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Topic: The Santo Farina tone mystery |
Jeremy DeHart
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 25 Aug 2021 7:45 am |
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I started this Facebook Group a year ago and actually Johnny Farina himself has joined. I've had several email conversations with Johnny (who is VERY evasive about any attempt to resolve these lingering questions for whatever reason) but more importantly there have been many interesting things submitted to the forum. One is a photo from the late or early 60's showing the amp and Steel that Santo was playing. There is also a video of S&J from when they had a regularly ovcccuring Italian TV variety show. It's only a snippet and I haven't been able to get any more footage of that, but at least there's that!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/longwalkhome
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Jeremy DeHart
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 25 Aug 2021 11:41 am
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Guys, I've cracked the secret to Santo's amazing tone! You just need these two things:
 sorry for the somewhat flippant tone, just saying that I think you could set me down in front of his exact guitar and rig, and there's no way I would sound like Santo. Certain instruments (especially nonpedal steel) and certain players (-especially- Santo Farina!) just have a really unique sound. But it is something special. All my attempts (on various guitars) seem to lack that extra bit of color on every note, just a very emotive sound...their version of A Thousand Miles Away is such a good example, when he comes out of the bridge section, wow. I can play the notes...but I can't make it just -cry- like Santo did.
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I hear the rolling surf calling
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Tim Whitlock
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 26 Aug 2021 7:58 am
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| Nic Neufeld wrote: |
Guys, I've cracked the secret to Santo's amazing tone! You just need these two things:
sorry for the somewhat flippant tone, just saying that I think you could set me down in front of his exact guitar and rig, and there's no way I would sound like Santo. Certain instruments (especially nonpedal steel) and certain players (-especially- Santo Farina!) just have a really unique sound. But it is something special. All my attempts (on various guitars) seem to lack that extra bit of color on every note, just a very emotive sound...their version of A Thousand Miles Away is such a good example, when he comes out of the bridge section, wow. I can play the notes...but I can't make it just -cry- like Santo did. |
You nailed it Nic! I must have played Sleep Walk live 500 times, and maybe 1000 times in practice. I still cannot master the amazing nuances of Santo's playing. I find it almost unbelievable that a player that young could have attained such mastery over his instrument in a very short time. Truly remarkable! |
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Jeremy DeHart
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2021 7:55 am
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For certain nobody will ever sound like Santo! But I don't think that means we should stop analyzing his technique and tone either. I think the reason that his tone is so elusive is because we really don't have that much information. All we have is the litany of studio albums from '60-'76, one from the 90's, two live "staged" performances (and now this italian snippet) and most recently some studio out-takes that were released by Black Tulip (https://www.ebay.com/itm/164971544884).
Santo himself has been very cryptic about his tunings and his equipment for whatever reason. If you compare it to someone like Jerry Byrd who went on to not only explain exactly how he did things to multiple generations, Santo is the exact opposite. But like in the case of Jerry, touch and technique definitely played into his tone, but also the settings on his amp did as well!
I think Santo was not only an immense artistic talent, he was also incredibly creative with tunings and really IMO he created his own picking style that I am not aware of anyone else using. It appears to me that he picks very close to the bar to make a very "tinny" sharp attack. You can see him doing this a lot in the videos posted and you can really hear the effect in certain songs. But this is just one of many things that have all been ascertained from the scant amount if information available.
I asked Johnny if he would be interested in doing a documentary or biography and he said he is hoping that a big "someone" in the movie industry may take that up in the near future. Here's to hoping that happens but also I hope every day that more video of Santo gets released so we can analyze even more. I am hearing things in the recordings that seem impossible to explain. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 27 Aug 2021 8:27 am
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I agree that much of the magic is in the player, not in the gear.
Speaking of Jerry Byrd & Santo... in one of those live videos of JB playing at Scotty's Convention, Jerry is taking requests from the audience. And as I remember, he tells the audience that someone requested "Sleep Walk", but he doesn't play that song. I thought that was interesting. Maybe he thought the song was too simple, or maybe he felt it was a different genre than he plays (more of a rock/pop hit)...?
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 28 Aug 2021 2:17 am
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I think that Santo picks in a very dynamic way - i.e. he controls the volume of his notes with his picking hand. The light and shade in his playing changes almost all of the time. It's where he gets his unique feel from.
In addition, he has a fast vibrato with his bar, but it is also very narrow - much narrower than Jerry Byrds.
Unlike his brother, Santo's intonation is spot on. 
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Mike Christensen
From:
Cook Minnesota
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Posted 28 Aug 2021 3:28 pm
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| Perhaps if he had had access to our new guitars and amps he would sound totally different and would not even try to make his old sounds. Could be the same with all the old players. JB certainly changed equipment over the years. |
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Miles Lang
From:
Venturaloha
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Posted 29 Aug 2021 8:38 am
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As I am actively doing some recording (just finished mixing one album, working on the next), I am curious about how they (Joey Welz?) recorded Santo’s Custom T8 on Sleep Walk. It has a different sound than the later recordings.
Given that S&J hadn’t got the big time yet, perhaps SW was recorded on a smaller amp, and the Twin came later when the record took off. A tweed Deluxe wouldn’t surprise me, and many studios had on as a house amp back then. Probably a ribbon mic in the middle of the room?
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Santo Fan Club - from the island of Coney to the sands of Rockaway
Jill Martini & The Shrunken Heads
All aloha, all the time |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Mitch Drumm
From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
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Posted 29 Aug 2021 10:36 pm
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| Miles Lang wrote: |
| I am curious about how they (Joey Welz?) recorded Santo’s Custom T8 on Sleep Walk. |
Joey Welz?
THE Joey Welz??
What did he have to do with the Farinas or with Canadian-American? |
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Jeremy DeHart
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Miles Lang
From:
Venturaloha
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Posted 30 Aug 2021 10:09 pm
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Would it be appropriate to ask Johnny Farina on the OP’s Facebook group?
_________________
Santo Fan Club - from the island of Coney to the sands of Rockaway
Jill Martini & The Shrunken Heads
All aloha, all the time |
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