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Topic: Make steel guitar sound like organ ? |
Richard Nelson
From:
Drogheda, Louth, Ireland
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Posted 4 Jan 2006 12:24 pm |
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| How do you do that ? |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 4 Jan 2006 10:20 pm
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| Most folks use some sort of chorus (12 - 18ms delay with some feedback and subtle sine-wave modulation) plus reverb to get the classic "organ " sound. Using the VP to fade up after the (silenced) initial attack is important to maintaining the illusion, as is playing the sorts of parts that one would expect to hear from an organ. |
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Dave White
From:
Fullerton, California USA
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Posted 4 Jan 2006 10:37 pm
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| If you want that "Hammond" organ sound, buy a Leslie (rotating speaker system). I've heard pedal steels and regular guitars played through those things and it sounds awesome, especially switching back and forth from fast and slow rotor. |
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Michael Miller
From:
Virginia
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 5:14 am
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| I believe Rusty Young (poco)used a Leslie. |
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John Daugherty
From:
Rolla, Missouri, USA
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 6:43 am
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No replacement for a Leslie.
Fender used to make a rotating speaker in a small cab; always wanted one of those. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 7:07 am
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An H & K Rotosphere does the job for me. I really like it on the old gospel songs.
Erv |
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JW Day
From:
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 7:24 am
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| Erv, What is a H & K rotspher? I use to use a Leslie, but it just got to much to carry. I am now using A stero chorus, But it just don't have that good sound that I want. I to enjoy the old gospel songs. J W Day |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 8:21 am
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Almost any good Flanger (Boss, DOD, etc) will give you a very good organ sound. I've had great luck with the Boss unit personally. A flanger will do a much better job than any chorus unit....JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 5:35 pm
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| Leilani makes a small version of the Leslie, with a real rotating speaker in it; very good for miking but a little thin since it is so small. |
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Scott Appleton
From:
Ashland, Oregon
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 7:36 pm
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| DLS Rotosim |
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Bob Knight
From:
Bowling Green KY
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Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 9:20 pm
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| I've got a BOSS SE-50 setting that I've tweeked for a good organ sound using the pitch shifter mode and delay/pan left & right settings. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 5 Jan 2006 9:36 pm
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I have one of the Leslie 16's, which is identical to the Fender Vibratone Charlie was talking about. It's amazing sounding with steel - the mids go to the Leslie, and the extreme highs/lows go to the amp speakers. It gives you a huge wall or rotating sound. Many Vibratones (and Leslie 16's and 18's) have been modiefied to be used as extension cabinets without the (usually lost) crossover and switch that uses the amp speakers. They sound nowhere near as good. Do NOT buy one without the crossover!
They can usually be found for $5-600 in decent shape. The stock speaker is horrible, and a Weber California 10 will double the volume and improve the tone immensely.
The big wooden organ Leslies usually sound pretty harsh - the rotor portion tosses out way too many nasty-sounding highs.
All that being said, I normally use a discontinued Korg G4 Leslie emulator - it's flat-out the best and mst realistic sounding off the floor units, and I've tried dozens.
If you just want the slow speed, the old Arion SCH-1 (not the SCZ-1) chorus does a great job. But half the fun of a Leslie is the "ramping" function, where you play with the speed switch and kick it up and down in speed - it's almost like another instrument.
Hope that helps. |
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Eddie Thomas
From:
Macon,Ga.,USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 10:21 am
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| Hughes and Kettner "Rotosphere" is the cat's meow. I've been using one for the past 2 years, and everyone that hears it, claims its the closest thing to a B3 Hammond, even the rockers think so. A little pricey, but well worth it. Hope this helps. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 1:56 pm
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J W Day,
The H & K Rotosphere is a quite large stomp box with a tube and a couple of different knobs to dial in the effect. I place my unit by the amp and run a cord with a remote two button foot swith close to my left foot. This allows me handy access to turn the unit on and off. One of the buttons even allows you to go from high to low speed like a Leslie. Great unit! 
Erv |
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Ricky Littleton
From:
Steely-Eyed Missile Man from Cocoa Beach, Florida USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2006 5:17 pm
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I use my Korg PX4 Pandoras Box. It has an organ setting and works fantastic.
Ricky...
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Emmons LeGrande - 8x4
Session 400 Ltd, Nashville 112,Hilton Volume pedal, Peterson VS-II Tuner
Dan-Echo, E-Bow, Ibanez Distortion, Bo-Bro, Ibanez Auto-Wah, Regal Dobro
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Rick Jolley
From:
Colorado Springs
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 5:00 am
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CBS owned Leslie for a while and the Fender Unit is actually a little Leslie with a 10" Spkr, black tolex & silver grill cloth. It sounds wonderful, but isn't very loud. (Of course you can mike it.) You might be able to find one on ebay. (I might sell mine!)
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Rick Jolley
(Rick Zahniser)
Dekley S10 3/3, Session400
http://belizenorth.com
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Richard Nelson
From:
Drogheda, Louth, Ireland
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 6:37 am
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| I tried the rorary effect 38 on the Boss GX 700 and it sounds awful . What effect on the chain should I adjust ? There seems to be every thing on it . |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 8:16 am
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Two additional notes:
I've compared the G4 with the Rotosphere and Leslie 16, all in the same rroom. IMO The G4 is a much more realistic sounding "Leslie" than the Rotosphere.
And I do want to mention one to avoid like the black plague - the Danelectro Rocky Road. I had one for a while, and iit is possibly the worst sounding pedal of ANY kind I've ever owned (and I'm a pedal junkie...). The ramping function is the only thing that works - the tone is horrible, and it adds nasty distortion and a volume boost. There are modifications to eliminate the boost, but they don't change the horrific tone of the thing. Do NOT waste your money. |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 10:43 am
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| In the 50s Shot sold me a Chordavox that was the greatest ever. I don't know who made it as it had no other markings on it. I was going through an Echoplex at the time which really enhanced the sound. I used it until the late 70s and that is when my youngest son joined a rock band and used the Chordavox instead of hiring a keyboard man. Of course it was stolen so no more good organ for me. CC |
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JW Day
From:
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 12:14 pm
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| Thanks Erv, I'll give one a trail run |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 12:37 pm
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The Cord-O-Vox was one of the most authentic organ sounds as it had a box with a wheel like a Leslie (maybe it was a Leslie, I don't remember). It's weak point was it's speaker, but it was replaceable with a better one. I played a Fender 1000 through a Cord-O-Vox with an Echo-Plex and a Standel amplifier during the 1960's.
I once owned a Roto-Sphere and it sounded pretty good, but it did not have a by-pass switch and it negatively affected the tone of my amp when I wasn't using the organ sound.
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www.genejones.com
[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 07 January 2006 at 01:19 PM.] |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 7 Jan 2006 4:54 pm
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| Gene, glad to hear another admit he used an echoplex.Most guys for some reason put them down.I still use mine on occasion when other effects won't compensate for the acoustics. I would use it all the time if I could find some good tapes. I have been on my last one for two yrs now just using it spatingly. CC |
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Richard Nelson
From:
Drogheda, Louth, Ireland
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Posted 8 Jan 2006 3:17 am
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| I tried that Korg G4 and it is great for the Leslie sound but how do I make the steel sound like an organ now ? Chorus ? |
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