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Topic: Very cool vintage country rock played on a Fender 1000 |
Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 1:08 pm |
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This is the Burritos with Al Perkins on steel using a very different tone on his Fender .. Not so high endy, but still all Fender with a hint of overloading the front end going on.. Always loved this stuff.. LOTS of steel, and a very cool Fender tone..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPTYimAE7E
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 1:22 pm
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Yeah, that one has ben around for a bit - I asked Al about his copedent (it's the same setup he used on Last of the Red Hot Burritos, with the same "edgy" clean tone - a little distorted but very clear. It was an E7...if I dig around I can probably find it.
That clip is a good representation of what some of the stronger early-70's country-rock sounded like around LA; Thundering bass (Listen to Hillman on the intro) and the steel way out front. Al, Sneaky, J.B. Crabtree and Alan Wald all played a lot in that middle-register - Sneaky and Al because in the Burritos versions generallythey covered all the steel AND guitar-ish fills (with the exception of Bernie Leadon's stint, who at the time was a little inconsistent as a lead player).
Al's 1000 really screamed - and man, were they loud as a live act! Really put the "rock" into country rock.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 2:54 pm Re: Very cool vintage country rock played on a Fender 1000
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| Bob Carlucci wrote: |
| ...still all Fender with a hint of overloading the front end going on... |
As well as overloading on the back end, overloading in the middle, overloading on the top, overloading on the bottom, and on both sides. In fact, the only thing that ain't overloaded is the camera work.  |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 4:14 pm
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Yeah, this clip has been up for quite a while, but I still listen to it and routinely use it to demo non-traditional-country pedal steel playing to friends. I love the tonality and, frankly, the whole approach. I hear no steel on Dave Dudley's original, Lloyd Green's Live at Panther Hall version with Charlie Pride is the definitive "classic country" steel version, and this is the definitive "country rock" steel version - of course, all to my tastes.
Jim, here's a thread where you copied Al's copedent that he sent to you: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=127213&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25
To quote from that:
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"The 1000 I had was an 8 stg E7th & C6th tuning. On the E7th, I used a high G# on the 1st string, followed by the E, B, G# etc. My lowest stg was an E. I used the std Jimmy Day ABC foot pedal configuration and two home made knee levers. LKL lowered the top E stg and seems like I may have either lowered the B or raised the E with a RKR." |
which doesn't quite jive with what's in Winnie Winston's book, which is this copedent:
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Al Perkins' 8-string E7:
Function F A+B B C E
String# LKR P1 P2 P3 RKR
1 G# ---- ----A---- ---- ---- ----
2 E ---- ---- ---- ----F#---D#---
3 B ---- ----C#--- ---- ---- ----
4 G# ---- ---- ----A---- ---- ----
5 E ----F---- ---- ---- ---- ----
6 D ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
7 B ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
8 E ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- |
I don't think it really matters - anybody can and should make whatever mods to suit what they want. But the point is that a helluvalotta great music can be made with a very simple but fairly standard type of E setup.
{Edited to add the 6th string, which I omitted on the first pass.}
Last edited by Dave Mudgett on 5 Jul 2009 5:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 5:15 pm
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| Very cool. His tone is fine. I dig the stuff he did on "Exile on Main Street", too. Not to be a geek, but where is the D in his E7? |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 5:43 pm
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| Uh, that was just a typo - I left the 6th string out. It's fixed now. |
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Cliff Kane
From:
the late great golden state
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 6:13 pm
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| Yes, some of the coolest steel playing has been, and can be, on pretty simple setups. A four pedal Fender guitar, etc., probably has more music in it than many of us will ever know. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2009 10:52 pm
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| Yeah Al is right up there with Sneaky,Buddy Cage,Bobby Black and Jay Dee as far as influential West Coast country rock steel goes. I just realized when I saw that clip how much of that solo I copped and have been playing for the last 30+ years. |
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Tor Arve Baroy
From:
Norway
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Posted 6 Jul 2009 12:32 am
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| This is one of my favourites! Love this song and this version. |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 6 Jul 2009 1:06 am
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| I opened for that band at Hofstra College on Long Island a few days before that taping above. I was a drummer then. It was THE first time I ever heard a pedal steel played live, and it blew me away. That particular iteration of the Burrittos was smokin hot. Because of Al perkins and that show I swore that I would learn steel guitar some day. Al is a friend of mine to this day, and that was many years ago. Al is a true country gentleman. Thats Rick Roberts of Firefall and Kenny Wurtz singing harmonies. They sang like birds. Byron Berline on fiddle, and Michael Clark of The Bryds on drums. I was so nervous when I saw them at soundcheck that my hands shook when I played. It was the first time I ever opened for a major group. I carry that memory to this day. They were very inspirational. Hillman was scary good on bass and mandolin. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2009 4:54 am
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I was cleaning my studio/den last night (somebody tell my wife - she doesn't believe it EVER happens and is out of town - of course. my version of "clean" means it'll look the same to her!) and found a copy of an old article - no idea what magazine it was in or the date.
It has the copedent as given to me by Al with one difference - the 5th string LKR (not LKL as Al noted - I need to watch the video again as I don't recall which is correct) change is E to F# instead of F.
But there's some other interesting stuff. He said the high G# (which he called Ab) would saw itself through the bar bridge because of the long scale with a normal-gage string, and he did not want to use a roller bridge - he said the stick bar-type provided better resonance and sustain (hard to disagree, although I've found the difference is barely noticeable) - but to solve the problem. So he somehow changed the angle to put less pressure on the string and used a .008! Al said it sacrificed a little resonance but not as much as the roller bridge.
That makes me rethink the E9 string breakage issue some have with long-scale 400's and 1000's using either the top - 8 or lower-8 strings of normal E9.
The usual thought has been to go heavier - from a .011 to ,0115 - to prevent breakage, and/or tuning down to D9 (sidebar - when I was trying to play E9 on my first 1000 I never had a breakage problem - I polished the bar thoroughly, lubed it with Teflon and didn't get what all the fuss was about). But maybe the solution for those with breakage problems is a .009 or .008 instead.
Changing the angle wouldn't be tough - just bend a "hog ring" into an upward curve.
I'm screwing around with E9 again on the front neck of my 1000 (I must be a glutton for punishment) - it has roller bridges but I'l try those lighter strings this weekend and see what happens.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 8 Jul 2009 5:15 am Re: Very cool vintage country rock played on a Fender 1000
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| Donny Hinson wrote: |
| Bob Carlucci wrote: |
| ...still all Fender with a hint of overloading the front end going on... |
As well as overloading on the back end, overloading in the middle, overloading on the top, overloading on the bottom, and on both sides. In fact, the only thing that ain't overloaded is the camera work. |
Your right. The entire clip audio is distorted. There is no real way to judge the tone of anything on that clip. Great playing on the steel though! |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 9 Jul 2009 7:34 am
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agreed Bill. whole thing is distorted so much it was hard to tell just how much grit the steel really had.
Al Perkins is so cool. really nice guy too, seems like.
Hey, did 1000's really have that logo up in the upper left corner of the frame? mine sure doesnt and I dont remember seeing that before in others. |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 9 Jul 2009 7:43 am
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| Al Perkins is great! Not a lot of "laying out" though. He sure is all over that tune. But then they all look pretty young and rock and roll, except for the fiddle player who looks like the real deal country. Not knocking it, just an observation...Jerry |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 9 Jul 2009 8:16 am
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What makes it so cool, to me, is that they're so young and rock and roll. It's musical but full of energy - energy ain't everything, but it ain't nothing either.
Loud but good rock and roll band in a TV studio. Sounds good to me. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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