Wonderful Land, what was used for the recording

[bor64]

https://app.box.com/s/7k75ve8x222i6c3ic4x5nipchgmuc04t Wonderful Land WAV


A while ago I posted this sound file in the topic Pickups in the How to get That Sound thread.
Although I didn't tell it was me who's playing, lost of compliments about sound and playing,
Nobody had really a clue what was used for this recording, just one mentioned a strat and a AC30.
A few ask me what was used, and I told nope....please tell me what you think.
Then some ask me by pm.... why I didn't tell what was used.
So I wrote on the site, some people hear with their eyes....because I've seen many reactions in years past-by, when it's mention what is used....Yep that's what I thought or a variation of that, was peeps reaction.

This recording was done with a MIJ HM strat with my own version of the 59 pu's of some famous first strat in GB.
That strat has 3 pu's with a lower G pole magnet, so to get the same string volume balance when picking the G string....
They are made by a friend of mine, he has a webstore called ToneSpinner on Reverb dot com.
The Pickups you hear are the last prototypes of the Rob's 59 Specials Pickups,(That's the name given by ToneSpinner)so to have my own "Signature pu's" makes me very proud and humble at the same time!!
I'm not benefiting in anyway of the sale of these Pu's, just a free prototype set I'm allowed keep...
A HCSE, a AC15H1TV a cheap Devine BM600 condenser studio microphone and a Boss BR1600CD.
This recording was done in just one go and one take, only the balance between BT and solo was adjusted a smidgen....
So this is kinda my live sound, only one minor... the band wants to be paid in real money

Cheers Rob

[Gary Allen]

Hi Rob, have you ever tried one of the oasis strats with the low G pole magnet ? I'm just wondering how they would compare with the tonespinner pickups you're using. regards Gary

[bor64]

Hi Gary,

The ToneSpinner '59 specials came to live after quiet some resurge and the pu's of the oasis strat, are also in the mix of all '59 pu's that were turned inside out.
I've a few vintage single coils and quiet some more re-creations of these and tested a lot of types of single coils vintage and new, but I encounter never before such pinpoint recreation of vintage pu's!
They lifted my MIJ HM strat from a mediocre guitar to a beast, I had to alter my playing a little so responsive they are in detail....

All folks who bought a set, are very impressed and nicely surprised with the sound and balance in compare with the hits and happy as Larry.
Some had to get used about the response regrading the lower G pole...but with their ears on the right place, they recognized the merits of the pu's.
The pu builder told me there's also a good Mayer and SRV sound in these pu's, with the right equipment.


Cheers Rob

[martinmj]

Hi.
I have been following the various discussions on this forum for a number of years, and have not-until now-decided to dabble my toes in the posting water.
This discussion regarding pickups I find very interesting, having got back into electric guitars a few years back, and in particular with trying to get 'THAT' sound of Hank which is so elusive when you don't have 1% of his ability! However, having been a fan since the early days in the late 1950's( The Shadows was my first ever LP purchase when it first came out!), and having seen them live back in the 1960's, I did try to get a similar sound out of my first electric, a lovely-looking Framus Hollywood with sliding pickup. Unfortunately my budget did not stretch to an amp, and although I played via the home-made stereo system, I did not realise what part effects had on that elusive sound, It didn't help that the guitar was strung with what I now realise were flat/tape wound strings-not the best for a decent sound, albeit gentle on the fingertips. Sadly I sold the guitar back in the '60's, and I certainly could not justify buying one now at the inflated prices they sell for.

But back to the here and now, I currently have about 16 electrics, including MIM Strats, Squier Classic Vibe Strat, and a number of Strat-o-likes. All have been upgraded where needed in the under pickguard department, often with blend pots added, and of course decent pickups added where needed.
Which brings me, at last, to my point. The pickups play the major part in getting the sound I am aiming for, and a decent set can make a well set-up Strat-o-like sound and play every bit as well as my Fender Player Stratocasters. I have dabbled , like many other, with numerous single-coil pickups in the past few years, and I have finally settled on two which I find suitable for approaching what I am looking for. They are Ironstone Hybrids, or Fender 57/62s ( which my Players came with as standard). The former cost 1/3 the price of the latter!

I have a couple of Zoom G3xn pedals with EFTP patches which are great, but I finally succumbed recently to buying a gently-used Hall & Collins unit, which is superb. But since I only play for myself, I use decent headphones, so of course, an amp sim pedal is a must. The G3x's are reasonable for Vox AC30 sims, but I currently prefer the one that is on the Line 6 Pod XT which seems even closer. The Pod also has the advantage that it has controls very similar to a real amp, with drive, bass, middle, treble, presence and reverb.
The odd thing is I nearly always play using the neck pickups rather than the bridge I think Hank usually favoured, although probably varied according to the tune.

I would be interested to hear anyone else's take on suitable pickups, which position they use-and of course if it is actually necessary to finally fit a set of Kinmans!

Sorry for this long first post- just filling in the background which I won't need to do again-promise...

Mike

[Stu's Dad]

I'm no pickup expert Mike, and I find the pickups on the Classic Vibe great for vintage tones. I found out from Rob (the originator of this thread) that they're actually Tonerider Surfaris.

But if you're talking of amp sims you won't do much better than the Joyo ACtone. It's a clone of the Tech 21 Liverpool pedal, and by rotating the Voice control from 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock you go from the sound of the early EF86 models, through Normal, Top Boost, Brilliant all the way to Brian May.

Regards,

Len

[abstamaria]

Great sound, Rob. Very enjoyable listening.

QUESTION:By the time they recorded Wonderful Land (May 1961?), the Shadows had already shifted to the rosewood Stratocasters, which I suppose had the standard 1960 or 61pickups. would Hank have used his rosewood Strat to record that piece? Or did he take out 35346 for the purpose?

Best,

Andy

PS: after I posted that, I did a little research here. The remarks seem to be Hank used 34346. This is the consensus?

[Didier]

QUESTION:By the time they recorded Wonderful Land (May 1961?), the Shadows had already shifted to the rosewood Stratocasters, which I suppose had the standard 1960 or 61pickups. would Hank have used his rosewood Strat to record that piece? Or did he take out 35346 for the purpose?

Hank and Bruce got their rosewpod Strat around march 1961, and Hank often said he then gave back the maple Strat (35346) to Cliff, as he was the owner.
Wonderful land was recorded in june 1961, so it's unlikely that Hank still had the 35346...

Didier

[JimN]

Let me just add to the point made by Didier and Andy.

We know that The Shadows used the all-red rosewood-neck Fenders to perform live on the BBC TV childrens' programme "Crackerjack" in 1961. They performed FBI and The Frightened City, their first two single A-sides of 1961.

It isn't so easy to ascertain the date of that transmission, but this website - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackerjack!_(TV_series) - informs us that the two seasons of "Crackerjack" which partially fell during 1961 were:

(a) 29 September 1960 to 27 April 1961, and

(b) 19 October 1961 to 3 May 1962.

Clearly, if the episode were from that later season, it would have featured Brian Bennett on drums and the group would certainly have promoted Kon-Tiki. So the episode in question was transmitted no later than 27th April 1961, and since they already had the all-red JMI loaner guitars, it seems fairly certain that this set was used for the recording of Wonderful Land in June of that year.

[abstamaria]

Thank you, Didier, Jim. That should be the final word on the topic.

I’m glad I asked. I did a search after and found definitive statements (without supporting data) that is was 34346!

Best,

Andy

[Uncle Fiesta]

I believe I read somewhere that after the rosewood necked Strats arrived, Hank only used his on stage and television, and continued to use 34346 in the studio.

Can't remember where I saw that though, the old memory's not what it was.

Now ... what did I come upstairs for?