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Topic: Can anyone help identify this tone? |
Daniel Leslie
From:
London, England
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Posted 8 Jul 2004 4:03 am |
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Hi, I just joined. I don't have a PSG yet but will do soon, hopefully.
I was wondering about the tone of Bob Dylan's steel player, Larry Campbell. It sounds quite different than anything else I've heard and it's the sound I would love to be able to achieve some day (wishful thinking, I know).
I know his tone is largely to do with his playing but since I don't know too much about the sound of the various makes of steels I wanted to ask if this tone is known to be of a particular brand of PSG or amps etc. It's just he sound a lot different from people like Buddy Emmons and other famous players so it can't be that he's just a better player than everyone else.
I'd love to hear peoples' opinions on this. If you go to this site you can listen to his playing.
The best examples are:
1.Mutineer (scroll down a bit),
2.Tryin' to Get to Heaven 4/4/2004,
3.Pancho and Lefty,
4.Sing Me Back Home,
5.You Win Again
6.You Ain't going nowhere (again scroll down- the opening lick of this one on its own made me want to play pedal steel!)
Thanks. |
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Daniel Leslie
From:
London, England
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Reggie Duncan
From:
Mississippi
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Posted 8 Jul 2004 5:04 am
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What we will go thru to listen to good steel playing!
Sounds like a Sho Bud to me. He is really a good steel player and plays MANY other instruments as well.
Guitar (Acoustic, Electric, Steel, Bass, Fingerpicked),Slide Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, lap steel guitar, Bass, Mandolin,
Dobro, Banjo, Fiddle, Violin, Strings, Cornet, Cittern,Wurlitzer, Bouzouki, Drums, Keyboards,Programming, Percussion
Thanks for the headsup! |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Jul 2004 11:29 am
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Larry's website provides a couple of conflicts--there is a ttutorial on all of the instruments he plays. Under PSG there is a picture of an Emmons. This may be a generic file photo. There is a line underneath that Larry plays a Fender 8 string PSG. These Dylan sound clips are NOT of Fender PSG (unless I'm grievously mistaken). And finally, there is a photo of a Carter D-10. ID'ing steels by the sound is NOT my forte but I'd have no argument with those clips being a Carter.
Considering the dude's breadth and depth, it wouldn't shock me to learn that he has one of everything. |
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Daniel Leslie
From:
London, England
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Posted 8 Jul 2004 2:51 pm
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Yeh, I saw him in Glasgow recently and I was at the rail in front of his PSG and though it was turned slightly away from me I think I saw the oval thing which is the logo of Carter isn't it?
Though, having searched the forum for information it seems he played a ZumSteel on some of those recordings.
It seems more of a chordal structure than single note stuff, maybe it's the style he's playing rather than how he's playing it etc. I don't know...I'm far from an expert- I just like what I hear! |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2004 3:00 pm
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It's hard to tell much from of a RealAudio stream, but the steel tone on that version of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is similar to what I get from the George L's 12-1 pickup in my Sierra if I roll all of my tone controls back. Carter ships a lot of guitars with 10-1 pickups. Seems likely.
Listen to The Byrds version of that song for some real world class playing by the inimitable Lloyd Green.
------------------
 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6) |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 8 Jul 2004 4:15 pm
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Daniel, I'd say you could get that type of tone from most pedal steels...Mullen, MSA, Carter, Zum, etc.. As you seem to have already guessed, it's not so much the brand of steel, but more a matter of the way the amp has been EQ'd, and the playing style. That's definitely not a standard "commercial" sound, and most of the clips seem to be live recordings (where the sound quality or tone isn't the best to begin with). The highs have been rolled off, and it's a very damp, full sound, with what sounds like some natural reverb caused by the venue and the mike not being close to the speaker. You're probably used to hearing studio stuff where they lop the bottom-end off so it won't interfere with other instruments, and there's a lot more presence.
Luckily, in the songs I listened to, that wasn't done. (The steel's about the only thing there worth hearing!  ) Larry plays very smoothly, and it takes the average player a few years before he can do stuff like that. You have to learn the basics of playing first, and after that you can refine your tone to get just about anything you want. Don't get hung-up over brand names, the most important element is always the player.
Good luck! |
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