I WANT YOU ALL TO LISTEN AND COMMENT ON THIS RE: THAT SOUND

[MeBHank]

This is an excellent sound. The most important thing is that Ger is one of the few players I've ever seen or heard who play the music in the right way: he uses his pick correctly, which is certainly the most important thing. I would say that the sound is a little compressed, but nevertheless, no matter what gear is used, he is certainly making the best of it (especially as no EF86 valves or analogue echoes are used!). I must say that this is the closest sound I have ever heard made using modern gear, apart from perhaps the videos of Gege Tabis.

I'd love to hear Ger playing through a Meazzi and a third circuit Vox amp!

J

PS: Didier, do come to Tilburg, it'd be great to meet you!

[Dance with Shadows]

Hi Justin

You wrote 'he uses his pick correctly". I'm genuinely curious. Pat Metheny, for example, admits that he holds the pick incorrectly. But to listeners it does not appear to affect his ability to play. Accordingly, would you care to explain what it means to use one correctly? What are some examples of an incorrect use of a pick?

regards

Michael

[fenderplucker]

Hi,

A very nice "1961" (the band, not the year!) sound, though not quite Hank's early sound. Judging by the quality of recording and from the rather abrupt fade in of the audience sounds at the end I would guess that it was a "studio" recording being mimed. Lennie and Ronnie would be pleased!

Paul.

[MeBHank]

Hi Justin

You wrote 'he uses his pick correctly". I'm genuinely curious. Pat Metheny, for example, admits that he holds the pick incorrectly. But to listeners it does not appear to affect his ability to play. Accordingly, would you care to explain what it means to use one correctly? What are some examples of an incorrect use of a pick?

regards

Michael

Hi Michael...

There is no incorrect way to use a pick in general. The reason I said what I did was because if you are trying to replicate Hank's early playing (specifically the heavier attack he used back then) you have to hit the strings with the pick in a certain way, killing off most of the vibration of the string with your thumb as soon as you've picked. Take this style to an extreme level and with heavy distortion you'll get a "pinch harmonic", as David Martin has explained in the past. This is the style Hank used to get the aggressive and punchy sounds of various tunes in the early years.

HTH...

J

[Dance with Shadows]

Thanks Justin,

I do remember the point being made by David Martin but I do not understand how to do it.

I know how to do a pinch harmonic but that leaves the string free to vibrate. Your point is that one needs to almost cut off all the vibration. Wouldn't this amount to shortening the note?

From memory, David pointed to a YouTube performance of a guy playing a guitar through an amp with high gain. Can anyone point to a video of the technique you have in mind with a low-gain amp. There is no point in looking at the video that is at the beginning of this thread. I don't think the sound and the playing are in sync and above all, I can't see what the lead guitarist is doing with his thumb.

By the way I think the band sounds really good.

regards

Michael

[AlanMcKillop]

This is a very good sound irrespective of gear used. I'm not sure that this is straight from a video camera though, it's just to 'clean'. I did a youtube search for more of the bands videos and none come close to the sound captured here. Another thing that caught my eye, was the sync. which in the video is almost perfect, but in real life, when you upload to youtube, it's always a bit out of sync.

Most bands would love this sound 'live' and it's up there at 8/9 imho.

[dagon1]

It's not really fair to give a score based on sound quality from a camcorder recording. However, based on the reference point of timbre from the rythm guitar and drums, I will give the “lead sound” 7.5 to 8 on the scale of 10.
Live tones are always subjective anyway.

[Didier]

I would say that the sound is a little compressed, but nevertheless, no matter what gear is used, he is certainly making the best of it (especially as no EF86 valves or analogue echoes are used!). I must say that this is the closest sound I have ever heard made using modern gear, apart from perhaps the videos of Gege Tabis.

I wasn't suprised to read that Ger used a Boss GE-10. You can't get the right tone without some EQ, which the Magicstomp can't provide at the same time as the echoes...

My friend Gege Tabis is not using any vintage equipment, no EF86 (he had tested it with no results), no analog echo unit either...

PS: Didier, do come to Tilburg, it'd be great to meet you!

I came last year, and hope to make it again this year, but I have to cope with some family constraints.

Didier

[roger bayliss]

Thanks Justin,

I do remember the point being made by David Martin but I do not understand how to do it.

I know how to do a pinch harmonic but that leaves the string free to vibrate. Your point is that one needs to almost cut off all the vibration. Wouldn't this amount to shortening the note?

From memory, David pointed to a YouTube performance of a guy playing a guitar through an amp with high gain. Can anyone point to a video of the technique you have in mind with a low-gain amp. There is no point in looking at the video that is at the beginning of this thread. I don't think the sound and the playing are in sync and above all, I can't see what the lead guitarist is doing with his thumb.

By the way I think the band sounds really good.

regards

Michael

Not easy to explain someone should do a video but as far as my version of doing this sort of thing goes I will try to explain in words hopefully making sense at the same time.

Grip plectrum between thumb and first finger as usual but shorten the amount of plectrum that comes out the botton between thumb and finger to about around 2mm but experiment and then strike the strings such that the side of your thumb lightly hits the string as you push through. It will take a little practise and you will find in time you can control the sting damping effect in a variety of places on the thumb from the first joint on the thumb to the parts around the nail edge. This technique actually changes the tone of you sound and seems to bring out different overtones and harmonics in the core sound as it were.

Its worth pointing out that the way you use the plectrum and the varying lengths is one of the ways you can change the tone of things to get the desired results for a tune.
HTH

[dave robinson]

I can't believe that this is having to be explained, it's something that we have done for ever.