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Topic: Bobby Nichols' Tuning and Tone |
Harry Sheppard
From:
Kalispell, MT USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2004 4:05 pm |
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Hey Rick,
Thanks for posting Sophisticated Hula a while back. After listening to that, I will be ordering the Lani McIntire disks. It is amazing, both his playing and tone. This brings me to a question.
Does anyone know what tuning he is using on this tune? I use A6 but it does not lay out correctly.
Another question. His tone sounds very Rickenbacher to me (Frypan or possibly a Bakelite). Does anyone know what he played?
I know this has been covered many times before but I am really wanting to duplicate that tone. I know that a large portion of the tone is in his hands but that guitar/amp combo sounds great. I get the same basic Rick tone with my frypan but a Fender amp is not going to cut it. Because of the lo-fi recording of the 1930s, even if I had the same guitar and amp it would sound different. Has anyone ever experimented trying to duplicate the actual recorded sounds (not the original source sounds) such as limiting the highs and lows, boosting the midrange through amp design? This should be able to be built into the amps voicing. Maybe that is why the low powered amps with small speakers sound closest because they have such a limited range vs. the higher fidelity of all of the new amps being made today. Old guitars are cool but old amps are just a pain if you want to use them regularly. There must be a way to make a new amp sound like what we hear in those old recordings, not like they actually sounded live back in the 1930s.
I have built several Fender tweed amp copies with great success but again, they dont sound like a 1930s amp and even if they did, they would not sound like what we hear on the recordings. Any Thoughts?
Harry |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 18 Sep 2004 4:50 pm
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Just a stab-in-the-dark, but; you might want to try a lower-wattage tube amp. with about an 8” or 10” speaker and maybe only (1)-knob marked Volume and (1) marked Tone.
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“Big John” Bechtel
(2)-Fender ’49–’50 T–8 Customs
Fender ’65 Reissue Twin-Reverb Custom™ 15”
click here
click hereclick hereclick here |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2004 6:26 pm
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Glad you liked it ... I was hopin' someone would 
I would imagine its a frypan ...
Closest thing I have to produce a tone like those records have ... is a little tube unit made for editing film ... a Magnasync Moviola (Sage Harmos turned me onto it).
Its only good for home ... shakes and rattles alot ... but its glorious.
I am thinking about one of those 1.5 watt units sold by Torres Engineering ... they have kits or you can buy one assembled ... all others like it from boutique shops are $$$$.
But mainly ... I hold fast to the notion that its more about those guy's vibrato ... than anything else.
That 6-7 Hz vibrato is the keynote sound of those guys ...
I have learned from posting similar tunes ... folks either are enamored by it ... or are irritated by it ...
To each his own 
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HorseshoeMagnets
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Harry Sheppard
From:
Kalispell, MT USA
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Posted 18 Sep 2004 7:25 pm
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Rick,
I know what you mean about the vibrato. I slowed the recording down to less than 1/2 speed and it sounds like the vibrato goes over 1/2 a fret in both directions!!
The problem with small amps is they don't have the rich tone, meaning they sound thin and small. From what I have seen, most of the professional amps of the late 1930s used a pair of 6L6s (or equals) in class A and 10"-12" speakers. Very low power and gain by todays standards but loud enough to be heard over and acoustic band. When I try a small amp (champ, pro jr.) or any other single ended 6"-8" speaker amp, there is just no tone to begin with (or at least the tone I am lookig for). A frypan has increadible dynamic range but I wonder how much of it was actually captured on those old recordings.
Harry |
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Jim Landers
From:
Spokane, Wash.
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Posted 19 Sep 2004 3:14 am
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I have two old Gibson amps, one of them is a 1947 GA-25 and the other is a GA-50T ca. 1950. The '47 is my favorite but, they both sound great with my lap steels. I also have a Fender Twin reissue that sounds real good but, to me the Gibson's are a lot closer to that classic sound from the '40s and '50s. My guess would be that a lot, maybe even most of those old recordings were made with the old Gibson amps.
Jim |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2004 6:33 am
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| Quote: |
| I have two old Gibson amps, one of them is a 1947 GA-25 and the other is a GA-50T ca. 1950. |
2 out of 3 guys who are gettin' the first 3 Dustpans are gonna be playin' them thru old tube amps ... Gibsons and Epiphones ...
Can't wait to get their "report card" [This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 19 September 2004 at 08:44 AM.] |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 25 Sep 2004 5:45 pm
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Boy, that was another neat tune Rick !!
BILL |
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Bob Snelgrove
From:
san jose, ca
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Posted 25 Sep 2004 9:53 pm
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2 6L6's should kick some serious ***. Super Reverb, etc.
bob
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