd at :ill tilnles o r lO i SiJ j) gdte stereo effect

w'he:n, yQ~~rnli'n~1 off. FortullR~e])·~here is

morethan onewsy to use c ; : h Q ! ! . I U 5 ' for stereo,

One is using a digital delaylthat offers

pitch moduladon, S e c up as descrtbed In

tls:in:g3i, de]ay ood jlus~add ;3 1 Utt~e [.i,itch. 1 l m l o , d , -

:ulation for a mor-eslIode chon!smg. effect,

tha t you , can W eave on all the tim e.0.1'; by using a chorus wl~hphase reversed

p~t(;~ sliill't.~.ilg,cODlIing out 01 bodl Ol!lltpu~S

~.nd : a i , de~a, pedaJI~rou cUll!yiJ/Ve a liner . fu11J l ,

of stereo cliJiornsklig, wi.th tbe opelon of shut-

tLng it olfand not ~OSjllg YOlll' stereo sound. It

is ;lU n m a uef of fOl.lthlg,.

Run , o n e our tpu lO t" th e dlO!rUStO en e am :pand runtthe other outp,uJt im!~o[1IC input ,a' : a I .

dda,y; With the deJlalr bl.end se t for aD effect,

run out of the effect oiapur of that unit itl't'Q

a secon d amp" L eav e a 5 11 O rt. d O llJ!b ~in g dellty

en at aU Urnes and, you, win hav,e stereoirml'~j_lg wherher ornoe you choose touse

the chorus effect.

..~Out

S,'tere,1,)Chon.!:s

Iffl

I

Dela,Y

In

IQ,,,t

Disto:rti 0 1 1 1

Iii

I'Out

'Comlprs1ssi:Q!i'I

In

Thts i1I.r(s/'ml·es one l}QS~ible ~,n'eth(}(J't;f p T « y i 1 1 1 J tn

stere». If you can get' :JIm/I ' s tereo (/;)OI'tlslng jrom aPrQgramnu:rbJt~ deJ{liJ~Jiotll~an sluil;r;bjivm' dlQ!'us I,f)'

a s1)fJn ,(it~I:(.~)''~il:fJl)cnttO jsh lg' J 'O I~" $((jI'(j{J ,(1fi !CI;

.DigM:Jiillteverib can, Il!~SO create a seereo

,effect. Ifthe' ~!lftitIhrJsste'reo iililIputs ii t CIl!D be

,oombined w~tJhafl~'of the sbove methods, for

trulyrich ambiance.

Ifyou fmd the tho ug h!1 t of h:.li'lIdu".lgrnro

ml'IipS for : I i , I f ty do.l~ui' ,gig. a liit~ile' d : 1 l J I ( ~ i ' l ! l t r u . i l g ,

take' this i;n:t!o con :s iid e rillt lo n.. f, oC ' Ihe' mosr

,p : .l !r tn s tereo rlg~s fur youI ' ears m ore th an forthe audience. Unless you have both amps

mked ~hrough ; i J J s~ereoP.:A•YOUI!" ste~eo, turns

c :o m o no b~k b ey m ld t'lle firs t: c 'O u p,l!e:of

rows".A mono. P. :A .w 'U turn yOlJlf elaborare

stereo rig rigfu back to mono" This is not to

take your own ears . i i ,gJuly~Thewhole credo

o!f~tus book is thr.lrt jjf you SQlllfld ,g;r{eU~~oYOlil.

it will help, yon pJay beuer. So ~ }'(}tl can

dfurd i! t" Cain haul it (or l )uy to hil:1lveit hilUJed)

and it sounds good to y ou •.by all means go&t(?'...eo~~.

Am pmp

\

D ir G > C 1O u ' t M ! ~( ! i l ; ! 1IIEI"""'I.I~~~

Delay

!Ii

I

DelaJ~

IllI

I

D~sto:rtiOfil

~ICOliillpressioli 'l

I ill,

.Thi:s routing (l1Il(jW$ j~Jit t r J ' sJ.)$l'tOff ';OW' d,7()'I'1f.Sm.I'd

mrclf~'iI'llii'l.ji'Or:~r stereo t'maglng; (~VftbOlU (.I tnvgram."'table (it!t(.ty)



PUTT/N Y ; ITil l.J. TOGETHER ~ 59

and a ;OOnlS deL:lYwith : 5 or 6 repeats, 'Wfly in

the b~ckgm~:nd for another, With your

average deby pedal this requires bending

over and making approximate knobtwrddles

be tw>ee_o songs: whJch slows down the show,or two pedals. Ifyouwanrto swrutch sounds

berweena verseand a chorus you definitelymust have twopedals il!;rndo the "dance" .

A progeammable delay altows you no

preset -as many different lengths, blends and

repe ..u amounts as YOlll like and, Uuuughthemagic ef the MIDOI.swi~cWng pedal, you can

~e]1:itwhJch p!i'ugr:~[nyouwou]d like by step-

ping on a single button.

Then tnere ts the song ch,u requires a

clean tone for the verse, : . 1 1 . s[lght crunch far

rhe choms, fuHy saturated gam it)!: the bridge

(bur not roo loud) and a smoorh singing over-

d [~ve for the 5.010. Voila! Tbepeogeamruabtepreamp: some w~th actual tubes.) some solid

state and some incorporating amI) modeling

technojogy (more on mls soon). Through

MIDll,.your programmable preampcantalk to

your programmable delay so that you can

change from c~e~n and delayedtoclistoriued

and dry with one pedal push.

Remember W:ly back .bl the gu~tar ,secU01!JJ

'We dlseussedithe compromise berweenna r .v i n g t h e .rn.3iXhmll11 1)JtUlmbeT(l<f so un d s av ail-

ab~e and ~h.erequirem.ems of stsge perter-rnance. Until theearly e:ig~tiesth,ese same

eonstderanons hadte be applied to effects, If

you use a multitusle of stomp boxes onthe

floor the-y stiU do"

Once the stage setup lnvclves two or

mo r e e ffe ctsl you have to start d!o~nga. litHedance . If YOll . I want to, say~shutoff your

chorus ;md nun on yourdlsmf1:ion before

~ you solo, yo~ must leave yo~rselfUme to

qu:ick~ystep .0]1 two pedals. As the number o.f

peda]s increases so does thcehorcography;

until havLng to tu m 0.11 your cUstortion and a

long delay while shutting off your. com"pressor and choruavoubegin to look like

you are stampmg ou~ a flrel

1 1 T h the eighties! American, Bob Brodsl':lawj.

and Ellg~jshman,. Pete Corndsh, began brtsk

b u st n es se s o n !)pp,oSlce sid es o f the AJ1ilallti.cconseructlng effects sw~!t<::hingS'ysf.ems.Theyallowed rock stars and session p~a~e:rsU~e,Andy Su mm ers, Sn :eve L ukarher; D ave G llm ou r

aIlCIEdd~.eV:JillHalen eocall up p reset effects

combinetions bytltelJ'ping on aSl11gle button.

ThisWl1S a n weHa n d good !for the

weaL thy . The rest of us had m wai.t fur an

lnventton that wou ld aJlow u s ccmmonerstoswinchfrotn a dean, compressed sound with

it sho.i:t delay, to dlircyfl ::l i l lgecl sound with a

~ong delay wUhout t t c~ppiF \g over OUf own

feet ... w.hi.ch.blI'ings us to MIDl

P.rogr:m:m.naiJle Meets.

S:ay yon wanra "slap" e,cho~i.nvolving

125ms of delny with one repeat, ahno~t eq~ul~.illvolum.e to t~Theorjg~nal signa] for 011l~ song,

Mu.ltt-ef/ect'$

The next logical step wascembtng Hfec!s

into ooep~~ckag.e. Rack. Ul!n!ltsbefililll to offerChorus, Fbtng~J1,g.,Pitch S.hifihllgj EQ) Delay;

R : e v e t i l il ~ etc. : a W l in one progr:aflllnal:lle Ultit.

These devices would alsoall.ow you to

combinea number of these effects at once ..It

was: m.evit:abl.etbat eventually they would

combine the programmable preamp with

mu~d"dfects to offer everyth~J1lgin oneor

~:wo rack spaces . Just ! l c U I a stereo power

:Jimp,. :! couple of speaker cabinets and you

have a v er yp ar t~ lb le switdmbk effects

sy--st .em. n seems Ideal, and it is, to a : poim"

Some drawbacks i1!JJc~'Il[de;a)Ifyou llS ie a

solid sta ee p ow er amp, :Jil1Ycube "g ive" will be

corntng o11l1yfrom the m 2 AX . 7 preamptnbes

ir a the mult l -ef fecss; w.l~Hemos t tube power

amps put out 75~lOOwattsper side requiring

ve . r yh~gh volume to g et an y p O o\V 'efub e g ive .

b) Effects are limIted to ehose made by the

one manufacturer

MIDt

To keep i~ very simple, MID'i (Muska.[

Instrument O.igiml Illlte:rface)~san electronic

language that allows different. devlces eo talk

to one another -even ifthey are made by dif·ferent rnanutacturers ..r n n practical terms this

allowed thedeve]Qptnent of programmable

effect, multi-effects and illexpensive switch-

ing systems.



PI'()g:~"(~Tn:m.'bl(Jrdft 'C1s(~l1o!()p(,(J"(m!(! t1!rsl , 'o be sto red and 1'C(' ' 'Cll lecllor al:4fwiely o f soumis; MID I ",UOWS ]iOtl 1'0 ,~wi' tch

ml (Ut;"nt.Ullb()/' oJtt(Jllice.~ ,(,j!1uldWlnge t h e ir p ( ;! u :mu~ t ft l' :S (It thr i t s.un!! i '~~' tant.

-

- . .. ~ID"l:'J1l I ~~__ --... 1J:tl!.!'IIIi iiJIIi iJj'fj .. -

I • • . . I ] ] • ~ d ) g •

o 0'\;1 _ ~~• ~ ~ . .l U i! rc...r·~1m J l C [~Ir •

.lIn (!jJf!ci~~ellcbing pmgn J, I'I' lt ne r rr :l6 1 'k es iljrotisib-le 1' 0 swild:; am~b~:r$(;~timl,~;j (tll(!.d~'!rl: ,((~d out o f ' yQt~r b'lgnfd peahby ~'lm{J{r.~l(!.j}t)tl1fj O.rl one l ,n .Vhl l ,



~ :he l 11 ix . rhar yolilr brW~iJlf1li~solo~s redueed ~Q

!ill) muci} b l!l!ck gfO l!1o d n otse . Great Sli.I !Uar

sound cannot be bOllgll~.b y adding more Ilind

more cxpera ;s ive : ,e ff i: :ds . I~ ,eomes , frmntai ldng ,

th e erre:ct.:;.u b 0 !J ld < 1 !n d lls ~ ~ _ n g ,[ hem i n the

most musical way pO$ib~e wit~h:ill theeon-

texu of themustc an d ~ he room ..

f i l , l . 1 J J { r u y ; , C!O ' .l :i Is ide rYQu , r mus lca] idenrtit:y.

Now ~El~tyou have blilndlll'eds of siOllmds: :a~

)fotl d lsp osal, as w ell as theabU i ty toc~d . ll i. tll1 .emtJlI}all~W ~ r u m ,there ~sthe o'VelVlndil1l.iliilng IJei1fiJl l)ra-

lion to u se U ffi1:eM aI!I1.al l1d~.eE~I~e. Obvio iUSl ,

yo;u, wlshto enhance yo:ur music w r u , u h them;

but given th~ir.tbe.re Isan indi!nite realm . o f

possibill t i .es.

Chamgul ,g SOIil:liJidls fm!llli' O .f fu r e tillJ [l.e s . r u m l J a

son g an d dOZCiI'lS of times over th e course of' 31 ,: s - e ~ : . i : s tine . i i 'yoUi are itryiI~gto ! l !e1)rodJuoc a

bunch of top · forty o o:lllg s o r s a : t i s t ) , I ' a produoera s a s [U cl!iomusician, nUt. [frou have 'YOUl' own

band, ~nda[>etryjog to develop your own l ! 'CC-

Ogtniz.1lJJeS(JIlllllid.'}~U J:wlaik ie ~t mOll iC: diifficult iftfuat SO,lillm'ld ch:mmliges 'everrye,iigli lt burs,.

~t may seem that artists lfke Andy

Sunil fillers land A>d:r~,~.nBe~ew ~naln~aru:n 'ed a

snr ;Ol l1g jjd.e:rnHtl\vtDJe~!s~!l]Jg, a lot { ) II e ffe ct S .

C ~o~ eeN3Jn ' i J lj nm ~onof ' t hei r sty~.eBreveals tlunthey keep coming back to a ])~bltively snu~Jl

F lu~_nlJer f :so lUnds~!h. h.alre beQ(mlewdel1: t~·l!1'edwi~iliiI ~~l!enill!,I ~umsu re ym~oowiH keep'

retu.r,I.llllgo a few sounds or eomblnatlons of

: s o~nds dKt(I»ove~~m':lill!d UllS willi. 1l1!~I'

de ! f! ine YOU ! I' :Qwn :sonnd, fV !J i t: l" I~rmo<re. these

stlun.dswm inspire musical. Ideas, J~Hit

rem em ber ~ coo l soun d s are n o t a substitutefo.r itleas~



C M , A P T I E R Ii

Lfvevs. The Studio

Gr ttn g a great gll..litaJ: sound in d lc re-

cording studio can be a guitarist'S b[,ggest

challenge ..You have worked years to achieve

a great. live sound and e-very one says you'vesucceeded. Yon enter a recording studjo, lay

down your tracks, then. go into the' control

booth and listen to the results

aaaaaa;(Jaargb! \Vha:t is thds thin. lifeless

ronecoming out of rhe srudlo monitors? Wl.]O

Is that pLaylng? I don't sound like thatl

This scene isplayed out. every day in

studlos around the wodd. Somewhere be-

tween your amplifier speakers ~tndthe pial'"

back speakers your ca.reRdl), crafted tone

gets destroyed. It Is easy to lose conndence

and th~l1k it ~syou. The srudlo l1.ovruceIs, often

lntimldated by the high tech surrouadtngs of

a modern studio. am'! the know-U-ailllattitude

of it second-fate engineer, (Let .me .say for the

record, there are many first-.rate engineers

who w:ill help you make your guitar sound

betterthan you believed posslbie). Some self-

defense Ups, can, ease the pain of your early

recording experiences,

Ideally when you record ),0!l1l1' guitar, you

should be able to play like youpJay live and

have that sound transferred to tape.In l:eaUty;unless you own. your own srud10 ceare ,doing

a high budget album ,ilie circumstances are

rarely ideal ..

.For starters, when you are recording the

basics, you need to tsolare your guitar sound

from the other instrumentsas completely as

possib~e. Some studios win have separate

roomsjor the gui,tiilramps so' tblt yo~can.play

as loud as you . like without bleeding Into the

drummlcs,Mostw~l~not.

More often portru.b~ewallser ba1Jles, will:

be placedaroued your amp and you w:ill be

asked to tum down. OccaslonaUy you v;ill be

asked 1 1 0 forgo the amp nlwgether and godirect into the board.

Sometimes these tracksare disposable,

and are used to get the bass and drums on

tape with an eye towards replacing them

later; with. JUSt your gu.!~~.afmp tn the room .

Failing chat, recording direct is 1l0~th e ru f:, bc ·

mare that it once was. Thanks to the

Sansxrnp, various cabinet emulators and

qu:ali'ty reverbs you can often get a better

sound going direct than baffled, with a

rushed or inept mic iug job.

For overdubs.tlme permittmg~ you should

stand in ~he room with youI' amp andget

your optlmnm sound.Then lfty some to tape

and Iisten, Try to explain to the engineer

what, if anything is missing: [dgJ.ls,mids, lows.

Learn to 'taU::the talk > it's your tone ...Be

polite but persistent, 'fry to get the best tone

wm~bmtc p l a c emen t ruther than eq - mches

can make a,difference. Don't settle for "we'll

.Hi( it in the mix,"

Speaking of the millx; if you are not going

(0be there for it, ' try to get wha!luever effectsyou would .nte on tape, Producers prefer to

control effects in the mix so you may justhave to leave notes as towhat you . would like

added. If there are enough tracks, ask to pu.t

your effects on. a separate track, Tills way

your' sound will be available come mix r tme ,

and that delay you requested won't have been

apprcpriated forthebackground vocals.



6 4 • 'G E T IIN G G R IE A T G U ! T AR . sO U N IQ iS

Putting the effects on the same track asyour original signal is risky.Wha l t sounds like

the right amount of reverb when you record

might nor work :lit all once ev'Crythlng else islaid dawn. To a . certahl extene you must trust

the producer; thus it is important to I:lIYdown

as good sounding a d['l' signal as you can.

\ 'i;lhen it is dille to do overdubs, whether

'to replace rbythm parts or to add parts or

solos, there are a few other things to Icon"

sider..Mmly otherwise state-of-the-art studios

halve kss than opnmusn headphone or "cue"

systems, The: phones are big. unwieldy, and

dffistort. easily. When you fin~llyge't the' room

to yourself and can crank up , , 1 5 loud as youwant, they can't get the headphones loud

enough" the cable from the phones keepsgetting t:llugkd.in you gu~ta:rcable. and every

time you want to hear an accurate playbacky m .1 have to take everything off and go Into

the con tro l room . It can b e d iff i< .:u Jr to b e: a

yourcreative best under these conditions ..

The sotnnon is to do yOllr overdubs in the

booth with the engineer; This allows you to

hear your guitar CO . !OO l g alit of the monitor

Tiw home re'COl'{'iiiii!,,tJligi7W'{!JW t ill'l!;am - tbe

(wlgfnalStllls,.1mjJ.

speakers with the other tracks ~ exactly as it

will sound on tape'. II you use a head and

speaker amp set up', you can put the bead in

the booth and run a speaker cable into the

recording room..Set up youreffeets next to

you. and you can :illstandy ad]ust your sound

unai l it I S rlghr, For feedback you can crank

up the monitors a bit and lean in to them.

This alsoellmlnates the talk-back button

when communicating with theenglneer;

Beware of engineers who stick one mic

right in ehe center of your speaker ..Speake-r~

tend to mdiatc' their highs from the ceneer

and the lower frequencies from the edges,

One mic up dose but a llttle off center 'will

pl'ovid~ p:r~~ence, but try to add other micsaround the room and blend then) (watch out

for undesirable phasecaneellatlon).

Byexperimenting with mixing these micsyou can achieve great natural guitar sound

(01" UIIIJ1a[urn] sounds if this is what you pile·

fer). If you find a particular rnic :md/or place-

me n t that WOF ' ksf or y o u, w r it e : i : t down, S lO y ou

C::9Jnequest it next tune.

A speaker emllicll'oJ' allOll!s you; 1'01'i(j.cm"lij'iJltJ"jtnxwit,r11l111'j.J dt.I'{!d

te l the , '(!cm'dblg VO'(; lrd QJ" send a dfree/feed to the JUl, mtse«



6 6 · B E T I IN G G R E A T G IJ I I T A R S O L INilS

ori,gwality factor can work in. your favor, A

·62 Strat with new tuners, missing decal, a

vintage replacement bridge and a . reflnrshed

body win go jor considerably less than tb_e

same veac instrument Ithat ~sall ortgtnal, bUI£ it

will probab~y sound just : : 1 . good, be just asreliable and malntaln ifs albeit lesser value.

Over the ye-a r ! ! I have n o ted that gu~-

rarlses, espedallry so-called profess~onarus,are a

tight fisted bunch ..Drummers think nothing

'O f spending overa thousand dellars rQ!r a J . newkit. Orchestral string players (vio.lli1ists,eel-

Ust:s,etc.) have to spend anywhere from$, ;O,OOo- .U5H,OOO or be laughed off stage!

Kevboard players must la y out the equlvaten;of the budget of some' small lo!reigncountriesto keep up .Ask . a guitarist to spend more than

$ 500 for n ~ s tnstrumenr an d U sten . to them

whine,

This ts parUy because we are spoiled ..It is

pnsslble to. get a! playable" good soundinginstrument for $500 or, .for that matter, for$200. Bm if we consider ourselves profes-

sionals or even serious amateurs who seekgreat tone 'We should not beatrakt to spendone, two or even five thousand dotlars if that

~swhat it takes.Remember the guitar is the rust and fore-

most ]ink inyour sound.You m~lybe one of

the h.lcky ones whofinds anunplayed, m 958Pender 1l::1ecasrer at a . garage sate in Kansas

for $ ~~5 . .I f not, spend whatever it takes to get

the ultimate tone, because sound is wherelUlI,sIC starts.

Reverb, and '[he Pro Reve rb , while Marshallm en an d wom en cove t th e o ld er " P[ex_ jj"heads .

Playelts like Mike Campbell (Ibm .Petty);

the Edge and Brian. May (Queen)" and manyothers swear b y the Vox.AC30.Theseoffer anedgier (no pun intended) sound, somewherebetween a . Fender and a . Marshall,

Prices far the Ultest of these amps rarelyexceed. 'the cost of some of the new boutiqueamps ..In .nlct,vintage amps can be a bargain,

You can pick lip a. blackface pre-CBSFender Bandmaster, Showman, or Bassmanhead for well under $;00. These.j combined

with the speaker cabinet of YOliU choice can

give you warm tube tone on a budget. You

can also feel free to modify ehese by i n s t ' . tmng

effects loops, channel switching or othermods wlthour wO!r ryh lg about: or.~gjnality.

\ I I N TA G E E F f l E I C T S

V I N I A G E A M ' P S

It may seem strange co be talkingabolltv.inta,ge effects urntil you consider rhat some

rube reverbsand tape derna~rs are well over

thirty or forty years old. Though 1lliU1Yof theold effects have been. reissued (Big. MufflMemory Man, Octavia '[&-9) the re are still

those that claim. that the odgtnals SOU11d

better. They base th~s on the factthat someof the O[]sin.ll electronic p;a:l1sare no longer

:Ji,vailable. For this unique tone people are

willing to put up with the original effect's

quirks,. noise and lto:reliabmty.

Vintage ,effects al'e becoming ext . r ,em.ely

expensive (at tWs wr~HogIbanezTSS08 over-drives are going fur $3,00) ...You will have to .

decide whether the subtle tone differences

between the original units and the reissue'Sjustify the enormous pri-c-ediffe:l'ence.

Theauhere are the rapidly shrtnklng

number of vintageeffeets that have not beenretssued as yet, ·they tend to be less expen-

sive and more unusual sounding. These can

be effective tools insetting your sound apart

from the crowd.You will decide for yourself whether

modem manufacturers can fu l f . ! . ! . i l l your sonic

needs" or whether you must join the ranks ofthe vintage hunter-ga therers to obtain thatelusive "tone--{)f-the~g'Ods.~

V~i!1tageamp prices have not escalated tothe same degree as gu~~:trs.This is due to

couple of factors ..Aging does not improve the

sound and .man)' mainstream and boudque

manuUlct.Ul'el'S a re r na kiJ:tg a m p s thatsound as

good ~ISold ones. S tW, players seek: out '60 's

.Marsill:lLls in search o. f rhar elusive sound heard

011 C r eam ,I -I em J id r lx a nd V an Halen OOlXiOOS.

Classlc old tube amps from Fenderinclude: the rweed 4x 10 Bassman and. the"b~ac:kfa.ce series (refers tn the panel behind

rhe conrrot knobs which changed. to silverafter CBS bought dle ' company in . !!lIe mid-

'60's), Le. the Deluxe Reverb, 'the Super

Reverb. the Vfbrcverb, t he V lb ro lw re " t he ·fV .;r ln



APfrrafNcrte

M ~ U 1 Y years ago I saw Robben Ford! thenoted blues/jazz guitarist and a dub inNew

York, playing with the Yellowjackets. Robben

Wa!S known at ~he time for .l1Iis.A. sound: thatsweet singing tone heard on so many records,

made In los Angeles. You know the sound;

L1rry Carlton had it" so did Jay Graydon" Lee

. R i 't i .r ! IJ . o U f and louie Shelton. Robben helped

originate it.Itwas a.so u nd th a i! seemed Insep-

ar:ably Ued to a Gibson 335 through a MesaBoogie mbe amp.

011 this particular njght. Robberrocca-

.sionaLly played a . 3 3 5 . .MOIDe often thOl~g]_]. he

played. a soUd body Ya,llHllla g:u~tarthrough

solid state Yamaha amps. Was his sound any

d~ffer,e.nt?Not much,

Anodler story: I was hosting a jam sessionand a n oted stu dio guitarist asked 'to s~~:n. He

played my guitar through my amp and sud-

denly it sounded 150% bettenwhar's myl)oint?As muchas I hare to say it, after you

have "Waded through u n this blf'ormation ('11

pickups, strings, effects Sind amps, thei1'

sound is Im'go.ly in tbei'1"ingers and so is

yours! The good news is that your eouch js

where most of you r Lndividuamltyas at player

resjdes and 8,00d tone product~on througheouch is something that can be learned. fol-

lowing are some hints that may help you toachieve a better tone,

Authori.ty: This doesn't necessartly mean

a hard attack, although it can. Robben Ford

and Jim HaH both l '1ay with authority; Ford

with an attack of doom, Hall with a soundlike the notes are .f.loaUng out of tile guita.r.

Nevertheless, both sound committed toeverynote. TIns comes" ill part, from coafldenee,

You must go for it; ITyou make a mistake,

make .i t like you mean ir, Better '[0 make a

glaring clam than to play eve1"ytum,g timidly.

Picky~ pick.y,:The gu .~J 'a i' ts a "V 'e ry expres-sive Instrument, It responds radicallj' to

changes pkking angle or choices of note

locat~on. For example; pl.lY a note wsth the

p iCk . parallel to the strings, now with the pkk

:at an angle, Note the tonal di1ference. Check

out now Jeff Beck plays notes h~ghup on the

mow strings instead of lower on the high

strings - they sound different play.ed thatway. O~;,check out how Beck and blues

players use the neck pickup but pick dose to

the bridge for a.bright but full tone. Aware-

ness of how you are producing 'the notes

opens up whole new areas of expressionb efore y 'O 'u even p lug j:r:t

Sensitivity to the 1Jt .us- ic :You can buy aU

the' Struts;'Iube Screamers. and Super Reverbsyou want , but you are not going to get that

blues sound unless you lay into those strings

with both hands,.Note how S~evieRay put lliswhole arm ~nmhis pkl!dng.l'he more down

strokes the better for that authentic Texas

tone.

On the ether hand, for ehe horn Iikelegato of jazz, snidu]g~nm the no tes and a

Iighter touch m ay be what is called for.

Sensitivity to you.rseffi Bottom Iine >

What are you trying to ~ay?",ow you touch

you r S:l.m~~aray s volumes about yon and, yourmustc, wm it say, "1 am a sensaive romantic:

caressing the mUSiC from m y beloved instru-

ment"? o~, .wmit say,."I am an aggressive artist

with soenething that demands to be hear~r

67



1 1 1 8 ' " S ID I 'N G G 'R E A T GU I I I A ! R S O U N I l S

Ow w l W . ~tso:me~i :me:s sa y o ne ~ ulld l.SO::(11)U!~llIMe'S

tile:other, The important thing lsthat it is an

ex ~eJ lS ijolil of you ,and d liJ Il comes, Ehi i l101! lghuJrm o re ~ n y ou r 'I loucih th."In . in a ny ,eq uip m e n tyou buy.

The ether seererm grea~~one is IiLs~,

lening. 'Iou. ()rob-ably learned 1 1 0 plaY' gu~ta£'

by listening to the notes that your favorItegui~ill'~s:tswere p,lay]ng nod emulating them.

H.opefilUy;,~ou ~11.en~"n : ton to develop ~~(l'l,i![,

own . licks an d melodic p attern s. The sam ea p p llie s lown ,e . llstea ~ o YUillI'mvo r it 'e : gm -ta:r . iStsand tn , to .fig ure ou t how they g o ttheir t on e.ll:le u p p en d i." ll: will help) but think

of t l 1 : . 1 l 1 : : as reminG;l1Jl I lI ls jJc. : I ' t will . h e ~ p ' ,open

rOut ears"butto more:fuUy devdop themtry

to hear I t yourself on artists recordings" The

point is RO ot 1 '0 soand Ettie 'them bmw,(lc Vie lo ,pth e s am e m a ster y o ver to n e p,r>oduc~

'd on that you .ha 'Ve'over note prodncttoe.mtim3tiCily 1'00, wm eomblne JOIllI'louch

with a mast'ery ,of effects that allows you rm u sica l v oice to , sh in e U LfQ u gh"1 ' . 0 dl~Sen dl,c tme :I enve rou W i jl r : h eae I , a ; s t ~n,Q:u ,ght .M'!ilS~C:

ttla~ is . o , l ) l y about music is boring to the . r n i s - ,

eener a n.d e ve n tOI o th e r m . 'I !l sic ia fls ,.GOI O!il!t.

:Geta Ufe,r~d a boo.k.(not about ,mus i c )~ : 9010'the movies, meet people (not ml.lsldans). and- .

w~denyour h _ . l ) l W z , O ~ S ' '' l ' l rl ; ~ ~ :waY ' you wW , o a r . v e

,s1Jmetli i lBg me-aningfid. to . espress w~thyour

Great Guitar Sound.



AIPP IEN ID IIX I

HcrwDbd They' Ge:tThat ,Solund'?'

Tile folowm :giS a C'ompenAium ofd1,1iss.ic

gJUita:ri5tswho provide el'oeu'el1ll:: ,e.r.wl iPi le~ of

g r e a . t mae. a bdefexpllma:E:iolli () f bOW'llhey

gpt it::lidd some recoramendea ~is~enmg.You

mny wonder about tbe absence of somefamous players. Sometimes agnitarist can b ;a great player but not have superior or inter-

,c;s'ting toile. Also, some guitarists change

' eq , I, ll 'i pm !en lt : 80 orb.!," ~h;atany desc:rj' il.:~omW\ooic .!l iiJ e d i1 !J ted berolre th e boot M d t th e

presses, Obviously the ,first reasea Is ~li!1bjec·

.i,ve, blllit b e ; ) , " . it'S m r y boo:k'! SedoUiSly lhougb . ,

I EW : Jil.k .you wm find! m a _ f i) ' ed!!llcau.ornd aIm-pIes here.

NOTE: Much of ~he equipment men-

tlon.ect in this section is no longer manufac-tured in Ies origmal form. Don't despair; Odg-

In;a~pieces CO O be ttacked ,uo,wn throU:gll th.e

[n:ce.rn'et l, compan ies :1,1i1iC!eiJssUlk~g, c la ss ic s, 9 J 1 id

If d else :f3Jils. alrernatjjve me,tih.ods of obtaM.·

ifllg dle' SWIne sound aee aV'lil labJe or wairWig - ~ obe d is :c '( ) ve : red- i li s i l I J I ' e new S O I ! :I : n d ! s ..

IERll,eC L A P J O N

Claptnn. bas d; lang,ed musical. sty~es a s ,often as be has chia:n,gedhain;uu:, but his,

blues rootsafwilys showed dll'ough. He revo-WuUooiized r O C K g-wtarto,ne on T h , e Blues,.

b~eakel'S·John,.Mayall with Eric 'Clap tonwhen he p~ugged it Les Paul m CO a Marshal l

2x12 combo and cranked it. Hhi f~:I l~ . r

viJbPltoset t lhe s1:y~efoil' 'Bcit~51iln d km,edatn

rock guitarists fo:r1~:r5.Ul is h is m uc'h [th atI I1ia !kes b i im jUS 1~ nsrecogniizabl,e oa a S~rn[:

through. a Pigm,o~'bauer)' powe:redpolt3bJe

~rnp and aPender Cb~mp'on Layla 3!~.d

other Assorted Love SOng~1' as , o n a tesPaul through a Mar- ,shan. You win find some

of Clapton's f i n e s ' c 1,Iayillg and tone" believe ~t

or not, 0 1 ' 1 1Roger Wa 1 l e , r s " Pros and Cons ofHiltcldtUdn.g.

E l i J : l i J I E V A N IHAlENI

JEff B E C K

E:ddlic is. a direct descendent of the Eric

Clapton tone schoot ,guitar, am:p, rmgers.Though he may havea more sophisticated set

up these days, when he exp loded on thescene with his ,ext:raord~nary rapping, ,thIs

W;M es~entially b i s rig: A home : M ' il ! (f h ! ,S t m t

S{Jl,eguitar w~~h ,,one Lo,w outputh l i lnt l lbuckerii n rhe bridge', aJ_nd i l l . ru,lrll"iocking (remol,()., in~()

a mod rn~d Ma rs J ia ll. E ( J )W ' ar dilo ton ly i'Ot[ce~

rille eon e out of' th tiiselementa l se t u p ' bm ~ t W S , O '

used ills prodigio1.1S technique solely to makemusic, never as an end in itself ~.a ~csson dUlt

was lost on mnny that foUowed, Abo lost en

imuatore 'Ml!i the g reat tone, Mo st w ou ld -b e

Van Hru.en elenes use way 000 much g:aiu allild

d is oo .l1 iio n a s a ,short ,em :to> t~ l!e .Und o f p,ower

A classic case of it's ill the fingers. Over

th e year,s"Beict has p~ay , ed , .tes Pauls, St ram·

casters, and 1!ie~ecasten through mruni.m,al,e f'foc['S,an d var ious, am :p s. H e has -m an ag ed to,

wfil!g, an aJsU)Di:sh~ng,yal:'ieifl' (I,t squ.~als,sitldek:s,IrO~J)'s<;md whoops out of a J stock

g1 !l imf !, a Pro Co Rat, a cl.elay.and, either Fender 'or MarshaU amps. -

_Check out Jeff B,eck's (iui'ta:r Shop

with 'Terry Bozz.io and, 'rony Hymas for m la ud io e :x~U 'in p !1 eof what can b e done with a.

S~:m~,:altat;:aTw'in~:~Dell.'x lC, a DeID:lry,;: lIarped

imJILsiooti.oilll,andmb~J)ollls fmien.



and sustatn th~.tEddie pulled ou r widl thep ower Q fh~ s fi_ ;_n g~ 1':s..AIl!s~.~GfS t (I!lil i:rru{ilili!!Jl'S is ·

Edwal'd'~ :g['e,'lI~. articUlat~.Gn,espedil iUy onthe

.fint Van Ha1~i!:lr eco rd .

A sJmHar mistak..e js made by manyH.endr ix mlirm~Qtr~.' l ' l ! ;ey ~ss6cru03lte his style

o,dusj'VeJy with excess~¥e ' 1 l Ii ;s o o n i . o I iJ J . •Th.m~gh

he briU;unt1y usedthe pr.imitive distortions of

th!: ~ime e o C!)lliX · e x p r e s s : . i i v e cries tmd wh~&-dccSou~ of . h i l s irnstf:lUlfill!elllt. :DaJI liY of his runes

CUke"U~tle W~nB~) were bi[li~~on clean 'or

only mildly diSv(Jf~ed[Ones. His style was a .

d~f 'eCI: QliJltgl1''CIWdli. o f tnt 1 ! l I ~ . l ! ! ! e s l i n d R.&_B, l Ie

had Un n ,ed o[i d 1 JC :"d1!itt!ii[~circu [['" .

J~ pu~ the Fender Stmtocas~er on the

mode~n rock Map3i~ a ~im.ew ibe ll l .mo .~ l '1 i:g ,U~·

b fii.s rs wc ; re !eJ1 la l lored !of tes PaU lJS .T~U"o~1i l

h~s shan:. career he played duuugll FenderlSllmn~uld .MarshnUamps. Considering. the

n U D i lI Il e .r · , o f di if fe ren :t socunds bem j JJ d e: ~ h .e us:ed

:srurpf~sing' lyfew ef:J) 'ects:Fun fa,ce~ OCUVH11

Ul1i~Viibe j ' and Wrlb W ah liv e. II I the studio he

w<:) !\ Il!Wddd ltdpe de lay aJnd f [a lilg img . .Check € l 1 U 1 !

aU rhe suu :'Uo ~ Ib lUm s.he made (Ellec·tric

Ladylaoo, etc:•. ) as well u s 'th e .liv e :B an d 0 . £

G y J P S ' Y S d~sc.

D A l l E G IL M O U R

Pllilk.fIQ:yd~s gU:Lmdst eomes (HJt ofth.e

same . B r i j ! H : s h i b r n l ~ e s b ac k_ g r- ou n da s D e ck an dOapi~on.His finger viibftlto tends to be 'Wide'r~

and he ~ld~sml.o:lieeffects Ib ut hep ~ a:y .s w . i it i h .

~ he sa~ne sou li l. w ] l emot~om ~haJ t comesw.~~h

eareiul uttentiontQ the tone of each note.A. . £ 1 : 1 1 1 ,e s c r l p t i o . l r l o f G U m o \! 1 ! [ ls , · e f f e c t s and

r i i g s w ou j,d rake a book ,o:f i t l ;owrn. (d1J~k O'llit

GUilta!(' S h.o p fn ~ ga 'zin .e D e c .9 6) . Inst:cad t here

is the heart:.of his tone: A fender Strat with

EMlG 9!C£~.ve s:i l1 l@leco~rnpw.c I l; :! \! !I?sw.~~h a SO C

m. id bOOSIferforh!ads and ~ 1 ~ eEX iGba ss a nd

treble booster lnt dean. He uses an old

.A1fmlo~cbass preamp, to w~u·.mup~hetolie- ~

.110 tnwa:tt:Jiil l i i lplli ic[.s. Ha:ving e :smbL iis !hed a

warm elear dean tone, h e emp~OY5ammos t :every ")v,~rd!rive andfllzz you cau name a~

wrimJl.S ~jnles ful" l1i:Ssollos .He ~saliso fond IO f t\I

Yamaha version of theteslie romtin,g speaker

~. . r foct. The d3 iS5 :~C Floyd SP1iH: ' ' ' e - . r oCk . ~Ql! ln .J . Is

ad .li ev , o d . c t! J ese day~ with :texicoo PCM;-?{ } \s

and a TC2:Z90.Check om The Wall eo hear

howthe g~ea:tGUmoui£never lets thceifects

d!elt:rilC;: t:ffi.o1l.dlC p . f l • •ssien (llfh~spbl}llng.

Otbers ihatViesinoere'fij[~l~dlbli.s~tyk. but

S\1m_me . r !i i· ~p lay .~ l lgwi th cWu:PoUce revo ]uUon-

iz ed pop, gldtar eone at the time. Se~l!: : i j jJgn

Bec~ro -Hru : 'nooX l! J ix . f] eot ri ;cMJS i t ress f1 lan :ge r f ( ) ir

a mild, chorus-1iik:c Ilange, an d diri.vil.'lIg It with

an MXlt Dynal,comp compressor to let the

!!J:O~IeStiingeF~ his jazz ed!(lc.,ued comp,jng

i )o~iln<iled l i i!k:eno other ; lJ1jit:ar.i:s~to d.laiJt poiDt.

Usrng il . maple lleck1elew~.th iii H:ll:mbl,lCker in

iL~ene:ck! .h e o .f it e~ u sed · t1NOechoplel"o.es m set

ro:p[i'h}'tm1m~made u p !(lfB:lill:lltip[e del :ny.s ,AlPe~eCOrnish pedal board allowed him t~ control~heseefm;ctls as wellas 3 1 1 1 l v IXR. [)[st,o.nJon T

fo r .Wmseaee . l IJnea selos,

for bettee or worse, d!em)end~og11 0 )IO'nr

t a s t e , t h e compressed chorus . l i ' l 1 ! y f l : : r m fea-

t l ;ui9,g lihotle aoib~gl!!()llIS ad d '9 ' ·d:!:oms fC;maJin

a s~apIDelo f pOPG:u~tilr~o t ih; is day: Ch eck ou t

Regatta De Blanc .for unadulterated

S~flunet8; especiaLliy ~W'U!Utl_n"o 1 1 1 .e Moon"

9_nd "Mes&Jtgemn A miO:t:i[:~e".

U2;sBd~oe fol(JWecl in. J U l J d i y S~Ulm1!e: r s '

fQot:steps, expal1db.lg 011 tbe use of muntip~e

ddalys lOlf tbytOOli patterns ~~d It O J f i I U i mu the

~ouf!!.d ol~hooe Ln.s~:ru!ll]!e:nts.hI th e ,endy d1ll.}ts

be used a~]JLunbe( of Elecuo·Hnrmonix

De[~IJiijeMc: :m .o ry M: rms . l' hese days he gets his,

highly p~FsofDIal.~l.'edsound byn111lnhilg ]11.5

(iiibson E:xp1o' f<~rsOf Fender Sn~~s~h[,Qtl;gha

rack the size of a re f l ' ige(7Wor that centaurs an

~r.rny o f ~n1lJlos. ~lnd d~gjUi~ effec ts • .I1 nu U y:g!)~illg intio mu:~UpleVox A(;30'$. 'U;:;~e!!!l t! Q

Achmn;gBaiby f'Or unJ.Jsl,l.a]ma evocative

giIJi~a;J;' to ne s .



H O W ' O l D ' r H ' f Y GHT.HA f S O U N D ? • '1 1

I U J !R J IC O B A I N squashed sound.and to allow him to get f e e d , "

b ack a t reL aU ve[y towvolumes ~lod at wm.An

Electro-I-I.armonixextr~vaganzagmced his

rack, :i.llcludii1lg: n~gMuff, Polyehoras, GraphicFuzz, i 1 . 6 Second DigUal D e l a y , and Freq~lencyAna~y:z!(;:re m s modulator). A Foxx Puzztone

and various other ddays completed the

palette with which he' painted his sonic pic-

tures.Thecompresslon and graphic equallza-tion hdped him to control not muy the f eed -

back but the unruly edges of his. rawdistortions, '

.More recently he has been using Rol~nd

and Ko,rg rack muln-effects to acruev'e' some

of the same sounds and many new ones"Belew Isalso fbud of guitar synthesizers so

his Fender Custom Shop Strats contatn built

in synth pickups andcontrols, m addition to

K..1.hlertrems, Get King Crimson's Dkipline

for some' of the bes'!::Belew on disc.

Just as Clapton pulled rock guitar tone

tnto the '60S, Kurt Cobain helped revolu-

t~on~ze~he Wily we heard rock: guitar ~nthe'90s. For all Iu s ultimately fatal drug , and p sy -

chological problems, he was consetousenough aboue what he was dolng to pu r -

chase special cheapo guitars to smash 0'11

stage rather than his personal ones ..Once

Ne'Ver.mind took: off, C-obain setrled into his

basic setup of left-handed Fender J :. 1 I, g u: lr .: iiin d

Mustangs with humbuckers instaUed at an

angle to 'the bridge, gomg into a Boss D8·2

Turbo DistQ'rUQD i O l e the song's screammg

chorus, and an Electro-.Harmonix Poly-Flange

Qr Poly-Chorus and Small Clonefbrthe

quieter verses.

After In. Utero came out, Cobain startedto use an original SansAOlp pedal far distor-

~.ioll.This sWgrudwent: into : . t , Mesa Boogie

Studio or Quad pream,p set clean; Into a Crest

4 s 0 m power amp and a number of 4:x12

speakers.

The Nirvana sound was n ot y ou r fathersdtseortlon ,_ not thu; smooth lA. sound. But

proper.illy controlled It became a new emo-

tional Co~OYin the pop picture. There is no

doubt in my mind that it helped push formeruS111001lhies" l~k,eEr.ic johnson,Billy Gibbons

and Scott Henderson into exploring thewilder, woollier distortions of pedals like the

monic E-xpado ra" the Fnhltone > 6 ' 9 ~and the old

Fuzzface.

M A i R K I K N I O P F l E R

A D R IA N B E L E W

KnopneFj the man most closely assoclatedwith 'the "out-of-phase" Strarocaster sound ;

has ["drely played an actual} Pender Struo-

caster, His malngaitars for yefirs were earlySchecter Custom 'Shop Str-at copies, and S tm t

sty].e Pensa-Suhr guitars. Laeer ( " .Mo:ru~y for

Nothing") he embraced a Gibson Les Pau.lfbra more distorted, ZZ 'Iop style sound.

the tonal switch helped point out ~ha.this

style was more a product of his. use of f1l1ge£s

irrstead of aplck, and his lydcal note cho:i,('es

rather than anryequlpmeat. Stil l his best tone

~sround on the first and second Dire Stl~jts

records, Dire Sh'aitsand Communique,

where he was a. using s~.oC:k.s~rat (tboughnot, it is rumored, a re.lill.Fe:nder).

Belew is a t perfect example of a guitarist

w hose sty le is e n tir ely c on ta in e d .limh is flX~lSlc1li~

id eas an d use o f effects, O n projects widi Da(Vid

Bowie, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails and in

h~ s solo w ork, his touch is \ 1 ' i r t 1 l L1 . l I y eln1J:na,redby the filet that he uses massive amounts of

compression. Yet he remains one of the most

recogntzablevntces around, even when he is

makilflg [he gli ,dC"lrsound ru te an. elephant" rhi-

noceres, seaguU, or :anything but a . guttae

Ou'Ialking Heads.'Remain. 10-TIle Ught

and his first solo ,effort The Lone Rhino.- ,Belew was using an .MXRDynacomp on full

compressiou to give his rhythm thar fu~y

P E T E R G R I E E : N

Green fo llow ed C lap ton in to John MayaU ' s

band, and founded Fille£t'.voodMac back. when

it wag, a stnl:igbt blues band. lie further refined

th e tone of a, sunburst Les Po rump layed through

a Marsh~l. amplifier (though he also p layedthrough Fender and Orange amps).lhe story

goes: He removed one of the pickups and acd-

d en tally w ired jt back dect:roluc.illy out of



phase. When he blended the two pickups

( :og~m.er he got a 've :r y eKI ,r e. sswe " 'lYJi l' kl ng ." r one.

Acm.~ . eat.ly Giboofl l¢ 'Wo:md tlil!roCpicb~pl areh -

t ' O p s ~Viere oft)e'J l I .w ire do u :t lo lp lila tS leB fW itLL~

t -oear~yT-Bo.I . l le~dkcernl l :d1:0.8. Kling reoo'rrds,Ailro

llstentc John M a y t l J U ' S A HaRt !Rood and the

~FY irstF~eetwood Mac: r e L ' " ( ), W 1 5 eo be~ the

~ tlll.ru tha nd ~ (}W ! .ef ~ ih e O.my·guiltaflst tI. lI:ru~RH .King daifflc."d l!l lfolde ,him ~eat.

1h,eRe'li'e1l~fildWiUjj~ O l G " is~e~anether Ut

[the us P au l inm t1 l1 !eaU!ll)cb.J!b .G~bibo,n:s~s n ot

nfr.tid, h.owever, to adu~terate ~h.e sound of

the legendary "feariy Gntes~ Le:5Pftrlllwith

dev~,~esUte n .rmg nllod:u]~n(lir ("Che~l) Snn-

StQ!.SSleS~)or a Bio!l1lj,ci!x.paudJor3 fuzz . Check

(')ut D e Q i u e ! l J 1 o , whc,l1eth,cjJuit:at t i o < ! O e s . ,

whether Gibson or FeJ;lder~are soc;;I:Ls~i11.ctthat my fNeml. Binkyclnirn,ea, "You can tell

Wh.litco;,I,or dleguinu" is",

'[he f'lllttone om Rhyth:mee:Dw:JIs

~dhi!ev(:ld b}'rcclQrd~il.1Iig thl'O~lg~]J a Mnrs!hall

pr:ea:mp dleeet onto one track and throughm[cecl anll: l ls in the room stfllldt:~neOiUsJJ eo

m1!othel '~ ·fh.i:! dme it mokfor dles;()u!!ld UJ

eeach d'il:e lRic:s alter i~~hadal reaJd.y been

fe(:o,tde~l direct adds ~l slight de:Laytha i

thickerns the tone,

Th e R ev 's I~ujemm 5ql.leali!rog. harnl,onics

C;l!~be produoed! byl,lh:ci:rn.g ~h.es!I::ringwidl

the u ! m 1 1 1 .flthe m r s t f i J ~ ,g e r o f r(Jur tighth:l!mlcljust before the pIck hits ;\:.M.ove ::do.ng the

string by the pickups for dif(erem harmonics.

US!e t;he IOrid:gep'k]cu;l~ fO F ataiJi' a:IDO'Ufillt of

dii_s~OI:fU.oo.~1~da b:r ig li lt ·tIOIlIC.

E R IC J O H N :lm N

Any dii'sc!.!Ism.on(IIf ron e sh ou ld m d u ! ; W e the

n am e o f aUG [h er rl'e xa s g ll:lia tr ist ,. B ti. c J J Q h n ~ s l ,) l 1 .

Mis ob~ssio.nwIrh bat~el·.~esan.d cables mayseem hUlJ:l.OIDUS" bl1~ histone tndi~l[t:s he has

f lJ ! l ! : l1eddl€ rj~ht to li;e picky,. F rom .h n iih , c~ ea n

dlQlOOSh) !his "4ijO~by~otln"l\ead ~olle't Jolm!:loJlJJ

hasset . ; r u c c n f l l n s l t a i i l 1 : c l a o o .fQf £ j l U J ! i t ' il rSCJLUld.

jonnsou's ',4 strameaster sp ores aD]lVlarzio HS-2 stacked pickup in the bridge

pos~fruml,HIe h9!s di iScoi !.mec~oo one of th e coii~$;

~ctt.\f.i.[lJg h~m wHh a true shlgle: co~t lie mam..

tJll1s. tlw:t this coil is ~ful]!er sOl1llding ~h<1l:nli .

seoek p~Ckl!pMd d'Ji.eexh~J com stWhell}s

e.WiDin~fe some of ehe niJi~se. t:lI)om there

johnsen has a. few f:al'~odt'e~ow'(jecliJ p:edlillls:

Fu:zzF:1H;;e. Expefie.nce, o r C lil'ilJ~ dler Tube

D.river for di.stordon, Blec r ro -Ha rmon ixMemm:y Man" utm,s~sto:rlE(:bo'l[)~e.~ror delar, .

alildifelllder,. Mam's!h:]J~l.~;lJd .DmnMc amps.in an ,ef:rofit 00 reduee his de;rui"en:irl;S 5!1:3;b~

volume, Johnson hasswUched from two

Tw:irul ['O r d ean an d Ir.WO ] OOw:a : t t M a r s l h 1 1 I D s

fol[' di:s~oril:ion, eo two Del~!!Xe Rewd)s; and

nv o 50 w~u .M.a rMl lal li s.Bu t mi l ll k~ : 1 1 1 . 0 OOs~*e.n!i.llIch (lithe rlehness of histene comes firo.m

playillg lOllJ[)!.

S U . I I I IE IR i A r I " U G H A I N

Uhe were alive~orJay,.Stevicwouh:ru be the

first to adnlit that most of licks were not new.Ther were ~earDel(; l .from ~h.eolder bl l lcsmen

b e s tu :d ic :; d and stiJ:al)cdlhe 5tJj j lge w~th, such ~5

AmbeR , :fred!dy andD.B. K in g . illite (hcm,. he

took. what~e learned and added a new t\vis[~

and p~lftof thattwist was tone.

·.[heliWlJ'J!wiifl,~eid:ieF!,tijn VausnafDl's sound

W!JS his U~ ofgaug,e: .Ot) ~.058 st[i[Jg~on.ms

'1 63 S ~mwca 5r er . . '!l\JJ nin g down 1 1 0 E~ad]d~d

further fullness to the tone 1md eased the

tenston a bit~ but neverthetess jhese were'

m:1!n~}J~!t:Ii'~llig;s:.~ "7If~lS.stevie 's; 5~IQng. hands;d]~~ e.n.nb~ed!Wo c ! i to d~~ with thcfiIt wires

a nd 1 1lig ~lactiolThtlilalt m ad e h j:s gl!!it!l!fS : rmS

[]k;ea bell and drove his pow~rfi!;l.lililillpS into

( l i s tO 'f r ion .

Ttil:e few eftec~s ~l:e fa!vCI'redwe~e .~.fuzz.

F :I Ice, Oc~av~(B !, 'rs-808 Tu be S crea.nter;, W ;iJ J11I-

wall, ili nd L e sHe !)Otllti1l1g speaker csb l ne rs . Po r

ampJ i f 1cu t fm:~ he used varton s com b ioH thJllS

o. f .Pei':l:ClerVibr{WeMs. or S ' l . I D p e r :Reverb~, . .iM iar-

sh aU s, n nd D ru m .b le :S .L i.k .e .~ rW cJohnson, . hep . r n : i l . ~ l i C dLOUD.

His phrys~cal attack on the stdl.lgs. :lind hlsspirit of playIng ev .e l') ' lick as if he l : u : u ; l j iu s t

~nJve:ntecl it " cO]ID~rib!!n;ed h e a . v w l y [o,a. SQ:I!llld

mi.lIaltis ' Q ! , f t e F l imJ;E3!WdbU~:[liever c~ui~e dup,H-

,c<l!t:ed.Stlcvle's souadcan now unfoPlmn;al t :e[ } !~

be experienced only on record, IryG.re.atest

Hits for' starters,



As m poEn~edo r t l t in , A . F , i i f l 3 l 1 Note . f O l l d ! "s ;

6 t1 l. ge~ : s, la y ' a p re dom ini lin t role in htstoae,prod:~lCti.OIl. ' 'l1lll1s dlo'esni't: [W,ean , t luC_ :h e goes:

around plnylng pawn shop rejects through a!

kmd ' s ili fi O hough he cOlu~d l , r o b a b 1 ly I D ' i J ! k :c '

that, rig sound good). As a teen p lay ing with

blues giant J~nill1~~1VUh,enlpoon. :Robben

helpc d origlnare what became that 5,mooth.

singhlg LA. gui~~rt,one by pW a ym ,g a 'Gibson

Super _400 big !bodied., a~c1!nopthrm;.g:h, a

Pender Uas:sma!Jl.He: smiled the insteurnent

r 'U im ~el f p~,ddingt~)d l d e a t feedback, mrned

down for dean, up fo r cU st,() tted an d b urn ed

down the blues. (Cbeck o:utJimmy Withe,f:-

spoon. and Robben F'ord live Of" Robben

'()I\d - Disco'Ymng tbeiBlues)..U tter h e S'lN"ii tchedto, mail lJ I ly G i b c SO I f i J ! , 335 ' · 5 i

for his work M'th t h e YeUow , ja ,c k ,c ts ,. .Mo re

: reccnu. y he 11M, been p~a i .y ing th e :R ob ben Foromodel from Fender' wi,htwo splittable Hum-b u c k ; e , [ " S 00:(1, h o l!fo w S :O ilm d d ~ lJ i m b e r .s ! l an ,o ld

m ap le neck Sum and a rcsewood .neck:Tcl,e.He

runs 'these dwough a ,:vall-wab aad a volume

pedaltntn uTC2'290 for Ch,OJ1 lS anda Lexteon

PGM~70 for reverb, uuo a Howard Dumhle

~ll.])t. ClJleck Qnt Hruldful of : O , m e s , wrm:1io,re

modern Robben tone.

S C O iT IH IE IN DE R ! S , Q I N

Robben may have helped inven'~ jazzl

rockiibll.lles. bmfor rusi,o.!l Scott H,enderson

doe~ it as weU as, anybod y, Fu W ]y schooled in

the styles of Je'ftDeck, Stevie' Ra,)' Vaughn"

CliIarUe PaikiCi"':Jiud J O ~ l _ n Col~rane" he' :seam.·

]essly b l ends : tllC lU .W fU Oa style 'tilat is at once,

sopbisdca.ted and 'v i scem_.

With hts fusion uair Trtbal Tech, be

e p \ ' O · r e d i l IQ, I b r u ' l l e ' z solid bodly;un.1til l l S\Viroldng

more recendy to a Fender' Cust:om Shop Stl".l!i"

wUb, dl,e same sec up of twO Seymour

OUQCIUl '59 Humbuck.ers" a ' s ing le coril ~n ' tbe

middle, and a , non-locking W ilkin so n, t re m ,

C l F Y 'I r i lb a J .m cl'ecb."s Re,atity Check fo r it ~asre:)r

while for hJs solo blues projects (Dog Party

and Tore Down B,ouse) he wields a more

s to ck S ta lt with custom wound p ickup s from

John Sullt at Pender;

H O W O lD 1 'N !Y G E T T H A T S O UN D '? '· n

Either guitar utlhzes effec~s like a Ro~atnd

Se-70 . Bbck IC3it~Vtibe( lik e a U I 'I 1V i: be ). L ex ic on

Janll.'1ian(fur ecfl.o/lbopin,g)" a Roget Mayer

VoodoO' One (dj:s~ort~on). :liilf'uUlooue Oc:ra~

f \w zz; a n I ba nez: 1 '£ .8 08 T ub e Screamer; a T .C

Chorusand

nnAdonchams,.The

pedals3JlIe

in3 1 , .mck box and c '( .) lltro l!l!e d by a nmd!shmv

swi tc'hing systern befor-e' b ei.l~g. sent to a

Cust:om . A ~ l ! l d > i o El,ec~rnn:i .c,s Wl) -wa~lt ullbe

head and intoa ,4x12 MarshaU cabinet.

Hend e r so n :isgr,eat lexample , o t how ,effects

can and should be t ransparene . YO!!I, nevert~i "Oh " w i 1 : : a J l t a , '0001 effect", yOU.jUit f runk;~WOW ,wmU great MIllS i 'd l ".

P A r M E 1 H E N E Y '

I :l ll o1 ldm daysbe Io r: e Me~~lI.elile}l;jazz glL1i~r,nrists for the most !';iI:rt eschewed effects.

Arch t cOp mto am p was 'tb e cred o. U s~ ng two

digHal delays and three' A C ' O l 1 J s t J c ' amp ' s ;M!etb~ney l ) io ,neered a sound th;at added

MIllbhllnl.cetol t h e ' al't~sUca:l1'seiiL'l~f f f i 3 ! z z .

He phJgged his mbson ES~17~Inm 9

digiml del iay . .F ro m , [h e d !e1 l-a ~''sdry ou tpu t he

ran il 'lto one ampUf i e r , while fro'm the ddayoutput: he ranthe :sigmal m . o o :lJiflmner d m g m ~ ; a l

de l ay . From the second delay 'S ,dry ou tp u t he

ran in~othe second ampaad from ~hedelayoo tpu t he ran me sjgn ll!~,into the tll}:ifd 'll! 't.l!p.

Thus he spread h~ s8u~ t a :r a c ro s s M)~ , c'3 imp l i· ,

filers fu:r a:!1 eneemeus ,sound" Add a J iu~emodu~a:tioll lor "chime ~ and you have the

Meth :eney~o . n . e . Qm~iouslyunnfratd ,0{ la_rge

equipment, .Metbe:lley would run his guitars ,} /D t h p .id r np in lOO · j) .5 y n d al'\f ie r fo r his har-

mo.l!tiCft alnd t:rl llmlu!!; sounds. (Not just S'tl! ld~.o

'tri.c~s- he hauled dlis stuff around with l um .'Check out the Uve rec()ifd~ Off Ramp,).These

days he uses, morecompact equtpmenr- but

p . r o l b l 3 : b l ) ' e v en . .mo re ·()f it;,~ Thus he paved the way for modern jazz

gu :i :t ar i5 f :S li ke J 10b n Abe rc romb~e . nUl Frisc.U

and MU te Stern to ft:eely a dd i1 Jn iJ biem effec'ts

l ik e d . ela .) ' 3 : J . 1 i d 1 rev ,erb to th elr il1 on :d l1 oo 1belts.



1 4 • G E f f I I N G G R E A T G U H A R S O U N D S

B I L L FRllSEll He starts with ~ N .Klein gUJtil!f .nl.Oo a 'Ie.

cQ~pres:rof~ various fililzztoncs., envelope

filters and flangers. This. sigmlil ls sent to n

ltiver:4 amp, then into anenormous rack con-

~wn:ii1g a n l il i: x ,e : r , a,~nodUied Lexicen dd~l}ft h r a l l :

;mUows 11lhno 'c~'~e loops diJt~]I :can be sped

up or slowed down, and various other

looping devices hke the Jamr"bm and theOb~:l"he:irmEch:oplex ..A sreree re,ed, is eheu

senetotwo other Rii,~e!.1lS.

David ,:rorn has Instructional videos,

,1~nt1'l'U1:l8 l"~'rh(;'In"tt:lJ~ aw:Mi;llble (FOllin] HOll11e-

spun Video (\Voodsl!:od N'Y~)tthat are a mmU

for any guitHfist Interested iu ehe tonal PQ5s:l-

b ilWUe s o f g u it ar .

" . r m l l 1 : :( J u g J l i l t h e y e a : r s :8~11 " :m : ~ s e U 's ·hn H : J I ) 1 -

meets~imi Hel1:drix style has been associated

wich ~IvM'ielrY orgnirnus mId effeCb, Gib~("n

SG; 5~d()wsk)'1 Sf:filIlt:.or :K~e:illlg~lit;llrsrun

tl'lroug;h a compressor (I.e. om-MXR Dyna·

comp), a Pro Go Rat,. a. volume pedal (ErnieB~Uor nOD). = 1 Bo&:; D jS i~ lW . Oe ru3 lYP e d a r n . , ~ben

an EkcU'o"HatmoIll:ll.::Ui,Second D~sit.atOela:y,

Lexicon JrunM;u l , or Digi'tech 2 : or 8 second

dd ; l.Y fQr~ .oC ip ln .. g .and finally Alesls or' lexicon

reverb into m "O ~Iesa liloqgie' Music l\!lan,

Fender 01'MarshaU anlI'S.~nU~ particular unlts

vary but ehe Chili" re:tmdn~1 ~.he S ~ I ' 1 1 1 1 , e .

ReccnUy hI;!drcppedtae compressor and

VOb:tllilcpedal "They were c~tnoeU:ngeach

Qther out", he sajd "The compeesser wesreIl10ving e he ( ;ly n am ic s ~~lldthe volume pedal

PU€tll~[ll! back," Wllat WilSatmaz i ll iG . was 11mV'm i l/ d . , e h is ~ O r u . t J 1 U J l d l J 3 ! 1 1 1 g e d " Surpr . i :se, s u r p D i ' i : > e " it

wOUJ~d seem th:nt :he f IO! fl :t i: !1 .gUquid qUiillity ,o'f

his pJaylngwas a n in fi.llgers. Fore'arliier

Fr~!iie!llat JiIis n.oest chec.k m~~Sillfl'i$JeU,;

K1eJ'mit Orl.isc:ol.~Joey Bm'0D~ Live and for

saJllscompressQ,r auld volume peda! cr y

Kenny Wheeler - Angel Soug.

En ~fbi'il.'5;WO.fitwitll Mick Karill l~iIld .D~,vid

SJ'J\ l :31inOil' .ws , o'w.n pl'ojects J likeW h aI M i~ans

So,lidt TraveUerP the guitar becomes ~U.

times, merety a sound source to . be precessed:

I .C",di~wlned fJangetl i . ,hulI "OlonilZed d e W : l l y e d J

sped up Slowed down, looped and reverbed,

\lVhy not J ~ I : s t usc' a 5yn~hesiz.er, tllen? There' i~

3 !. dIstinctly m:gunic aspect to sonnds gener-

aired in thils mam ' lle r t h r. u ;;areilmpossiib1c fa

(hA[) tb:: :ate (th:l.l1k God) Y : v i H l k 'e '} ibo1 lJ r d ls o r

computers, In a,ddition,l'om has prodigious

clrops that are used onti')' '[0' make music".



AP'PENIDIIIX H

MyFavorite Effects

I~s awlde world of equipment out ~herean.dI understand as well as anyone how anxleryprovoking that can be. Trust me, ulrimately

you will find the effects - Olt lack thereof -th ..L C

work fo r you. These five effects (and a,volumepedal) have worked for me in many different

musical slmanons for manyye~,.T!hey are rel-atively cheap and e 1 1 S Y to find.

Though these are mypersona l choicest Ihave [,eaivedmru;:ty ' l .X )mpHments from other

guitarists about my sound (my pla,yitl,g is,

,ul.other rnatterj.They often ~ook at my pedal

beard expecting to see something exottcand

are surprised that such. a variety of soundscomes out of such basic effects.

lest you think that; you wUI end up

sound~nglike 111 .11eOK"you could do worse). Ionce saw three well known guitarists - BiD

Frisell, John Scotleld~a:nd \'Wayne Krantz: ,_

within a $]X month period and all were Wiing

these pedals or si!n:illarones. Anyone fumiliar

with these players knows that they sound not

a l i I : a11alike••md rest assured I don't sound lil:e31'lY of them.

The pedrds are (in order from the guitar):

gives the, effect of a pedal steel player

working his volumepedal and also adds popto the twang . Not ju.s~for country, (seeAdrinnneJe .w) 1~a[80 a~ds ffinplaying at low volume

by slmulating Ute sustain of an amp at high

volume, There are other more subtle (and

expensive) compressors, but this tends ~odo

the job. I leave it on a l r u .the t u n e with the gatn

at sUgluly more than when it Is off. This

makes it act like : ;] I , line dnver, that is; it keeps

me from Iosll1lg high end as m run throng]} all

the other effects.

PROCO.Rclt

Basically if ~t'sgoodenough for Jeff Heck;

it's good enough for 111e. It will do everything

from blues to grunge and it's built Hkc a . rank.

MXRDJf1'1(U;otllP

Ionce r-ead an artkk on Nashville studiogn~tadsts where each one, after listing his

extensive and expensive collection of rackequipmeU'c and amps, sa:ld,.~A:nd;y the wa:y,.I

also use a Dynacomp" OdginaUy made by

.MXR, now re~s:sU!ed by D un lop , the link red

pedal is as Integral to the modern country

sound as the Tete. By surpresstng 'the attack it

Brm'e ]Jail VQI-u,u2Pe'dal

Though not truly an effect it ts integral to

my sound. I . : tO i l very sensitive to my level

widtin the unof instrumenrs.A vulume pedal].

allows me to makeconstant adjusltmelus as I

nmplaytng,. It is also good for sweWngcho:rds.

I place ~Itafter the compressor to replace the

dynamics the' compressor removes and 1)0 act

as a noise gate .It is placed after the distortion

so I can pb~' fimUydistorted chords or lmes atany volum e 1 W ikewithom changing t he q ua lity

of the distortlon, and it acts as a noise gale for

that effect as well. The Ernie Ball pedal seems

tocolor the sound the ~easto r any chat Irrted,but It Is big and heavy.You can experlmentw~thoraers,

75



7e- G IE mN G G RE Al GU l l i A ! R SOUNDS

Boss DfJ'-2.n.igtlal Dem),

Tbis deJay, though digitalj is cheap enough

~hav;tbe high frequency decay on the delays

is subssantial, As I meneioned in the "DcL' lY"

section, this makes r o r a more natural round.n us and [be CE-5;likeallBoss products, arc

vir tuaUy indestructible - good for everytbing

from rockabUly slaps to ambient washes.

(fbe DD-3 tspretty much the same thing).

Hint: Use AC adapters wUh choms and

deWa!yas an y d.clay based device will us e up

batteries every one to ehree gigs or re-

hears-also In compressors an d distoetious, bat-

series can ] '1St ~hrough months oil'g~gging and

rehearsing.

Aled~ Microoerb

In one of (hose bizarre marketing deci-

sions that I wi.Unever l1nderstmcl~A[esis took

the 1/3 rack space M:icrovexb!.beloved by gul-

tansts because It fit ill a g ig bag. and turned it

into a full 19'''' rack unit. Portunately they

evenrually reallzedtneu' mistake and brought

out the NallOvetb to replace ehe smaller un~! t .Either one gives instant stereo if you run twoamps and warm (for digital), portable reverb

in either mono or stereo. ..

With the volume pedal and these five

effects· m !haryeperformed for ceuntry, j a l Z Z ,

rock, folk, theater, jingles and almost anv

other mlls~.c<ll situation. you can i tn :agine: , '1

have tried other units and Iiked them for spe-

ciflc siruations, but ehese are always Illy

starting point. Ifyou Hke,you may use them

as a .start~liIgpoint in learntng to use .e , f fecls . .

They are all easy to uaderstand and readily

obtainable ..T.hen as you become more sophis-

H c a . t : e d .~mlY O l l J ;r 'needs a n d w a n e s , you . c a n S];~p·

plement Of replace them with effects that

appeal ~.Oyou ...Have fun!

Tl"is .',u,·nb'ucMr JUs into a s'tan4.u'tl ;s!'ttIglt!'con siot,so yoel cml pUllt in your '57 St'l'lll' wftJ:JOut reducingit's vintage valw!;

Boss CE~5Chorus Ensemble:

I. like ~h~sanalog chorus because in addi-

tion to sound~Dggood, it has.a blend control

so .I can. set whatever chorus width and

depth I Uke,and then blend inas much or aslitrle of the effect as I want. Itajso has Hi and

Low roUoff e q_ so t h: ll t you. can make it crlsper

or wanner as you. prefer,



A B O U T T H E A U T H O R · 7 7

About the Autho,r

MicbQ!e~Ross is a guitarist, producer and write!!'; He bas played on and produced

CD's,Demos and Jingles!, Radio;md ''li''l He has also written fbr Gu. t ta: t P t ,~ye;;Guttar

S h,o p. G u it mj' ,A c o us ti c Guttar;St-ereopb.ile, Gig,J~ ReC()rding~.Q'Mld others,

He c ur re n tly resides ]u San Francisco where he condnues ~he search for the per-feet gnlear tone,

Getting Great Guitar Sounds Book of Guitar Effects!

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Transcript of Getting Great Guitar Sounds Book of Guitar Effects!