Atlantis - Pickup switching

[nivramarvin]

Playing "Atlantis" live I have a little problem when changing from the last muted part into the ending. The muted parts seem to be played with the neck pickup while the other parts are played with the bridge pickup.

In the original, Hank probably used overdubbing at 2:24, because at that moment you can hear both tones at the same time. Playing live I can't switch so quickly, so I have to play the last muted part (unfortunately) with the Bridge Pickup.

[abstamaria]

Haha, we on the forum had a discussion on that some time ago. Some claim it’s possible to switch to the bridge pickup very quickly. I’ve never been able to do it. I tend to play the muted outro section on the middle pickup, play the first 3 notes of the following bridge section there too, then flick the lever to bridge. Not very satisfactory. Maybe on stage, one needs a third guitarist playing just the muted sections.

On stereo, The main melody is in the center channel, the muted portions on the left channel. I’m glad you think it’s over them as well.

Best,

Andy

[nivramarvin]

I tend to play the muted outro section on the middle pickup, play the first 3 notes of the following bridge section there too, then flick the lever to bridge.

Thank you Andy. I think that's the best compromise.

[roger bayliss]

I can do the switching myself , but requires a bit of speed and thought. Those 5 way switches are pretty quick with a deliberate swipe you get from neck to bridge in a fraction of a second

[RogerCook]

I switch from neck to bridge after the first note (G) of the outro. Sometimes the timing is slightly off but I can live with that!

[bazmusicman]

I switch from neck to bridge after the first note (G) of the outro. Sometimes the timing is slightly off but I can live with that!

That's how I do it Roger. Whilst that first note of the outro is ringing I quickly flick to the bridge pickup. I find that is the easiest way to do it.

Regards,
Baz.

[abstamaria]

I will try that, Roger (Cook), Baz.

I have never been able to do that, Roger (Bayliss), and not for want of trying. For me, now, if our band were to play Atlantis on stage, exactly as recorded (“placado” as we say here), I would need either a fourth guitarist playing the muted sections or have a stagehand (preferably a pretty one) flick the switch to bridge at exactly the right moment.

By the way, the term “placado,” used by musicians (especially Shadows enthusiasts) here to mean playing exactly as the original recording, comes from the Spanish word “placa,” which I believe refers also to plate (as in dinner plate) or disc. Although the Spanish term for a vinyl record is “disco,” somehow the term here has been “placa.” Perhaps that was the original, now archaic term when phonograph record discs first appeared at the beginning of the last century. We were under the Spanish for 400 years (with an intervening two-year occupation by the British inn the 18th century), but the use of Spanish died quickly when the US took over; accordingly, Spanish as a language here did not evolve and, I am told by Spanish friends, retains many archaic and now obsolete words and phrases.

Andy

[abstamaria]

Here’s a video many of you have seen already, of when we played (not very well, I’m afraid) Atlantis on stage over a decade ago. I think I played the outro solely on the middle pickup. I could have asked one of the chorus girls to run over and flick the pickup selector switch. That would’ve been cute.

https://youtu.be/C5UnP8mG1sY

Andy

[RogerCook]

Great stuff Andy!

[dave robinson]

Aways left the switch where it is because it's obvious there's an overdub on the record, why risk messing it up, Hank doesnt.