Compressor or not..?

[ernie1958]

Hey guys..after a long search on the inet and getting frustrated on not finding anything which could point me in the right direction
of achieving a sound that I most distinctly hear on most of Hank's modern tunes I finally would like to ask the members here on their
thoughts of what is being used besides an echo-machine,eq and whatsoever...
My thought is I actually could swear that some kind of compressor unit is used to get that thick "spacey" kind of sound that you can hear
on modern tunes such as the Shadows version of "Moonlight Shadow" by Mike Oldfield for example.
I myself use a modified all-tube Custom Copicat,Boss EQ,Vox amp and still I feel something's missing to get the complete package deal.
Again I think it's some sort of compressor unit!
Anyhow...maybe the members know about something I don't so fill me in if you can here..
All tips and pointers would be highly appreciated!!

Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Ernie

[roger bayliss]

Will try to help as noone else has

I do not think HBM uses a compressor in his sound. The only time I use compression is on some of the old top boost numbers and I think it's been said before that compression was not used in the early days except maybe in the studio later. I somehow suspect HBM does not use one and he does not use reverb either for that matter its all down to a good guitar echo and valve amp and eq if anything and playing technique. A good valve amp has natural compression and I remeber when I used my Tonelab I used to use a bit because the modellers do not quite behave like the valve amps .. now I have an AC30 Heritage there is no need except on the top boost stuff.
Fat strings are a part of it pure nickel wound 12's

HTH

[Martyn]

Will try to help as noone else has
Fat strings are a part of it pure nickel wound 12's
HTH

Did you need to modify the nut to accomodate the thicker gauge 12s? And do you recommend a particular brand of strings if going for the heavier gauges types?
Thanks,
Martyn

[Tab]

The brand of strings is purely a personal preference. I use DR JZ-12s (guages 12, 15, wound 24, 32, 42, 52) but Rotosound purples (same guages) have substituted well on occasions when I couldn't get DRs.

There should be no need to make changes to the nut on most Strats - I didn't on mine but I did put 5 springs on the trem unit which gives the guitar a very stable feel and never goes out of tune unless there are big temperature changes during transit.

If you are moving up more than one guage step (e.g. 10s to 12s) it would be worth getting the guitar set up by an expert if you are not happy to do the job yourself.

In my opinion, the heavier guage strings are a must for that vintage tone but I have heard several players who use lighter strings and still produce an excellent sound.

Another addition to the system worth considering is an ARIAB Box or a Gemini III unit to provide bass cut and balance across the strings.

Experimentation is good until you settle on what you are completely happy with and listen and speak to as many players (at the clubs if you can) as there are probably as many opinons on strings as there are players.

Kind regards

[dave robinson]

Strings are subjective and I recently switched back to Ernie Ball 10/46 having used Gibson 11/50 for several years. I found that the sound hasn't suffered at all. Also I have found that the best way to achieve the right sound is to use either a Vox AC15 Heritage / AC30/4 or AC30TBX fitted with Roger's VINTAGE UNIT and with these amps I have happily been able to lose the gadgets such as the Cutting Edge and Ariab. I find that I don't need to use compression in a live situation as the Vox TB channel gives all the compression needed for tunes such as 'Atlantis' and similar. No compression is neccessary through the EF86 channel for early stuff and at the end of the day it appears that the best way to get the sound is to use 'what it is' after all it's been staring us in the face for long enough - simples!

[roger bayliss]

Will try to help as noone else has
Fat strings are a part of it pure nickel wound 12's
HTH

Did you need to modify the nut to accomodate the thicker gauge 12s? And do you recommend a particular brand of strings if going for the heavier gauges types?
Thanks,
Martyn

I too have been using DR pure nickel blues 12's and also like the rotosound purples which are nickel plated not pure nickel wraps like DR) just put some on today actually and they come with a free top E string and are very well priced. Others like the D'addrio nickels and I recently found a string by a firm called John Pearse which I intend to try in the coming weeks. Most pure nickel wound roundwound will do and some use the Gibson L5 jazz strings. ou takes your pick and find what suits you !

I did not need to adjust the nut on either of my Strats when I upped to 11's and then last year decided it had to be 12's but may need to consider checking forward relief on the neck as fatter strings put a bit more pull on the neck and if you check on the internet there is plenty of advice on how to change the relief and how to check the amount which basically means pressing the strings at first and 17th frets and checking the gap between bottom of string and fret about halfway between the points you are holding the strings down (use capo one end 1st fret). Should be about 10thou or so. I just gave mine a 1/4 turn and that sufficed.

I still have three springs on mine just pulled the claw in more.. more strings make the tremelo stiffer I found when I tried 4 in the back.

HTH

[eugene]

As my professional recording engineer career, on "Atlantis"
The recording engineer maybe used Fairchild compressor660 or670.
http://mixonline.com/TECnology-Hall-of- ... ompressor/

I wood used Fairchild compressors660 for API.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ANAMOD-AUDIO-AM66 ... 5ad68abdb3

eugene

[demowest]

... a sound that I most distinctly hear on most of Hank's modern tunes...

Hi Ernie,

Although I don't know what equipment Hank's using, assuming you're playing a guitar with single coil pickups I recommend the Pickup Booster SFX01 by Seymour Duncan to get that kind of sound you can hear on The Shadows Final Tour. Here's a sample I recorded using the SFX01: http://www.4shared.com/audio/Aw4VzEBH/Dont_Cry_For_Me_Argentina.html.

Regards,

Joachim