Plate,Spring, Hall?

James Martin (U.K.) · From: Watford, Herts, United Kingdom * R.I.P.

Does any RV5 user have suggested settings for playing fast numbers and different settings for slow numbers.Why is everything so complicated with this instrument,different strings, choice of pedels,levers, tunings, pick ups the thing is hard enough to fathom out and try to play without all the added on bits and pieces, drives me mad.I've been at it for thirty years and still experimenting and spending time messing about instead of playing the thing!Wish I'd taken up the flute!! It's never ending!!

John Macy · From: Rockport TX/Denver CO

I have an RV5 at the end of my pedal chain, and use the plate reverb setting, about 10 o'clock on the time and just a little mixed in for some gentle space. I use a tap delay with shorter times for the quick stuff and stretch it out for the slow tunes...

Fred Rushing · From: Odin, IL, USA

James I don't think too many of the players we all look to ie Buddy, Lloyd, Jay Dee, Jimmy Day, Ron Elliot or the other PLAYERS spent much time worrying about the many topics discussed here on the forum. If they Had they would not be PLAYER they would be talkers. There is a difference. PLAY YOUR STEEL and worry less about other things
Fred

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Fred makes a good point, James, on the other hand, many of the players mentioned HAVE spent a considerable amount of time over the years experimenting with the various options available - your question is not frivolous, but the more you play the less these little points matter to what it sounds like - it's ultimately in the hands, the rest is just support for what they are doing.

The short answer to your original question is yes, some folks do change their effects settings depending on the material (certainly any studio engineer worth salt does this) but the more time I spend playing the less I have to fiddle with the knobs, it seems with enough practice I can actually get the sounds I want without changing the electronics at all.

[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 02 February 2006 at 10:00 AM.]

basilh · From: United Kingdom

I often wonder just how many "Forumites" even know what the normal studio settings are for a "Plate" or even what a Plate actually is..?

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James Martin (U.K.) · From: Watford, Herts, United Kingdom * R.I.P.

Hi All, Thanks for the useful replies.Let me point out that when I bought my 112 about 12 mths ago I abandoned my DD3 and my Profex and my steel-driver because the little amp was perfect by itself I was in my element having no baggage I aquired the RV5 from a friend who had retired from the business and thought I would give it a try.I'm not sure now whether to keep it or go back to my basic 112.Basil, I for one haven't a clue about Plate settings and even less about studio settings. By the way Basil, do you remember we briefly met(I had the White Carter) at the last John Davis Buckley meeting?)and thanks also for your imput on the posting I made elsewhere on the forum.

David Doggett · Posted 2 Feb 2006 4:43 pm

On my Fender silverface tube amps, I run the onboard spring reverb at about 4 for fast numbers, and bring it up to about 6 for slow numbers. That's it for me for country, country-rock and jazz. For blues and rock, I'm experimenting with fuzz, distortion and overdrive boxes, but I'm still confused and learning about that.

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Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 02 February 2006 at 11:09 PM.]

Willis Vanderberg · From: Petoskey Mi

I guess I like it simple. I go through a Hilton pedal to the Nashville 112 with a DD/3 Boss delay. I am playing a LeGrande 111
With Jagwire stainless strings with a 11 1/2 G#.
Most of the time I don't even have to touch the tuning. The only exception is a drastic temperature change.My guitar has the Emmons Pentad pick ups and I very rarely change the pick up settings.There is so much good sound in these things if you move your pick hand a little and bury your picks in the strings. It is very hard to explain but if you feel it, it's wonderful.
Keep volume pedal movement to a minumum.
I find a lot of nice tones by picking a single string like the 5th or 6th and then move the bar letting the string sustain and add enough volume pedal to drag it out even farther.Beautiful things can be played on single strings.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I have a Lexicon MPX110 that has a good deal of control over several reverb parameters. I fooled with it for a while, then got organized and started spending 20 minutes a day, every day for about two weeks trying to find the "perfect" surf reverb, slow weepy reverb etc. and saving them to presets. When I compared the presets back, it seemed like I was able to use the other controls to make the various plate, hall, chamber, and room reverbs all sound alike. I now stick with a few plate and hall presets and tweak them a bit, depending. The "perfect" reverb is going to change a LOT depending on context and the density of the music, solo steel might be a lot reverbier than a single-note rock lead in a full band.

T. C. Furlong · From: Lake County, Illinois, USA

basilh, You might be surprized at the wealth of experience and knowledge here on the forum about such things as plate settngs and reverb plates. Not only have I owned one, I have rebuilt a few, tweaked and modified EMT and Studio Technologies plates with new drivers and pickups during the '70s. I have even supplied parts for plate manufacturers. For those who are not old and fossilized like me, a plate reverb is a large metal frame that suspends a single piece of metal plate. In the middle of the frame there is a speaker-like transducer and there are two contact pick-ups that are mounted out to the sides. The speaker would excite the metal plate causing a reverberation like sound from the metal and the pick-ups would capture that sound and be added to recordings. The whole frame and plate were housed in a large dampened plywood enclosure. They were kind of impracticle because of size, weight and you had to isolate them because the pickups would pick-up outside unwanted sounds and the plate would make noise too. But man did they sound great for horns!!! Digital reverberators emulate the sound originally created by the electro-mechanical devices.

Fred, you might be right that we would all be better players like Buddy, Lloyd et al if we just spent our time playing the steel rather than talking about it. But I think that all of the greats probably talked a bunch about gear, recording techniques and tricks, etc. Where I live, there aren't many ways to learn about how to get better at finding "the sound" so the forum is a great place to learn. I truly enjoy the opinions, information and perspectives found on the forum. These days, I play a lot more on recordings and less playing out so learning more about successful studio methods (like playing without reverb and letting the producer decide on what's best) has been very valuable.
TC

Tim Harr · From: Dunlap, Illinois

TC... Let me know if you get any dates that you can't make..I will make myself available. I read standard music and numbers.

Thanks and hope to see you sometime soon.

your steel buddy in the west burbs,

Tim

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