Author |
Topic: the sound is in the right hand |
Donny Hinson
From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 26 Nov 2015 5:23 pm
|
|
Tone is subjective. It is not really definable in terms of "good" or "bad". There is tone you like (or I like), and there is tone that you do NOT like (or that I do not like). I loved everything Buddy Charleton ever did...until he switched to an Emmons...and later, a GFI. When he stopped playing 'Buds, the Buddy C. I knew, and whose sound I loved, was gone. But, others thought he never sounded better?! I felt the same about Tom Brumley...when he started playing an Anapeg, the Brumley sounds I really liked were gone. |
|
|
|
T. C. Furlong
From: Lake County, Illinois, USA
|
Posted 27 Nov 2015 11:57 am
|
|
Donny, years ago, I talked to Tom Brumley about his tone on recordings. He said that when he recorded, his tone was full and rich - the way he liked it. He also said that the mixing engineers kind of ruined his tone by using EQ that would make his steel tone bright and biting, so it would sound up front and loud on a car radio. So, according to the man himself, the tone he had on iconic records like Together Again was created by a mixer after he played the parts.
I have had the honor of playing his main Anapeg through a couple of different amps. It has a unique and wonderful tone. Much different than any other steel I've played and really special. I understand why he liked it. |
|
|
|
Dan Robinson
From: Colorado, USA
|
Posted 27 Nov 2015 2:48 pm
|
|
T. C. Furlong wrote: |
Donny, years ago, I talked to Tom Brumley about his tone on recordings. He said that when he recorded, his tone was full and rich - the way he liked it. ...
I have had the honor of playing his main Anapeg through a couple of different amps. It has a unique and wonderful tone. Much different than any other steel I've played and really special. I understand why he liked it. |
T.C., do you know if Tom used the Annapeg on his In Time album?
In Time, Nicole, Hank Williams Medley, it doesn't get any sweeter. |
|
|
|
Susan Alcorn
From: Baltimore, MD, USA
|
Posted 27 Nov 2015 5:35 pm
|
|
The Anapeg is an incredibly responsive and rich sounding steel guitar (and very well built as well). _________________ www.susanalcorn.net
"So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray."
- Mary Oliver |
|
|
|
Johan Jansen
From: Europe
|
|
|
|
Bob Hoffnar
From: Austin, Tx
|
Posted 28 Nov 2015 6:21 am
|
|
Donny Hinson wrote: |
Tone is subjective. It is not really definable in terms of "good" or "bad". There is tone you like (or I like), and there is tone that you do NOT like (or that I do not like). I loved everything Buddy Charleton ever did...until he switched to an Emmons...and later, a GFI. When he stopped playing 'Buds, the Buddy C. I knew, and whose sound I loved, was gone. But, others thought he never sounded better?! I felt the same about Tom Brumley...when he started playing an Anapeg, the Brumley sounds I really liked were gone. |
Interesting.
When I was taking lessons from Charleton he was very clear about how why he switched from sho bud to Emmons. He told me that once he sat behind an Emmons there was no way he could keep playing his Sho Bud. I also asked him how he liked the tone of his GFI and he looked down and said it was an easy guitar to lift....
We would spend entire 2 hour lessons on just the thumb on my right hand or how to get the meat of the fingerpicks pushing hard through the string.
Buddy was pretty clear about how to get a good tone. He didn't try to make me sound like him either. _________________ Bob |
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 28 Nov 2015 7:13 am
|
|
T. C. Furlong wrote: |
Donny, years ago, I talked to Tom Brumley about his tone on recordings. He said that when he recorded, his tone was full and rich - the way he liked it. He also said that the mixing engineers kind of ruined his tone by using EQ that would make his steel tone bright and biting, so it would sound up front and loud on a car radio. So, according to the man himself, the tone he had on iconic records like Together Again was created by a mixer after he played the parts.
|
Sorry, I don't buy that. Tom's sound back in the '60s was anything but full and rich. No, I was never in the studio with Tom, but I was fortunate enough to see Buck and the band, live, on several occasions. Tom's tone was always pretty much like the records. I know this because I was there. In addition, it was also pretty much the same way on his TV appearances, too. |
|
|
|
T. C. Furlong
From: Lake County, Illinois, USA
|
Posted 28 Nov 2015 9:23 am
|
|
Dan, I believe that Tom did use his Anapeg on the In Time record. I believe he also used a '59 Fender Bassman amp. I'm going to dig out that CD and re-listen to the tone on that record. From what I remember, it was really nice.
Donny, Interesting that you got to see Tom with the band. Unfortunately, I never did. Did you ever talk to him about his tone and what he liked?
When I met him at the Dallas Vintage Guitar Show, he really did tell me that his tone was created by the recording engineer and that his preferred tone was much richer and fuller. It makes me wonder if he was persuaded by someone to match his live tone to the tone on the records. |
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 30 Nov 2015 9:33 am
|
|
T. C. Furlong wrote: |
...Donny, Interesting that you got to see Tom with the band. Unfortunately, I never did. Did you ever talk to him about his tone and what he liked?
When I met him at the Dallas Vintage Guitar Show, he really did tell me that his tone was created by the recording engineer and that his preferred tone was much richer and fuller. It makes me wonder if he was persuaded by someone to match his live tone to the tone on the records. |
T.C., I think most of the players back then preferred the sharp treble tones, it plainly wasn't just one or two engineers shaping everyones' sound. There were a few exceptions, like Charleton, Crawford, Day, and of course, Chalker, who I think all played with fuller/warmer sounds. It just seems that certain tones are in vogue at certain times, and wind up being the goal (or preference?) of the majority of players. Back in the '60s, I feel the highs dominated; with players like Myrick, Mooney, Garrish, Emmons, Green, Hicks, and Brumley all playing with lots of treble. This may have been due, a little, to the influence of the twangy "Fender tone", as most of these players had played a 1000 when they first came out. And no doubt, the biting sound of a push/pull also played a part in the equation.
Fast forward 20 or 30 years, though, and almost no one was using those bright tones anymore. Maybe it was newer guitars and humbucking pickups, or the newer amps. Or maybe, it was just the desire for a different sound, or to blend more with the singers. Whatever it was, there's no question, to me anyway, that the players' preferences, and the resulting instrument's "voice", had changed.
Others may have a different view, though.
|
|
|
|
Ian Rae
From: Redditch, England
|
Posted 30 Nov 2015 10:07 am
|
|
As a one-time engineer with experience of live and studio recording, I can report that it is very usual to thin out just about every instrument in the mix, whatever the lineup. Otherwise all the low mids combined can make it very muddy; it is the highs that make the different instruments clearly intelligible to the listeners at home.
Of course if you're cutting a solo album, you're going to want to reproduce faithfully the player's distinctive sound; but if you want a pedal steel to cut through a band, you will almost certainly need to harden it up. _________________ Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
|
|
|
Rick Vizzi
From: New Jersey, USA
|
Posted 11 Dec 2015 3:34 pm
|
|
To reinforce what T.C. Furlong said-- i read-- somewhere, can't remember exactly where, but Buck Owens himself said that their electric guitars-- and presumably Brumley's steel too-- were made to sound very trebly so that they would really pop out of the common radios of the day that most people had, especially car radios, like T.C. said. Talk about tone! Don Rich's Telecasters and Fender amps! Yeah, "biting"! |
|
|
|
chris ivey
From: california (deceased)
|
Posted 11 Dec 2015 4:05 pm
|
|
whatever the case may be, the best tone to me was from tom's zb and in the same respect, rusty young's zb. very distinctive tone due to the instrument.
i heard that tom was very particular about the jbl's in his amp while recording during the 'i sang dixie' sessions. maybe skip can comment on that. |
|
|
|
Susan Alcorn
From: Baltimore, MD, USA
|
Posted 11 Dec 2015 4:17 pm
|
|
Or you might ask Billy Knowles. _________________ www.susanalcorn.net
"So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray."
- Mary Oliver |
|
|
|
Dennis Mike
From: Wilson, New York, USA
|
Posted 25 Dec 2015 6:05 am
|
|
Someone might have already mentioned this:
There's a saying among guitar players: The left hand is what you know. The right hand is who you are.
To convert this saying for use by pedal steel players, it would go something like this:
The left hand, right knee, left knee and left foot are what you know. The right hand and right foot are who you are.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
Dennis _________________ Dennis Mike
Carter D10, dobro, acoustic and electric guitar, Peavy 112 |
|
|
|