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Topic: Hillbilly Highway |
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 20 Jul 2023 3:48 am |
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Steve Earle's great song. I sometimes cover Richard Bennett's signature guitar break on steel and I'm ok enough with my sound -- it's not a copycat cover band and close enough sells it well enough.
I just found a SGF post of mine on the subject of that guitar from 2000 (identified there as a Gretsch 6120) so it's been on my mind for a while, I guess!
Just for kicks I'm wondering if any of you guitarists have any tips for dialing in the fx for that slightly wonky sound. I've been figuring that the right delay setting, besides the right touch, will get me there but I'm not quite getting it. It's wet but it creates a distinct sound without hitting you over the head with repeats repeats repeats.
Anybody know exactly what I'm talking about? |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 20 Jul 2023 7:31 am
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Around when that song hit, I had just gotten my first really good digital delay pedal, the Digitech PDS 20/20, which featured a wide range of delay times, feedback, and importantly, modulation. I could get anything from a really short-delay flange to a somewhat longer-delay chorus. I found that something in the chorus range and some but not too much feedback (regeneration) and a relatively low-speed modulation really worked well with this. Key to getting the sound was that there was absolute flexibility with the delay amount, delay time, regeneration, and modulation speed and width. I just noodled with the controls until I found what I wanted.
Unfortunately, I sold that pedal about 10 years ago, so I can't just pull it out and re-create what I did then. Used examples are out there, but they're getting close to 40 years old now and a lot of them are beat. I imagine there are pedals out now that have this kind of flexibility, but I can't think of any examples right now. This thread on tdpri should be around for a while, and has a photo - https://www.tdpri.com/threads/replacement-for-old-digitech-pds-1002.783511/
I also imagine that some period (mid-80s) chorus pedals might get you there. That might have even been what was used on the song. I never messed with chorus pedals at that point because the PDS 20/20 did everything they did and a lot more, so I never really pursued them. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 20 Jul 2023 8:11 am
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Thanks Dave.
One reason I had a notion that some light modulation might be involved is that I just recently removed the chorus from my board. It doesn't get more cause/effect than that  .
I am not into this enough to be investing money or pedal board space in a dedicated delay. But the Flashback that I'm not currently using could possibly get me there (it might be too Dave Gilmore over the top -- I've never worked much with the modulations) and even the Keeley Cavern does some modulation. Unfortunately my current rig, the Nux Atlantic, does not. I'll experiment later with the chorus and see if it can earn its place back onto the board.
Bottom line is that I am not obsessed with a perfect reproduction of the sound. What I've got is easily close enough. But I wondered if there was a relatively simple trick that I was missing that might get me even closer. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 21 Jul 2023 3:43 am
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Yeah -- these cats were wizards in a digital wonderland.
I'm a lot closer, using a bit of chorus with its wetness and its slight pitch wobble combined with the delay. I think this will put a smile on some faces.
I've never been very educated at getting the most out of a delay beyond obvious ambient or slapbacky stuff. I'd be totally lost with deep tools like that Yamaha and the Lanois units (Korg?). But wow, what these guys who know what they are doing can do with this stuff...... |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 21 Jul 2023 9:35 am
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The TC Electronics chorus pedal was very popular back then—it could very well be that providing the pitch shift shimmer.
As a guitarist in the 80s, I mastered a few of those units including the Quadraverb and a Yahama Rex50, which is acquirable for about $40 today. Believe it or not, you can go a long, long way with both of those sub $100 units.
_________________
http://www.steelinstruction.com/
http://mikeneer.com |
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