How to get the Ventures (!) sound.

[ecca]

Read my message again Dave and see if there might be anything even mildly amusing.

[JimN]

I'm with Robbo on this one... Bert never replied to my letter, and neither did Muriel Young!

Muriel won't be replying to it now.

JN

[eugene]

Hi ! abstamaria.

I found a great historical clip. Please check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGTWUnQJN84&NR=1

It was recorded in 1962.

Maybe, They went to Hong Kong after Japan tour.

Don said that "The badget was for two members only.
So,We had to go to Asia by Bob&myself."

Anyway,I think the sound is so good.

They two ventures used Jazzmaster.

Please,enjoy!

So sorry for my poor English.

Sincerly yours.

eugene

[abstamaria]

Dear friends,

Please let me show off this new guitar, which just arrived from Fender's Customshop. I ordered this last year and asked that the guitar be built as closely as possible to Bob Bogle's original Jazzmaster, in sunburst of course. After some discussion on the specification, including the appropriate neck profile, it was agreed that masterbuilder Dennis Galuzka would the guitar. Galuzka also built the "Hank Marvin" Strat I have been using for some years now, and, as with that guitar, I ordered this one through Frank Glionna of Music Gallery in the U.S. Highly recommended. Consistently with discussions on this thread, I had it fitted with thick flatwounds (Thomastic-Infields).

The guitar is gorgeous, if I may be allowed to say so.

Jazzmaster bottom rz.jpg

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Galuzka commented that the guitar should allow me to sound more like the old Ventures than the Ventures do now; I hpe so! Through the build of several months, they referred to the guitar as the "Walk-Don't-Run" Jazzmaster, in reference to its period specification and desired voicing. The difference between it and the original issue Jazzamasters should be that it is better made and finished and that it has a lovely neck unlike the standard items.

[/attachment]

Jazzmaster head rs.jpg

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I have never had a sunburst guitar, since I preferred the Shadows and therefore Fiesta-Red Stratocasters, but the first guitar I drooled over as a teenager was Bogle's sunburst Jazzmaster. Of course, there was no way I could buy it then. It is such a treat finally to have this Jazzmaster, 50 years later!

I hope you don't begrudge me for bragging a bit. I am so pleased with the guitar. Many thanks, and regards,

Andy

[abstamaria]

I neglected to post a photo of the neck. Here it is:

Jazzmaster neck rs.jpg

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Regards,

Andy

[abstamaria]

The Ventures were quite popular in Manila and came over for several concerts early on in their career. The first time only Bob Bogle and Don Wilson came; they used the bassist and drummer from RJ & the Riots, the no. 1 Ventures cover band here then. That was 1961 or early 1962. Bob and Don did several shows that first time, so stayed over a week here.

This weekend I was playing (very poorly) some Ventures pieces with Jimmy C, who played rhythm for the Riots. He of course got to know Bob and Don very well during their visits. They even played basketball to fill in the hours. Jimmy's advantage, in terms of memory, is that he stopped playing by 1971, so his memories of the early 60s were not overlaid by subsequent musical experience. His recollections of his discussions with Bob and Don are quite fresh.

He said Bob and Don used flatwounds initially and even gave him and the band several string sets, difficult to get here at the time. However, the Ventures then moved to round wounds. At some point, they strung their guitars 1 1 2 4 5 6, so they could bend more easily. This supports the suggestion that the early Ventures hits must have been recorded on heavy flatwounds.

By the way, when Jimmy plays rhythm, he really sounds like Don Wilson. No other player I know sounds like that. Very
percussive. He really digs into those strings. Don taught Jimmy personally in the 60s; since Jimmy stopped playing after a while, his style didn't evolve and remained truly period.

The Ventures visited several times. When they shifted to Mosrites, they left the guitars they used at the concerts with the Riots as gifts to the band.

I just wanted to share this bit of information with you. I hope you find it interesting.

Andy

[abstamaria]

Ventures

Having spent some time now trying to understand and emulate the Ventures "sound," I realize that perhaps there is no such thing. The sound of pieces, their tonal quality, the player's styles, even from the same period or for that matter the same album, vary widely and differ so much from each other. There is no such thing as an early sound, or late sound; the pieces are just ... different from each other.

With different lead guitarists using different guitars strung differently, some with vibrato bars, others without, played through assorted amps, and session musicians occasionally recording and passed off to unsuspecting fans as the Ventures, i suppose that result should be expected. The sound of the Ventures is in fact the sound of different bands.

I am not saying that the pieces weren't good; all I am saying is that to try to do an accurate Ventures cover would be to try to cover four or five different bands that just happen to all be named Ventures.  Perhaps that is why there is no Internet discussion anywhere on, and certainly no obsessive collective effort to capture, the Ventures sound. 

Luckily, I am consistently drawn to Bob Bogle's style. Although attribution is not available usually, the pieces I like tend to be his. That's the Ventures "sound" I will try to learn, what my Japanese friend calls the "Jazzmaster" sound.  

[cockroach]

Hi Andres,

I understand your comments!- and with so much recorded material it gets difficult to work out who plays on what tunes! Anyway, good luck to you as a big fan of the early material featuring the late great Bob Bogle, but I am a fan of the 'mid period' Nokie tunes! I still love the Walk Don't Run era stuff (Jazzmaster mainly? 1960-62?), but things like Rap City, Slaughter on 10th Ave, Caravan, Secret Agent Man and Diamond Head from the 63-65 period are my favourites. (I suppose these would be the sound of Nokie with the Mosrite?)

As I've said before, I still love the Shadows, the Ventures and nearly all the guitar instrumental players!

I read an interview with Nokie in a British guitar magazine (Guitar and Bass) a few months ago- and Nokie was asked about whether back in the '60's there was any rivalry or competition between the Shads and the Ventures- he answered something like...'No, they had their thing, and we had ours!'

Regards

John in Australia

[abstamaria]

Watched the Ventures show last night at the main hall of the Cultural Center with bassist Anna and drummer Hasegawa-san. We had very good seats, center, just five rows from the stage and the right height. The acoustics were very good in that venue, where the usual fare is a ballet with a full orchestra.

Don was engaging and fun to watch as usual. He's almost 80, but didn't show it. They had been playing for seven nights in Japan, with two shows per night! Nokie half sat on a bar stool all the while, playing bass passively in the beginning. He switched to lead after the first several pieces. What a joy to watch him, especially when he went country. Mossrites all around, Fender amps, Ampeg for bass, and DW drums. Bob Spalding used what seemed a very small guitar, which sounded damped and ukulele-like most of the time. The other guitars, including those of the opening band, sounded good and full range in contrast.

i was able to bring home one of the two set lists taped to the stage floor, with the pieces handwritten perhaps by Don in big letters on a very large sheet. It said "Pipeline 2 bridges" and "Call Ramon" (the show host), and other cues. Bob
sometimes skipped a piece when announcing what they would play next, and Nohie would point to the large
sheet on the floor, calling Bob's attention to the error.

Andy
"Sent via BlackBerry from Smart"

[JimN]

Sounds great, Andy.

I'll have a chance to see and hear Nokie on Friday evening here in Anaheim, California (just arrived and ready to collapse after the journey).

Like other posters here,I have had one previous chance to see Nokie live, at Lakeside (Surrey) some years ago,with Dutch group Adventure. This time, he'll have backing from Venturesmania.

I'll post more of the event after it happens.

JN