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Topic: More simple playing, stellar tone. FODM content |
James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 31 Aug 2009 9:33 am |
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I don't know much about the VIDEO, but they used a Friends of Dean Martinez piece as the soundtrack.
When I was entering my burnout phase with guitar, I wanted a "singing voice" and was leaning towards viola or cello. This is the track that persuaded me to get a steel.
I know this is a Stringmaster D8. I wish I knew what else was in the signal chain. There's a certain subtle "white noise" distortion that is a Bill Elm trademark. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2009 10:18 am
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With a Stringmaster D-8, my guess would be rear neck (maybe A6th), a pot volume pedal, some sort of delay stomp box, and a pre-CBS Fender Pro Reverb or Princeton Reverb amp. That would be my starting point to get that tone, anyway.
On my Stringmaster, the front neck is much brighter than that. I could coax those tones out of the back neck, though.
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 31 Aug 2009 10:21 am
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| I wasn't aware that there were differences between the front and back neck of a Stringmaster. I figured the same electronics were used on each. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2009 10:53 am
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I only know mine. Maybe it's because of the difference in wood thickness, or maybe the pickups were accidentally wound differently. I'm not sure if this is true of all D-8 Stringmasters or not.
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-๐๐๐- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Dennis Olearchik
From:
Newtown, PA
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Posted 31 Aug 2009 3:29 pm
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| James, have you checked out forumite Bob Hoffnar's steel work with the group "Hem"? |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 31 Aug 2009 5:30 pm
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| Actually, no. Please enlighten me. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 1 Sep 2009 7:44 am
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| I think you could get very close to that tone with just about any pedal steel. It's so awash in EFX, it would be hard to even characterize that as a "Fender sound", let alone something done on a Stringmaster. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2009 9:26 am
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Right. The guitar itself isn't the most important ingredient in that sound, as long as it has enough sustain. There's a lot going on with the electronics.
I think it would be hard to get that tonal variance with an active volume pedal. It sounds very much like a pot pedal at work there to me. And the distortion is pretty obviously 6L6 or 6V6. I can't get that harmonic noise out of my Mesa Maverick, which uses EL84's. It's the one tube sound that I really miss.
The one thing I'm not sure of is the echo/reverb effect. It sounds like it could have been added after recording via ProTools or something. It reminds me of The Vanduras CD, which was very much a ProTools creation.
The elements I hear are:
- a steel guitar with good sustain
- a volume pedal that has a tonal side effect
- an "American" tube amp, 50 watts or less
- a ceramic or alnico speaker, probably 12"
- an echo effect
It would be great if Bill Elm could chime in and tell me how wrong I am!! 
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-๐๐๐- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 1 Sep 2009 10:08 am
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DELETED
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"Wisdom does not always come with age. Many times age arrives alone."
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 26 Feb 2011 4:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Joseph Carlson
From:
Grass Valley, California, USA
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Twayn Williams
From:
Portland, OR
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Posted 1 Sep 2009 10:51 am Re: More simple playing, stellar tone. FODM content
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| James Mayer wrote: |
| There's a certain subtle "white noise" distortion that is a Bill Elm trademark. |
I hear it, but I got no idea how it's "made"!
You won't get that sound from a PSG, though you might get close enough, it just depends on how picky you are.
Definitely a digital reverb, either from a rack or plugin. I've searched for that kind of verb in a pedal and have not found it.
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Primitive Utility Steel |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 1 Sep 2009 7:07 pm Re: Hem
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That's a nice steel tone. After listening to this, I'm surprised I hadn't heard of them. I've been into Neko Case for while now. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2009 9:16 pm
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I really think that the reverb/echo was added in the mix. It seems that the sound of the speaker is included in the echo.
_________________
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 2 Sep 2009 6:55 am
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| basilh wrote: |
| ...it's the neck thickness (I think) well that's been my experience with double, triple and quad Stringmasters. |
That being so I'm going to have to be careful in the selection of wood for the Fender D10 pedal steel I'm rebuilding.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=121578
If you recall, from another thread, the one neck is too deteriorated to reuse, and I'm going to be building a completely new neck from new wood. |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 2 Sep 2009 9:22 am
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Hey James, did you get your pedal steel yet?
I would love to see it when you get it.
'Love Neko Case!... The reverb on her voice is the greatest!
Check out "Steel Guitar Air Show" (CD) by Jon Rauhouse... she sings a kill version of "The World is Waiting for a Sunrise". |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 3 Sep 2009 8:19 am
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| Pete Burak wrote: |
Hey James, did you get your pedal steel yet?
I would love to see it when you get it.
'Love Neko Case!... The reverb on her voice is the greatest!
Check out "Steel Guitar Air Show" (CD) by Jon Rauhouse... she sings a kill version of "The World is Waiting for a Sunrise". |
No, my PSG is still in the construction phase. I'll let you know when I get it. |
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Rick Collins
From:
Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 3 Sep 2009 10:01 am
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| That being so I'm going to have to be careful in the selection of wood for the Fender D10 pedal steel I'm rebuilding. |
...right Alan.
I have a nine pedal 1000, polished frame, 2x8 string, with original pickups. When I tune the inside neck to C6th I cannot get a good tone (to my ear).
The C6th is pretty good on the outside neck.
I've concluded that it's just that 'half-ash' wood Fender used. 
If I were tackling your project, I think I would be looking for some rock maple, from which to reconstruct the body __ kiln dried and very old if possible.
Take a chain saw and go down and dismantle one of the lanes of your local bowling alley.  |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Sep 2009 8:03 am
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James, listen to the E-Bow steel sound that Ned Selfe gets on "Deep Blue": http://www.nedselfe.com/album/0 starting at about 3:02.
I don't know what guitar he's using, but it sure is a rich, interesting tone. 
"Song for Krisi" on the same album also uses the E-Bow.
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-๐๐๐- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 4 Sep 2009 4:22 pm
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| Rick Collins wrote: |
...If I were tackling your project, I think I would be looking for some rock maple, from which to reconstruct the body __ kiln dried and very old if possible.
Take a chain saw and go down and dismantle one of the lanes of your local bowling alley. |
Hey, that would be a great way to gain popularity. I don't think I'd want to upset the kids who hang around bowling alleys in Oakland.
My experience with maple, building hammered dulcimers, (maple is best to hold the tuning pins), is that, next to ebony, it's about the hardest wood to work with.  I'll go down to the lumber store and see what they've got. Maybe I can get some swamp ash, which is what Fender uses. (Given that the original neck was left in a flooded basement for several years, this time I'd like some ash which has a little less swamp in it. ) |
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