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Topic: first post: what's going on in this video? |
Lane Cunningham
From:
California, USA
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Posted 19 Mar 2014 3:38 pm |
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Hey everybody, this is my very first post, hopefully it's not a dumb one.
I've heard this sound on lot's of old recordings and have wondered how it was achieved and I came across this Merle Travis video. Sure enough at 1:20 there is that sound I've been looking for!
Is that a volume nob that he is twisting for that effect?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNjY2Oqhz4 |
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Eddie Cunningham
From:
Massachusetts, USA
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Posted 19 Mar 2014 5:18 pm Boo Wah sound !!
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| That is the tone control going quickly from bass to treble , like "boo-wah" , a favorite sound of Speedy West and also Jerry Byrd used it very well !! A nice effect from the 40s & 50s !! I don't think the new pedal steels have a tone control !! Thats why I still play an old 50s Rickenbacher that has the tone control !! I use that sound all the time !! olde geeze AKA Eddie "C" And maybe we are related way back !! |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 5:04 am
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That is, of course, the wonderful Speedy West who used this sound a lot (as well as lots of other wacky sounds and amazing technique). As you said, this sound is used widely in a lot of music from the 40's and 50's, notably on Hank Williams records,
As already pointed out, it is the tone control going quickly from full bass to full treble and, in this instance, in combination with the bar being slammed down hard on the strings without picking the notes with the right hand.
Many players use the tone knob for this but you can also get a pedal that does the same job. Most commonly, DeArmond, Bigsby and Fender all made volume/tone pedals which control volume with an up and down motion (as you would expect) and tone by twisting the pedal left and right. The advantage of this is that you have both hands free at all times.
The DeArmonds come up used a fair bit, the Bigsby and Fender pedals were re-issued in recent years and although I've never seen one of the Bigsbys on sale anywhere (the only guy I ever saw with one was in a Scandanavian rockabilly band) the Fender re-issue pedals still seem to be available and would probably be the cheapest option if you wanted to go the pedal route. |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 8:53 am Words of a champion............
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| Speedy West once told the world that he was more of a SOUND AFFECTS player than an artist. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 9:15 am
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If Speedy never created those effects sounds on steel, he still would have been a great player/artist. He wrote and played some truly beautiful music (and I know you know that, Ray).
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 9:41 am You're right Mike!`
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Without a doubt, I feel Speedy West was an exceptionally fine artists back in the '50's.
Speedy's series of steel guitar instrumentals were never matched by any of the other well known steel instrumentalists with the exception perhaps of JERRY BYRD.
Lot's of other name players performed some outstanding solo's on the records of various named artists but Speedy's contribution was simply fabulous. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 11:21 am
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| He's famous for the outer space trix with Bryant but he's simply ignored for the most part for his soulful steel abilities that Ray alludes to. That's where he really shines but it's not found much on records of the time. Live shots with TEFord have some incredible instrumentals by Speedy that rival anything. |
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Lane Cunningham
From:
California, USA
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 2:18 pm
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Thanks for the replies! I'm going to look into those two way pedals, what a great invention!
I'm sure I will have lots more questions about wacky sounds coming out of a steel down the road. For now I am on Kauai, HI right now and everybody plays the Hawaiian style steel (which is great!) but I want to learn more of the hillbilly/rockabilly side of steel. |
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Norman Evans
From:
Tennessee
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 21 Mar 2014 6:46 pm
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| Chris is great, and I'm glad he's carrying on that tradition into the next generation. That sort of showmanship was once the steel player's stock in trade...especially when he was featured. It would be nice to see it preserved. Yes, besides Kayton Roberts whom Chris mentioned, try to find a good recording of "Alabamy Bound" by Noel Boggs. It's also a tour de force of amazing tricks and sounds in this vein. |
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Tom Snook
From:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
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Posted 22 Mar 2014 4:22 am
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Don't forget Alvino Rey and Leon McAuliffe(spelling?) 
_________________
I wanna go back to my little grass shack........ |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 Jul 2014 5:00 am
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For doing that old steam-engine-locomotive-train thing, it's hard to top Noel Boggs.
| Scott Thomas wrote: |
| ...try to find a good recording of "Alabamy Bound" by Noel Boggs. It's also a tour de force of amazing tricks and sounds in this vein. |
Not the best recording, or the best video clip, but watching Noel Boggs playing "Alabamy Bound" here is nothing short of amazing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANdaxop0QzI
Wonder what model amp he was using. Standel, perhaps? More likely the most powerful model coming out of Fullerton at the time. |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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